humor – Mythic Scribes Test Site

The Obsessive Worldbuilder Quiz

Do you spend weeks and weeks designing the ceremonial cloaks that your orcs wear for their Annual Wereboar BBQ?

Do you sketch maps of obscure villages that haven’t existed in your world for thousands of years on napkins?

Do you lie awake before bed and think, “I really should figure out how the ogres in Fazbaath take care of their teeth.”

If you even thought for a split second, “This sounds like me,” then you might be an Obsessive Worldbuilder.

Now let me start out by saying, this isn’t a bad thing. You have a certain eye for detail that some of us can only dream of having. However, it might be important to factor in the “Story-Worldbuilding Ratio.”

4 Essential Tips for First-Time Con-Goers

by Featured Author

Baltimore Comic-Con Loki — Ditch the Costume

This article is by Joseph Zieja.

Cons are vicious, insane things, where emotions run as hard and fast as the alcohol, where dreams are made and broken at bars, and where George R. R. Martin sends people out for cheese steaks at three o’ clock in the morning. You will meet people dressed in costumes from anime you have never heard of and, now, never want to see. It’s a horrifically daunting, exhilarating, and generally rewarding experience.

So why should you take advice from me about going to a convention? Because I’m you. I’m the new guy, and I’m here to give you the new guy’s perspective on con-going, and I think I did pretty well for myself at the last few cons. I’m here to give you the 4 Essential Tips of Convention Attendance.

Writing Without Pants – Does Outlining Kill Creativity?

by Philip Overby

I’m not wearing pants. However, when writing novels, sometimes I like to sit in my jeans or maybe pajama bottoms. Wait a minute. I know what you’re thinking. “Is he really going to talk about the benefits of writing with or without pants?” Well, I was going to…

I think the more appropriate question might be, “How do you write?” Do you write with no pants (aka “seat of the pants writer” or “pantser”) or do you write with all your clothes laid out (aka “outline writer”)? This is an age old question that is often batted back and forth between writers of all types. When it comes to fantasy writing, boy, do you have a lot of work to do.

I’ll go point by point (with no pants), explaining why just making stuff up as you go along vs. outlining and world-building every minute detail can be both a pleasant and horrifying experience: like getting drowned by mermaids.

Give Up: You’ll Never Be Published

by Philip Overby

With self-publishing on the rise, you can now bypass the traditional route, but there are still some of us out there that prefer the “submit, submit, submit” method.

So why won’t you get published either way?

Well, let me tell you, young grasshopper. It could simply be that you’re not finishing anything.

Here are five reasons why:

How to Obliterate Writer’s Block

by Philip Overby

“I’m stuck.” These two words ring in your ears.

That blank page. The blinking cursor. After three hours of hard-work, all you have is this:

The Knight of Moonberries
by John R. R. R. R. Johnson

The knight walked…

And that’s it.

That blank page is waiting for you to blow it up. Fill it full of holes. Slash it, burn it, run over it with a tank.

So here I am to tell you how to forever and ever, eliminate writer’s block from your vocabulary. These are 5 ways (maybe not the Top 5, but nevertheless 5 ways) to smash writer’s block in the face and send it spiraling out into the cosmos.