S.C. Barrus's Blog, page 2
November 21, 2017
Falling down the deep hole that is Dungeons & Dragons
Lots has been happening lately. Between writing, family, and working on the remodel to get it ready for the move, my free time has been eaten up. So I thought, why not add another major time suck?
And I did! I’m now playing Dungeons and Dragons for the first time since high school. It’s a twisted path that got me back into this awesome RPG.
I’m a huge fan of the show Community, have been for…
October 30, 2017
Grim Curio Preview - The Story of How The World Ends
Grim Curio Preview – The Story of How The World Ends
It’s been a while since I shared anything from Grim Curio. There have been some significant updates since the last scene I shared a couple of months back. My dad is about to head out on a three-week business trip for Boeing and before he left he asked if there was anything read to read yet. So I figure now’s a good time to share something. This one’s for you dad, the first scene from Grim Curio.
October 27, 2017
The Three Greatest Influences on Grim Curio
The Three Greatest Influences on Grim Curio
This week I reached a major writing milestone in Grim Curio. I wrote my 50,000th word. This is a big step in the process and to celebrate I’m going to share some of the works that have influenced me over the past few months.
What follows are GC’s three greatest influences, which is by no means a complete list. Each of these books feature specific elements in the area’s of tone, character arcs,…
October 16, 2017
Find Inspiration, Generate Ideas, & the Myth of the Perfect Concept
Find Inspiration, Generate Ideas, & the Myth of the Perfect Concept
[image error]Writing a novel is a massive undertaking. Even a short one will consume hundreds, if not thousands of hours of your life. So it’s no surprise that so many people look for effective novel-writing strategies. What follows is the first post in my series on novel-writing. Through this series we’ll explore my current novel-writing process from conception to wherever the future takes us.
Writers write…
October 1, 2017
All The Threads Are Coming Together
All The Threads Are Coming Together
[image error]“It sucks feeling small, doesn’t it?”
Nat nods.
“And doing what we do, it makes us big. Just like you said, alone you can’t do anything. Nobody listens, nobody cares, everyone is dying and everyone knows it. I’ve seen people dying everywhere in slow and ugly ways. Nothing I can do about it. What I do now makes a difference. Makes a big difference. People all over are scared of me. They don’t…
September 27, 2017
Quick Overview On The Many Kinds of Editors
Quick Overview On The Many Kinds of Editors
[image error]Behind the scenes of of favorite books can be a complicated place, especially when you’re talking about editors. There are so many stages of editing, so many kinds of editors as well as generous readers who give up their time to offer their opinion on works in progress. So if you’re among the many readers who doesn’t know the difference between a Developmental Editor, Proofreader and Beta Reader,…
September 14, 2017
A week in the life of S.C. Barrus - Construction, Construction, Construction
A week in the life of S.C. Barrus – Construction, Construction, Construction
This week got away from me fast. Recently I bought a house from the sixties, a ‘real fixer upper’ my four year old son calls it. It’s a great little house with a room for my office and a library. For real, I’m going to be able to tell people, “I’ll meet you in the library”, and it won’t be ironic :D.
But it is a real fixer upper. Over the last few weeks, I’ve torn out the kitchen, covered the…
September 5, 2017
Creativity Juice: A Writers Playlist - 19 Hours of Great Writing Music
Creativity Juice: A Writers Playlist – 19 Hours of Great Writing Music
[image error]I’ve been building a killer writing playlist on Spotify for a year. I somehow created a 19 hour behemoth of music I can reliably count on whenever I need to get into the writing mood. Shuffle play, and instantly I get pulled into a more contemplative piece of mind.
It’s a mix of chill out, down tempo electronic, psychedelic post-rock, and movie and video game soundtracks. Almost all of the songs…
August 29, 2017
Eyes on the Future - Two Years of Writing & Publishing Goals
Eyes on the Future – Two Years of Writing & Publishing Goals
[image error]Photo by Clark Young on Unsplash
You can’t get far in life without a plan. Well, maybe you can, but I’ve never had much luck without it. When I try to pants my life, things tend to get missed along the way. Over the past five years, I’ve become more of a planner, plotting out points I want to hit in order to reach my goals.
After a few months of thought, I’ve created a series of goals for both…
August 18, 2017
Building the Plot & Structure of Grim Curio
Building the Plot & Structure of Grim Curio
[image error]It’s been radio silence on my end for the past few weeks, which isn’t cool at all. So today I’m jumping back into the game, filling you in on what’s been going on in my world, and update you the production of Grim Curio.
Mo’ House, Mo’ ProblemsLast month I bought my first house. Woohoo! It’s a bit of a fixer upper, and I’ve been doing a fair share of the work myself as well as juggling…
