Will Once's Blog, page 3
August 25, 2020
Digital or Analog?
My friend and fellow blogger A.S.Akkalon posted an interesting blog on how to design a magic system for a fantasy world. You can find it here. And that got me thinking about about my own approach to world building, not just in fantasy but in all kinds of writing. And I’ve come to the conclusion…
August 23, 2020
Dust
My friends, we need to talk about dust. Dust is one of those stealth fighter words that sneaks under the radar. We all see it, say it, hear it … but do we ever really understand it? Because when you think about it, dust is a pretty weird word. When we do housework … and…
July 23, 2020
Understanding the Eagles
We need to talk about the eagles in Lord of the Rings. There’s this massive thing on the internet about the eagles. Some folk have pointed out that most of the story in the Lord of the Rings could have been avoided if the eagles had simply flown Frodo over to Mount Doom. Bish, bash,…
April 12, 2020
Bond, James Bond
Listen, this stuff matters. So there I was, a man in lockdown doing what most of us degenerate to … sorting out the CDs and DVDs. I know, I know, physical media are so yesterday. I should be youtubing or spotifying or whatever. But I’m a creature of my era and that means collecting shiny…
March 28, 2020
When life gives you lemons …
… have a gin and tonic. Okay, so we’re locked down. The extent of my world is these four walls, my lovely family, this laptop and the hills around my home. The horizon is as far as I can walk from my doorstep, waving at my neighbours from across a 2 metre quarantine. But, hey,…
March 9, 2020
Pressing pause
I don’t know if it is the same for everyone else. but my life seems to go through a particular pattern. I have intense short periods when lots of things happen at once, followed by long periods of steady evolution. Maybe it’s just cluster theory and everyone gets it. I don’t know. In the mid…
July 10, 2019
Game of Thrones – was there enough foreplay?
Warning #1 – spoilers! Warning #2 – today’s blog is mostly about Game of Thrones, which may or may not be your thing. After 8 seasons and 72 episodes, Game of Thrones has finally ended. And the question that almost everyone is asking is … did you like how it ended? Here’s the weird thing.…
July 6, 2019
Buddy, can you spare me £30 billion?
I love watching a magic show. You know the kind, where a guy in a fancy coat makes things appear and disappear. Pulling rabbits out of hats or doves out of his nostrils. That sort of thing. I know it’s all a trick but it’s irresistible all the same. So today’s story is a magic…
July 2, 2019
Only grownups
What is the difference between large and small? Maybe it is all about our perspective. The smallest thing for us may be huge for someone else. And vice versa. This happened to me a few weeks ago. The UK was having another local election … the latest in a series which seem to be ripping…
June 28, 2019
This Bubble Moment
This is the story … of a story. Once upon a time, there was a story. Well, actually that’s not quite true. Once upon a time there was a Dad dragged to the cinema by his son to see yet another movie about aliens trying to take over the Earth, but being defeated by something…
