A Writer’s Journey – Part 3: My First Novel

August 15, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: Writing Craft

During the summer of 8th grade I was inspired to create my first novel. I was on vacation in California, spending time with my dad, step-mom, and two of my younger sisters. We were heading up toward Round Mountain through the beautiful California wilderness, when I spotted a bird, either an eagle or hawk, and an idea popped into my head. I loved nature and adventuring, and I wondered what it would be like to spend my life traveling the world in search of things–relics, treasures, mythical beasts, etc. (more…)

A Writer’s Journey – Part 1: My Beginning

July 18, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: Writing Craft

I was born to be a writer. I know that sounds trite or even ridiculous to some, but writing is in my DNA. Let me tell you why.
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World-Building in Fiction: A Guide

May 23, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: World-Building

World building is not an exact science. There are countless ways to go about doing it, largely because there is some level of world-building in all fiction. World-Building in Fiction: A Guide is meant to help you build a world through several different approaches. You may use one of these methods or any combination of them. (more…)

World-Building (Map-Making Part 2)

March 07, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: Description & Setting, Technology, World-Building, Writing Craft

The Various Stages of My World – CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGES

Now that you’ve decided to create a map for you stories and your world, let me give you some insight in how to go about doing this. While I plan to cover a number of topics on world-building and how it relates to map-making in my series, let me first point you to a vast repertoire of knowledge.

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World-Building (Map-Making Part 1)

February 28, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: Description & Setting, Technology, World-Building, Writing Craft

The Various Stages of My World – CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGES

Until you put your world on paper or on file, it is no more than a figment of your imagination, no matter how well-realized that figment may be. Creating a map of your world is one of the first steps you should take in world-building. In fact, I believe it is a must. Not only then does your world become tangible, and perhaps something you can show off to others, but it also becomes part of a chain reaction in which your map and story feed off of one another.

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World-Building (Astronomical Processes)

February 21, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: World-Building, Writing Craft

My World From Space

Today I’m going to start a series of posts on world-building. They will by no means be exhaustive, and while some of the material may be advanced and never actually be seen on the page, that is to say in the story itself, the purpose is to develop the most fully realized world possible. After all, the vast majority of world-building is never spoken of in a novel, but exists in the mind of the creator.

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What it Means to be a Writer – Part 2

February 14, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: Description & Setting

In my previous post, I wrote about what it means to be a writer and why it can take so long to finish writing a novel. Now I want to tell you why it’s taking me so long.

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What it Means to be a Writer – Part 1

February 07, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint, Plot & Stucture

People always ask me, “Why haven’t you finished your story yet? What’s taking you so long?”

For those of you who’ve never tried to write a novel before, let me educate you. To most, writing a novel seems a simple enough venture. But then try writing one. Then try getting it published.

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