Ryan Lanz's Blog, page 20

6 Remedies For Writerosis

We writers have to deal with things a lot of normal people don’t have to worry about. While others have health complications that are mostly physiological, our crazy minds tend to make up some other issues for us to deal with, and most of the time, a doctor won’t help. Writers have a lot of […]

When Your Blog Can’t Be Your First, Or Only, Priority

We all enthusiastically launch our blogs promising ourselves we’re going to give it all we have, every day, every week or month, until … forever? There’s no end date to a dream. But while bloggers fade into oblivion for many reasons, many of them fail to commit because they underestimate how much time and effort […]

Backstory: The Most Important Sub-Plot You’ll Never Write

I suffer from one of the more visible ailments of the Florida tourist. While this particular malady can afflict anyone, regardless of age, race, or sex, a recent non-scientific study at [insert name of beach here] determined those most susceptible were white males over the age of 40. While I am a match for three […]

On The Necessity of Flawed Characters

I’ve gotten super into podcasts in this past year (file under #latetotheparty). Why? I think I thought they were all nonfictional musings on things. I didn’t realize there were a plethora of podcasts out there dissecting my favorite books and TV shows. Now I know, and I listen to them voraciously. And two things have […]

Using Double Meanings To Foreshadow Plot Twists In Comics and Stories

Well, although this is a quick article about foreshadowing plot twists in comics, stories etc… I’ll have to start by using a TV show as an example. As such, this article may contain some mild SPOILERS for the first season of “Game Of Thrones”. Likewise, I’ll also be describing a slightly disturbing scene from the show (albeit one that […]

Is It a Good Idea to Write When You Don’t “Feel Like” Writing?

I get it. I really do. You want everything you write to be as close to perfect as you can make it. When we read things other people have written, they’re often polished, shiny, and sometimes completely error free. That’s what we’re used to seeing. So when we sit down to write our own things, […]

How to Start a Story: 5 Tips on Opening Strong

Nailing the beginning of a story can be a challenging task for authors. Right off the bat, you need to introduce the characters, hint at their fears and dreams, and set them on a journey that, hopefully, readers will care to follow. Since the opening often determines how the reader will get on with the […]

Why Comparing Yourself to Other Writers Doesn’t Make Sense

I have a favorite author. John Green is the kind of writer I would love to be. He is clever and cultured and knows his young adult audience so well you sometimes forget he’s the age he is. I admire him on a deep, creative level, as I’m sure many writers do. But that’s sort […]

The Future of Books: 3 Audacious Predictions for the Next 20 Years

About ten years ago I worked for a startup that launched a social media site for published authors. This was the first place where I really started to meet writers and come in contact with people in the industry. In the spring of 2008 one of the topics being bantered about on our website was […]

What Am I Supposed to Write?

Have you ever asked yourself if you should write about something or if it is a bad idea? That’s probably one of the major unanswered questions of every writer. It’s complicated to decide on what you should write and how to go about it. If sometimes you have some sort of inspiration, at other times, […]