Repetition

Repetition is an important tool for writing of any sort.  The more often a point is repeated, the more important it seems to the reader.

In narration, for the most part, you want to avoid repeating things word for word.  You want to repeat a reference to a situation or event, but not a word for word repetition.  Some people have a higher or lower tolerance to this.  For example, I got irritated at seeing the phrase "like a puppet with its strings cut" twice within fifty pages in one book.  Someone else might not notice that at all.

Archetypes and Stereotypes

Most people take a dim view of stereotypes and assume that it is a bad thing to design a character to fit a stereotype or archetype.  The assumption is that making use of a stereotype means making cookie-cutter, low dimensional characters or, worse, that you are giving in to unfair perceptions of different groups.

This view operates under the perception that a character can only fit one particular stereotype at a time.

Follow the Rules Until You Make Them

Writing is one of those things where there are numerous rules put out by a variety of different people.  Some of the rules sound very specific, others are very broad.  Depending on which authors or editors whose advice you read, they can even be contradictory.  When you start out, you don't know any of these rules except some basic ideas of sequencing and he said/she said.  As you progress, you learn more and more rules to follow.

Follow those rules until you can make them.

Christian Misconceptions

Okay, I'm going to try to stay away from opinion and interpretation for the most part, but given the subject matter, that's just not possible.  I probably have a lot of misconceptions myself.  I tend to believe that misconception is an inherent danger of the human condition since we are limited to imperfect interpretations of things.  Still, I like to think that I know a bit more about Christianity than most people so I'm going to hit some of the more general misconceptions about Christianity and, to a lesser extent, the other Abrahamic religions that I've seen around for a while.

Old Ones, Gods, Devils and Angels

It is a common conceit among those who are fans of the Cthulhu mythos that Lovecraft's entities are greater in power than the more traditional, humanistic sort of deities found in pantheons within real history, or of eldritch horrors found in other fiction.  There is also this sort of belief that the Lovecraftian entities are something worse than "evil" since they are an entirely alien sort of entity that doesn't even understand or care about humanity at all.  In stories that contain both Lovecraftian entities and beings from more standard myths, the Lovecraftian styled entities are largely implied to be more powerful and very difficult to contend with.  The truth is that the Lovecraftian entities aren't really all that different from the entities of other myths or fiction.  Now this is not going to be a perfect comparison since power at the scale cannot really be objectively measured.  Everything involved is highly conceptual in nature and pretty much ignores such things as physics.

Truth

Truth is a highly subjective thing and far more interesting than fact. It might be a fact that a person was 5'7" but whether that person is short, tall or average depends on their gender, their age and the culture in which they are raised.

Two separate people might be arguing over the correctness or wrongness of a particular situation or action and using the same facts to argue their point that their opponent is. However, both have different perspectives resulting in two different truths. The response to this is generally to consider the opponent's perspective to be flawed in some way either through ignorance, self-interest or malice while one's own perspective is viewed as the most appropriate and closest to The Truth (the words "one", "only", "real", "actual" or so on may be added or simply implied). Part of this is because my perception that both frameworks of viewing the same situation as each being true from their proponent's perspective is simply another truth that other people may or may not accept.

Things Man Was Not Meant To Know

Every story has conflict and speculative fiction; whether science-fiction, horror or fantasy; often involves conflicts of a particularly spectacular sort.  This isn't always true, but we're focusing on where it is.  The threats, if not the central conflict, of sci-fi, horror and fantasy usually come from a standard list.

Weapons

There is a common trend among fiction where the plot involved is in the creation of a new weapon or else exploit some discovery for a military purpose even if it is not directly used as a weapon.  Depending on the nature of the story, this can either be portrayed as an expression of the will and ingenuity of the human race in the fact of adversity, or it can be portrayed as our baser, more savage instincts leading us down a path of violence.  The more common interpretation, at least recently, is the latter.  A lot of us seem to have this opinion that anything related to weapons or the military is sinful, evil or at least unwise.  A lot of fiction ends with some hero or group there of using the prototype of a weapon to end a threat, but insuring that the weapon itself is lost as well.

Culture of False Comparison

When you watch English-speaking documentaries or read books that focus on a group of renowned soldiers, there are some rather common sets of language used depending on just what, besides fighting, this particular set of warriors was most well known for.

Being Good, for Goodness' Sake

I like fantasy stories in general ranging from classic Tolkien to more modern derivations thereof as well as fantasies deriving from other cultures, especially Asia.  A common theme among Asian fantasies is the individual who is trying to achieve enlightenment.  In the course of this quest, at least in Western attempts at such, there often comes a point where the paradox of this search is explained: namely that in order to achieve enlightenment, one must transcend desires, absolutely all desires, including the desire to become enlightened.

Commissioning Artists the Thrythlind Way

Step One: Inspiration

The first step to commissioning art the way I do it is to either start writing a story or else reading one.  Eventually you will come to one of the following decisions:

a) I so want to see a visual representation of this character

b) I so would want to see my character meet this other one

c) I would love to see this particular event here

At which point, the knee jerk reaction to check your bank account kicks in and the next thing you know you're trying to find room in your budget for the art.