I always thought a poem was something that came with a specific, repeated rhythm and a rhyming word every other line. At least, this was how “Poetry” was taught in every literature segment I’d ever experienced from kindergarten up through grade school. At that level, poetry was simple, but fun. I remember teachers going over…
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about Nocturnal Mind’s tagline: “Stories Never Sleep,” and I’ve been regretting it. I’ve been debating changing it, even with the grueling task of finding all the little places I’ve put it (even buried deep within the coding) on the website and removing them. The words just don’t seem to…
Quite often in fantasy books the author will include a song / poem at the beginning or between chapters in order to set the scene / provide atmosphere, or even foreshadow things to come. Sometimes these songs or poems can be effective, and other times they can seem like just a bit of added fluff.…
Setting the scene around your characters is always an important step in creating a story that comes alive for your readers. However, sometimes—especially during the beginning phases of your writing, the most important thing is to keep your imagination flowing steadily from one thing to the next. Often this means temporarily skipping over the details…
I once had a writing professor tell the class in the midst of promoting a local event: “If you can’t sneak into a school auditorium, you’re not fit to be a writer.” As a writer who just finds it simple common courtesy to pay the fee at the door, I can still appreciate the mindset…