Story from Scratch Fantasy writers Yale Wang and Justin Dill

This week, Yale and Justin talk about their old writing... and how terrible it was. From frontloading paragraphs upon paragraphs of exposition, to going on author diatribes about things that have absolutely nothing to do with the plot, we've done it all. Sometimes it's worthwhile to look back and reflect on how far we've come (especially if we can get a good laugh out of it).

This week on Quick Bits, we discuss Justin's concept of a dynamic character arc. What if instead of having an arc where a character doesn't change until the climax of the novel, one were to write a story in which a character goes through multiple significant changes of the course of the novel? Yale and Justin debate whether this style of storytelling is actually feasable and has the potential to be satisfying. Examples are provided from some of Justin's works-in-progress, so beware of potential spoilers!

This week on quick bits, Yale and Justin talk about where to end a particular writing session. Do you stop at the end of a scene? End of a chapter? Is it better to write for a set amount of time or to write a set amount of words?

This week on Quick Bits, Justin and Yale revisit the topic of themes. Do you ever wonder how to straddle that line between conveying a message and force-feeding your opinions down the reader's throat? Do you have concerns about making definitive statements on grander concepts you fear you lack authority on? Well, we do--so join us as we hash out the intricacies of thematic subject matter.

Welcome to Quick Bits! For the month of May, due to our busy schedules, we'll be publishing these shorter, more-focused episodes, each delving into a single topic. This week, we (by which we mean mostly Yale) discuss what software and hardware we use for writing. We learn how meticulously organized Yale is, and how meticulously disorganized Justin is.

This week, for a change, Yale and Justin discuss things they actually like about the writing process. It's easy to find things to gripe about, but at the end of the day, we're doing this writing thing because, well, we like doing it.