Kenneth A. Baldwin's Blog, page 4

Should You Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere?

It took me a while to dig in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. It came out in 1996. But I’m glad I finally picked up a copy.

An urban fantasy set in a magical world below contemporary London, the book has a lot to offer, and it delivers in true, witty Neil Gaiman fashion.

If you haven’t read any books by Neil Gaiman, this really isn’t a bad one to start with.

Here are three reasons to love Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

My Aurora Trip to Evermore Park

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 park, where guests perform quests, take in the incredibly detailed architecture, and enjoy multi-dimensional theatrical performances.

Some say that Evermore Park is D&D in real life. I think they’re right.

Is Reading the Wheel of Time Worth It?

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 going to help you figure out whether or not you should take the plunge into the Robert Jordan’s (and Brandon Sanderson’s) fascinating magical world.

Uncle Kevin and the Garage Sale Bike

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 car

Objective: Provide five-year-old Joey with a loving, structured family

Writing time: 25 minutes. A quick one drafter. Remember, that’s part of the point of the exercise.

Check it out.

The Bare-bones Sketch Writing Challenge

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 writing a solid sketch.

This challenge takes about forty minutes, and that’s the point.

Check out the video to see how it works.

Don’t Fail Your New Year’s Resolutions

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 you try this method, your likelihood of success is going to go up.

To lead by example, I’m going to share part of my New Year’s resolution with you:

2020 Goal: Become a better author

January Objective: Write 5,000 words per week

I’ll let you know in February if Objective 1 was accomplished.

In the meantime, go check out the video and see if you could get a handle on 2020. This is our year!

Three Things You Must Internalize to Get Into Comedy Writing

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 pay attention to each little victory as it comes.

Instead of Writing: Should We Be Excited for the New Hunger Games Prequel?

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?

Instead of Writing: Celebrating Halloween at Evermore Park

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 unpack it all on the latest episode of Instead of Writing.

Instead of Writing: Sabrina the Teenage Witch vs Harry Potter

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, skip-its, and boy bands. TGIF. It’s the Sabrina the Teenage Witch vs Harry Potter throwdown.