D.N. Bryn
Speculative Fiction and Beyond
Category: method
How to write a novel: a beginner’s guide to the basics of storytelling.
First off, you have to know these two things: Your first draft of your first book will be terrible. All your favorite authors of all time wrote a terrible first draft of their first book too. Probably a terrible second and third draft, maybe…
Why Can’t I Stick to My Outline?
The inability to write what you’ve outlined plagues many of us, and it has many potential causes, some of which have workarounds, while others don’t. Here’s just a couple: 1. You don’t know your characters well enough when you outline, so when you write them,…
Writing: Hobby vs Career. (Spoilers: both are hard!)
If you want to write as a career you’ll have to write on days you don’t want to. You’ll have to write when you aren’t motivated, when you aren’t in the mood, when writing isn’t any fun. Just because writing is something people can have fun doing, doesn’t…
A Word to Amateur Authors
My friends, my pals, my buddies, my fellow writers: Stop putting yourself down because some professional author with three best sellers writes better than you. Writing is a difficult skill that takes persistence and time to master. It takes writing bad books, then mediocre books,…
Fighting Writer’s Block 101
I have various motivational tips and things in this tag, so I’ll keep this to the basics. It depends a lot on what kind of writers block you’re having. “I can’t figure out what happens next.” Take a break, breathe, and outline. Even if you’re…
How to Staying Motivated While You Write: On the days you want to give up.
This is a very simple question in that I have answered before, and yet a very hard one because the way I stay motivated isn’t going to work for everyone. How do I, Bryn, stay motivated? Flexible outlines. I have a lovely outline that tells me I have so…
What I learned while self-publishing.
I went through the process of self-publishing Our Bloody Pearl this summer. Even with all the guides in the world it turned out to be a very grueling experience. I’ll be doing it again with Quasi Stellar soon, but I also hope to traditionally…
Writing Your First Novel Right.
While I have a book published (siren! pirates! okay yeah enough with the marketing), I’m still editing the first novel I wrote. It’s okay if your first novel takes a long time. It’s okay if you have to rewrite it and rewrite it and then thoroughly edit…
Our Bloody Pearl:
After a year of voiceless captivity, a bloodthirsty siren fights to return home while avoiding the lure of a suspiciously friendly and eccentric pirate captain.
