David Musk's Blog

Aeonica: The Lost Redeemer is Finally Published!

I thought I wouldn't be able to publish the first Aeonica book until May this year, but my proofreader got back to me a few days early (shout out to Fabled Planet.) I compiled the final ebook file Monday night, and Amazon just accepted it!

Aeonica: The Lost Redeemer Ebook

I also scheduled the ebook for a free promotion this week, so you should definitely take advantage of that if you can. I've said it before, but my main goal with publishing was to reach new readers, not to profit more from my c...

Showing vs. Telling Part 3: Numbers and Character Descriptions

Numbers are an intuitive way to communicate information. They're quick, they're easy, and they get the message across.

If I say Bob is 27 years old, 6'0" tall, and 170lbs, that paints a pretty clear picture, right? (Unless you use metric, then you may or not be confused right now.)

But like most forms of telling, this is just raw information. Numbers are great for technical writing, but not always the best choice for fiction. They don't create evocative images in our minds, and we honestly don't...

Checklist for New Stories on Royal Road

Are you writing a new story on Royal Road, and want to make sure you're doing everything right? This is understandable, and you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Here's a list of ten things I wish I'd known when I first started out.

1. Read the Rules

This way, you'll know you're doing everything right, and you won't risk any surprises later on. Also, if another user is harassing you via comments or reviews, you'll know that person doesn't represent the community. You'll also know ...

How to Open Your Webnovel

People on the internet have short attention spans. It's easy to click from one thing to another, and if something doesn't catch our interest within the first few sentences, that's exactly what we do. We click away.

If you're like the average internet user today, chances are you have multiple tabs open in your browser right now. You might even have multiple devices on hand (phone/computer/tablet) or multiple monitors. Maybe you have a YouTube video playing in one tab, and a social media feed in a...

Showing vs. Telling Part 2: Adverbs

You might have heard that adverbs are bad. Stephan King makes his distaste of them clear in his memoir, On Writing, and tools like ProWritingAid and HemingwayApp are quick to point out how many adverbs we're using, along with suggestions on what our maximums should be.

But what does the writing world have against adverbs? does the "ly" sound offend people?

If we go back to my original definition of showing and telling, things become clearer:

Showing is something you can see in your mind's eye. U...

Showing vs. Telling

“Show don’t tell” is a phrase that gets thrown around by writing teachers and editors alike. The good teachers actually take the time to explain what it means. The rest just repeat the phrase ad nauseam and assume you’ll figure it out somehow.

I didn’t understand this idea in high school or even college. I always thought, “You’re telling a story. Isn’t it all telling?”

But as I read more writing books, the meaning became clearer. And once I finally understood it, it made a huge difference in my...