Ryan Lanz's Blog, page 5

How to Do Characters Right

A while ago, I gave you all  on how to create believable characters. I promised to share some more of my thoughts on this topic and never did. So with nothing to do due to quarantine, I’m going to make good on my promise and write a little more on my character creation process. For […]

Common Writing Mistake #3: Worrying About Originality

I saw this quote the other day: “Some writers confuse authentic, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.” – W. H. Auden It reminds me or another quote, this one by Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”   There is so much out there […]

10 Activities That Make You a Better Writer

We’re all trying to be better writers, aren’t we? But not everything we do makes us better writers. I mean, binging on Netflix, eating an entire plateful of cookies, or taking a nap all probably won’t help you develop writing skills or work your way through that plot problem you have in your book. There […]

The 12 Things No One Ever Tells You About Writing for Other People

Writing for companies and websites isn’t always the end goal, but it’s worth it.   1. You often, technically, do not own your work, even when your name is on it. 2. But working for a large company with a website can get you the exposure you need to branch out. 3. Not all writing […]

Everything You Need to Know to Start a Career as a Ghostwriter

For those reading this and thinking ghostwriting sounds like something I want to get into, you may be wondering where do I even begin? In my quest to learn about ghostwriting and how to start with little to no experience I learned a great deal from G.B. Scholander’s book Where are the Ghostwriting Jobs? The […]

4 Tips For a Memorable Villain

The villain is a character of great importance in any story. For that reason, you must think about him carefully. Your villain has to be credible to be memorable. As such, you should spend some time developing your villain before start writing the actual story. Here you have some tips that might help you.   […]

3 Ways to Be More Concise

Writers tend to be wordy, even though everyone says to write concisely. The truth is that’s normal. Concise writing takes work. The way we write is much different from the way we talk, so what might sound normal out loud doesn’t always translate well in a story (see, I’m being wordy right now). It’s also […]

Why That Writing Advice is Both Right… and WRONG

Since I love talking about writing advice, and I love pointing out that all writing advice should be taken — but only if it works for you, welcome to my new, irregularly scheduled feature, where I’m going to be talking about my favorite snippets of writing advice — and why they’re both right… and wrong. […]

‘Theme’ in Fiction and Why it is Necessary

Theme is what makes a fictional story vital, what makes it be discussed, and what makes it memorable even centuries after it has been written. Fiction’s number one goal, obviously, is to entertain. If that fact is not clear enough, I don’t know how to make it any more-so. When it comes to discussing my […]

Free Prequel Story and New Author Newsletter

Hello all! While Book Four in the Red Kingdom Series is still being worked on, I’ve completed a novella-length prequel story, called Dawn of Storms. In this story, readers find out how Rhael achieved the fateful mission he starts out on in Book One. Check out the blurb down below. I’m offering Dawn of Storms for […]