This week, I return to a wonderful place called Evermore Park for its Aurora season. The portal to their town has opened again and welcomed a new, unique set of guests and trouble.Frost lords, Wolf clans, werewolves, weddings... what better place to be instead of writing?Evermore is an immersive fantasy…
It'll soon be an Amazon Original series, and you may be asking yourself. Is the Wheel of Time worth reading? After all, it's a long epic fantasy series, and you won't be finishing it in a week (most likely). You need some knowledge before an investment like that.Well, today instead of writing, I'm…
Last time on Instead of Writing, we talked about the Bare-bones Sketch Challenge. To illustrate the type of sketch I was talking about, I present Uncle Kevin and the Garage Sale Bike.Here's how it breaks down:2 characters: Kevin (laid back) and Kenny (uptight)One setting: A parked carObjective: Provide five-year-old Joey with…
Don't overcomplicate your comedy writing. On this episode of Instead of Writing, I'm trying to strip away all of the crutches and force you to have two characters hash it out.All writers have big ideas. I've just seen too many writers starting out in comedy allow those big ideas to block their progress toward…
This week on Instead of Writing, I'm taking my background in business operations to offer you a strategic approach to actually accomplishing something through your New Year's resolution this year.There are a lot of problems with the way most people go about setting their resolutions. That's probably why more than 80% fail.If…
It's never been easier or more difficult to get into comedy writing.On this episode of Instead of Writing, I offer you a three-step foundational approach I've developed from my experience teaching hundreds of comedy students. Comedy can and must be learned. You can start writing comedy.Try to internalize this cycle and…
I'm not sure how I missed it, but Suzanne Collins announced a prequel to her smash hit Hunger Games trilogy. On this episode of Instead of Writing, I'm breaking down all of the must-know details and asking the million-dollar question: Should we be excited or very, very afraid?
Evermore Park is a complete playground for people who love fantasy. It is also set during the reign of Queen Victoria, which makes it doubly fun for me as it plays right into the gaslamp genre I love so very much.We went this weekend and had a truly interesting adventure. Drama. Action. Mystery! I…
Harry Potter is a worldwide phenomenon. It's by far the most successful book series in recent memory. However, what if I could make a case that many of those lovely little quirks found in Harry Potter could actually claim their roots in a different story?We're headed back to the era of corded phones,…
Hey everyone, today on Instead of Writing I'm diving into a review of a book called The Affinity Bridge by George Mann. I also take this opportunity to dive into what that crazy thing called steampunk really is, and how it differs from gaslamp fantasy generally.The Affinity Bridge is the first in a…