Bryan Young's Blog, page 5

Influence vs "Rip-off"

Have you ever heard the phrase "you are what you eat?" Or that you're equal to the sum of your parts? As a writer and a storyteller, you learn by consuming stories. The tools you have to craft those stories are themselves crafted from every story you've ever consumed.

Naturally, many writers and storytellers ask themselves how far they can push inspiration and homage so as not to be seen as thieves or plagiarists.

It's a fair question, but I think it's one that far too much attention is paid to...

Building a Frankenstein's Monster of Craft

I get asked a lot about what books and videos I've used in the past to hone my craft. And that list always gets updated. I'm constantly reading books on craft full of writing advice. The important thing about books on craft is that you need to take what works for you and discard the rest. You're assembling a Frankenstein's Monster of writing advice that works for you and helps you get to the point where you can write publishable prose.

Sometimes, you don't have all the right bits and bobs, or...

Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 Schedule

It's time again for Salt Lake Comic Con and I have another packed schedule. This is where I'll be occupied for much of my weekend. I would love for you to come out, see me on a panel, catch me at my signing, or just say hello.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

3:00 pm Fixing Fandom and Ending Bullying and Gatekeeping :: 150G

4:00 pm Fauxthentic History - Star Trek :: 151G

6:00 pm Star Wars Trailer Park :: 151G

8:00 pm The Life and Times of Ahsoka Tano :: 151G

Friday, September 2, 2016...

An update and a Vlog...

In my latest livestream, I tackle how I name characters, how I keep my daily life separate from my writing, what resources I've found to hone my craft, and how I deal with influences from a variety of sources.

As I gear up for Salt Lake Comic Con (I'll be posting my schedule this week) I find that I'm having far less time than I'd like for blogging. I'll be back in a regular pattern as soon as the convention is over. It's a big one. I'm doing 18 panels, including interviews with Famke Jan...

Why I Write

What is it that keeps me writing?

I think it's a fair question. I write a lot. Not just stories for novels or short stories, but non-fiction. Journalism. Criticism. I write every day. Today is my 408th consecutive day of writing.

The artsy answer that I'm supposed to give you is that I write because I have to. I'll die if I don't. Why do I breathe? Same answer.

While that's certainly true, I often feel that need, it's not the only reason I write. It's just some of the reasons I have for wri...

A Writing Update

I'll be honest. I've been putting off writing a blog post for about a week now.

Why?
Between being overwhelmed by the writing projects I'm working on and the fact that I'm querying three different books and getting almost daily rejections, I'm just not in a place where I feel like I can offer any advice whatsoever. What do I think I have figured out that I could possibly teach you?
But then I realized that maybe showing that vulnerability is exactly the thing I could show you. Because we all hav...

I'm Back!

The view for my morning writing. #paris #amwritingA photo posted by Bryan Young (@swankmotron) on Jul 21, 2016 at 12:20am PDT

While I was gone, I spent sixteen days in London and Paris. While I was there I saw all kinds of historical sites, museums full of some of the most important art in the world, went to a Star Wars convention, and even got to have a birthday dinner at Disneyland Paris.

It was a great time and creatively recharging for all the right reasons. For one, I had sixteen uninterr...

Star Wars Celebration

I'm heading out this week for Star Wars Celebration Europe, so posting on the site might be a little lighter than usual. Especially since I'll be in Europe for more than two weeks. I don't know what sort of access I'll have to the Internet, and I'll be pretty focused on having the sorts of experiences in foreign countries that I hope will enrich my writing.

And then all the Star Wars stuff.

I'm on one panel at Star Wars Celebration: Amy Ratcliffe and I are doing a live...

Inspiration on a Deadline

I'm often asked how I can find inspiration so quickly, especially when I'm working on a deadline. I'm often told by others that they could never work creatively on a deadline because they have to wait for inspiration to hit.

To the former, I'll explain my method for finding inspiration on a tight deadline. For the latter, I offer this quote from Neil Gaiman:

“If you only write when you’re inspired you may be a fairly decent poet, but you’ll never be a novelist because you’re going to have to ma...

Patreon

As you might have heard, I've started a Patreon for short stories. You can watch the above video and check out the campaign here.

The reason I started this site in the first place more than ten years ago was to get myself into the habit of writing short stories on a regular basis. Since then, I've written more than a hundred short stories and almost a dozen novels. I've also picked up gigs writing for so many websites and magazines and placing short stories in anthologies, which means that the...