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Chris Raiin
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Chris Raiin

Goodreads Author


Born
in Los Angeles, CA, The United States
Twitter
ChrisRaiinSFF

Genre
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Ebooks

Influences
Orson Scott Card, Ayn Rand, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Octavia Butler ...more

Member Since
September 2015

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?
Chris Raiin My preferred technique is to write questions until the block gives way. For example, as I'm plotting a story, I might run into a block about what happ…moreMy preferred technique is to write questions until the block gives way. For example, as I'm plotting a story, I might run into a block about what happens next or how to link one event to another. So, I'll write out my question on the page, right where I left off with plotting. Two questions from yesterday's writing were about backstory. I wrote, "What's the adventure? Why are they immortalized?" Without noticing it, I began answering the questions in the next paragraph of notes. Asking questions *and writing them down* does two things. First, it keeps me working--literally, it keeps me writing. Second, it helps me crystallize the *exact* issue I'm having. Some of my story prep notes have two or three lines full of questions, where each question is more specific than the last. Writing them out lets me see my train of thought, adding visual aid to my own mental processes. Most of the time, this method unblocks the block almost instantly. Other times, I finally figure out the question, and then I stop for the night. Now that I know the question, I let my subconscious work on it overnight and I begin the next day's writing by answering it. I get over writer's block by actively thinking--by writing out my questions until the question is clear and the answer flows from it. Oh, and long walks alone in the sunlight help, too.(less)
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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
Chris Raiin Read books on how to write (my favorites include Ayn Rand's "The Art of Fiction," Hallie Burnett's "On Writing the Short Story," and Orson Scott Card'…moreRead books on how to write (my favorites include Ayn Rand's "The Art of Fiction," Hallie Burnett's "On Writing the Short Story," and Orson Scott Card's "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy.")

Read books written in the 1700 and 1800s. They'll show you what's really possible with words. (I recommend Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo," and Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein.") Read contemporary books, too, to know what's trending and what you have to work with (that is, what you can be part of or deviate from). Avoid popular fiction novels (like the "Twilight" or "Hunger Games" series), but read one every now and then to understand why it’s popular. Look for award-winning fiction, especially the controversial stuff. (I recommend Junot Díaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," Yann Martel's "Life of Pi," and Salman Rushdie's "Shame.")

Write every day, because, "Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working" (Pablo Picasso).(less)
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 4.25 · 4 ratings · 3 reviews · 2 distinct works
Upholder (Tradition: The Le...
4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2015
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Lantern of Gog (Tradition: ...
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13 posts
Chris Raiin's Blog

On Writing Hatred and Forgiveness

Far from love


I have somehow found myself at the beginning of writing a novel that, weirdly, is about forgiveness. Or rather, it’s about hatred. It’s more accurate to say that it’s about hatred. It’s easy enough to convince oneself that one knows what hatred means (forgiveness as well). We throw the word around easily. We hate this food, we hate that show or that character on that show, and we hate this guy

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Published on September 01, 2016 16:55
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Chris is Currently Reading

Dune
Chris Raiin is currently reading
bookshelves: currently-reading
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Jan 03, 2017 03:30PM

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Chris’s Recent Updates

Chris Raiin has read
City in the Dragon's Eye by Jordan Loyal Short
City in the Dragon's Eye (Dragon Reich Book 1)
by Jordan Loyal Short (Goodreads Author)
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Dec 22, 2023 03:01PM  ·   ·  preview book
Chris Raiin liked Rishelle Reads's review of City in the Dragon's Eye (Dragon Reich Book 1):
City in the Dragon's Eye by Jordan Loyal Short
"Fast read, and it had me laughing out loud more times than I can count. I can't wait for the next book in this series!"
Dec 06, 2023 11:18AM  · see review ·  preview book
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Chris’s Quotes

Orson Scott Card
“Love and serve the sources of your strength.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Lost Gate
tags: inspirational
4 likes

Ayn Rand
“Nothing on earth or beyond it is closed to the power of man's reason.”
― Ayn Rand, The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought
tags: inspirational, philosophy
3 likes

Ernest Hemingway
“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer.”
― Ernest Hemingway
tags: authors, good-books, truth, writers
2754 likes

Patrick Rothfuss
“My mind was learning to work in different ways, becoming stronger. It felt the same way your body feels after a day splitting wood, or swimming, or sex. You feel exhausted, languorous, and almost Godlike.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
0 likes

Henry Louis Gates Jr.
“Learning to sing one's own songs, to trust the particular cadences of own's voices, is also the goal of any writer.”
― henry louis gates
14 likes

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31471 THE Group for Authors! — 12880 members — last activity Oct 16, 2025 02:22PM
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