Sometimes I get asked for writing advice. I don’t know why, but I’ve answered enough messages that I feel like my only option is to come up with this list of questions and answers I’ve written. Some are actual messages sent to me by individuals, hence me repeating advice, but as time goes on, I hope to preempt questions by answering them here.

With that said, a disclaimer. I would advise anyone searching for writing tips to search the web for your favorite author and see what they’ve written. Everyone has their different take.

What’s the best writing style?
Question #1 [Writing improvement, character building, methodology]
Question #2 [Story ideas, self-insertion]
Question #3 [Money in writing]
Question #4 [Reading, characters, general advice]
Question #5 [Spontaneous characters and evolution]
Question #6 [Planning a chapter]
Question #7 [Taking writing classes]
Question #8 [Popularity, 6 months of nothing]
Question #9 [Character building]
Question #10 [Starting out as a writer]
Question #11 [Creating characters and plot timing]
Do you have a process for designing new critters?
On a rough average how many times do you restart writing a passage?
Do you spend more time thinking about what you’ll write, or writing about what you think?
Question #15 [Writing a genius]
Does it feel weird to have readers who at times seem to know the story that you wrote better than you do?
Does Pirate(aba) get sad?
The Weight Room Theory

What’s the best writing style?

This is a question I get a lot, albeit never in this exact manner. People ask me how many words I write per day, or how I write, or when I write. I can get into the details of how to make writing better, but my first response to this kind of questions is don’t copy me.

The reason is that I have my own, unique style and it works for me and perhaps no one else. There are a lot of people who swear by writing at least X number of words per day. And there are quite famous writers who follow such systems, but I think that’s a big trap a new writer can fall into.

Here’s an example. I don’t write a set number of words per day. Five days out of the week I will write at most a few thousand words. Usually I endeavor to write none at all. But two days out of the week? Of late, I’ve been writing chapters that range from 10,000 words to 20,000+ words if it’s a really long chapter.

I write in chunks. I sit down, and because I’m a self-employed writer, I can sit and write almost nonstop for 9+ hours in one go. It works for me and I can write a chapter like that. But that style is clearly not for everyone. I found it worked for me, but prior to writing in this manner, I had tried writing 2,000 words per day, or 400 words per day, until I realized I was burning out, and starting to hate writing because of it.

Everyone has their own style, and part of learning to write is finding your own. My best advice is actually to take other people’s advice with giant handfuls of salt, because it’s all subjective. What works for a popular writer may not work for you.

Writing is most definitely not a formulaic process, where you can copy and paste what other people do and expect it to work for you. It’s highly individualistic, so believe me when I say that your best writing style is your own. The key is studying other writers to figure out what they do that you can emulate and make your own style.

Question #1

I was wondering how you managed to come up with a world and a plot that are just…. colorful, I suppose would be the word. Colorful and interesting and oh-so-alive. They just feel so… alive, with all that entails. I mean, everyone has their own methods and such, but a little insight would be greatly appreciated.

In brief, I’d break down my best advice into three parts:

Firstly, understand that writing is one of the true skills, more so than even something like running or playing a board game is. You can improve at most everything, but talent does provide an edge, as well as body physique in areas like physical activities. But universally, a writer improves by how much they’ve written. A common statement some writers make is that you won’t write your ‘good’ books until you’ve written 1 million bad words. Well, that’s true and not true. I definitely wrote at least 1 million words before TWI, but I never regarded anything as trash. I gave it my 100% each time and while I admit that my previous works aren’t as strong as I can write now, some of them have gems that I can’t replicate to this day. So keep writing, don’t give up. That’s #1.

The second piece of advice I have is to think constantly about your characters. Don’t just create characters who’ll do what you want. Those are puppets. Think about who your character is. What would they do if they were in a situation you didn’t imagine? What I do sometimes is ask: what would X character do in their time off? Or imagine a fun or silly situation. What would Az’kerash, bane of the living and nightmare of millions do if he was in a bathroom without toilet paper? What would Ilvriss do? Erin? Silly stuff, but if you don’t know, then perhaps your character isn’t fleshed out as well as you think. Poking at your world, asking why things are the way they are is a mark of a Writer as opposed to a writer. Not my words; that was said of Terry Pratchett by Neil Gaiman, and those are true Writers I try to emulate.

Lastly, and most importantly perhaps, remember this. People will tell you to write every day, hold yourself to a standard. They might say write at least 200 words every day. Or try to write 2,000, or do this, or do that. I don’t write like most people. I write in huge chunks, and I refuse to work on other days at all. I have my style. And that’s because it took me a long time to learn that writing is subjective. No advice will ever suit you perfectly. You’ll have to find out your own style and nothing, not even the basics are necessarily what you should be doing. Take all advice with salt.

Question #2

I just wanted to know where, or how you draw inspiration from the world? I’d love to start writing more often but I’ve got no idea of what to write, in many ways. I’m told my actual basic skills, i.e. grammar, vocabulary, description, worldbuilding, characterization and so forth range from decent to quite good, but I’ve no idea on what I’d even write, just that I want to inspire others.

My second question is more of a personal nature, I suppose. I’m just dying to know if you’ve written in a self-insert, because my instincts are screaming at me that either Erin or Ryoka is it. Of course, it’s quite the personal question, so I’m perfectly happy to never have it answered, but there is a certain… satisfaction to getting those sorts of things right, I suppose.

I’ll first say that the story you end up writing is the one you want to write. The story that burns so hot that you can’t help but write it. I’ve been in the same boat (everyone has), where we feel like we should force ourselves to write something. That’s usually the wrong move; it’s entirely possible to write a story that you don’t need to write and do it well if your technical skills are high enough. I’ve done it for chapters I don’t like as much and other career writers (and non-fiction writers, moreso than fiction writers I would suppose) have to do it. But that’s not what will create a great story, and I firmly believe it is from our best stories that we grow as writers.

So, my reply is to think of the story of stories. Not the story you think would make a good book because yo uhave to write it, but the story that will be told for a thousand years. Each time you write a book, try to write that story. I may have been a bit hyperbolic, but what I mean is to write your best one, the one you’re passionate about. Accept nothing less. As for how to find that story, well, that’s more about understanding what calls to you. Remembering your fondest dreams, your most exciting characters. Coming up with them–it’s an invidivual process. And like writing, it takes time. Sometimes a writer burns out and needs months or a year to find that great story or motivation again.
My suggestion is to take long walks with a phone or notes to write on in case inspiration strikes, read great books, comic books, watch great shows (the operative word being great, inspirational, not trash or stuff that is mediocre), and keep your ideas bubbling in the back of your mind. Because you’re focused, your brain will pick up on things and offer you more and more suggestions. A flood of them as time goes on. The trick is not settling for second-best. Find the great story, then work from there. TWI was one of my great stories. Several, in fact. It’s one of the reasons why I can write it with confidence and why it’s still going on.

As to your second question and you can spread this far and wide: no. It is my personal belief that self-insertion is not appropriate for an author. It trends too much to the idea of Mary Sue characters, or characters an author ‘cheats’ with, is reluctant to do as they must with as a fair and unique character. I’ve never done it.

With that said, my characters reflect me. An author cannot write someone that they do not in some way understand, and Ryoka has parts of me. Erin does too. So does Pisces, Az’kerash–they’re perspectives. Some stronger than others, and if you held a magnifying glass with one of my characters up to me, you would see a lot of similarities. But also differences.

I based those characters on what I know, gave them aspects or characteristics I had personally had or gone through because there’s nothing else in my toolbox, and then I let them change and grow as their own people. None of them are me. I admire them and hate them based on what I see of myself in them, but so do all readers when they read a character.

Question #3

1) Clearly, you sell your stories on amazon. So my question is thus, do you make enough to support a stable income? Meaning do you make enough in sales to support the basics like a home, a car, (though big city folks like me can often get by with no car for their entire lives), and you know….not be (poor?) Not sure how to properly word this question. Forgive me for this.

2) Or, do you work a second job alongside your writing that keeps you afloat?

3) Anything miscellaneous you can tell me?

Your questions about writing are quite important, and I’ll try to answer them as best I can. However, my best response to your questions is that if money is the motivating force for you to write or not write, it would be better to abandon your hopes altogether.

Put bluntly, no author should ever assume they’ll earn a stable income. I am friends with a lot of great authors who have written multiple books and earn very, very little per month. Certainly nothing that would even come close to a stable or supplemental income. For myself, I have managed to earn enough to employ myself and make writing a full-time job, but that is still not a lot if you compare it to other job incomes. It is enough for me to live with all the basics, but things like buying a car or a home might yet still be beyond me.

Writing is not profitable. I am a rare exception in that I was fortunate enough to have many factors come together in my favor, and I still don’t earn huge amounts of money. Up till a year ago I was working a part-time job to feed myself, and that is what most writers do. If you decide to write, you will most likely have to work another job for years and success will not necessarily come your way. Writing must be done because you love it, not because you expect anything out of it.

All of this isn’t meant to deter you, but just to let you know what this world looks like. Money isn’t really something you should think about when you start writing. If you have a story in your heart, write it. Find a way to earn money and live your life and make writing your goal, the thing you do on the side with your free time. If you can one day monetize it, that is excellent, but it cannot be something you base your future on, because it is such a perilous journey where luck and chance sometimes play as much of a role as good writing itself. All I can say that is if you want to write, write.

I hope this helps and doesn’t deter you from writing. As money issues go, self-published writers earn very little and it takes a very large audience and usually numerous books earning royalties before you’ll earn enough money to even consider living off of. But once again, that’s really not the point. Write if you want to and good luck.

Addendum: At the time of writing, I was earning just enough money to push me over the poverty line in my country. And even then, I considered myself extremely fortunate, given how hard it is for writers in general to make a living in this industry. The main point is that expecting money for your writing is the wrong way of looking at things.

Question #4

I’m curious how you became so good at writing your characters; and what your process is for creating them, making each one so different and so interesting within the narrative.

To answer your question, it’s hard to narrow down exactly what helped me learn to write. I wouldn’t ever say I’m a good writer, but I can say that I’ve improved immensely due to a couple of things.

First, I read tons of books as a kid, all revolving around fantasy. I’d say that’s a big step. Reading a thousand books (at least) gets you a huge sense of how good plot and bad plot is laid out, what good dialogue sounds like, how characters act, and so on. It might not be something you can explain, but I definitely have some intuition thanks to all that reading as a kid and later on.

Second, I’d say that I do regard each character as a person. They have their own beliefs and motivations; it might sound obvious, but even when I create a character to act as a plot device or so on, it still has to be believable person. If they’re a jerk, they have to be one who has a motive. No one’s who they are just because; an author needs to explain a bit of why they do things to readers.

It’s all usually very spontaneous for me; I come up with a general person or idea like Pisces is an arrogant [Necromancer], and begin adding to his character, giving him a past, motivations…I can’t really describe it, but I can only say that the final thing that separates good writers from bad is usually this:

Writing. Constant, non-stop writing. One writer claimed that no good writing can be written until an author finishes writing at LEAST one million words of content. I think that has a lot of truth to it; writing can have geniuses, but even they have to learn the craft. And the more someone writes, the better they become. I was a terrible writer a year or two ago (and even had trouble with my first few chapters), but all this writing that I have to do has improved my ability quite a lot, or so I feel.

Only poets get to write when they’re motivated, and even then, I feel like they write tens of thousands of poems we’ll never see in their heads. Writers need to keep writing; lack of desire or ‘Writer’s Block’ isn’t really an excuse. By forcing myself to write and not sticking to a set plot all the time, my characters can surprise me too: their motivations can lead me to write entire plot points I’d never thought of because it is something they would do.

Question #5

My understanding of what you said is: you decide to write a character, give them a name and tag (Pisces, arrogant Necromancer), then build the character on that logically (in the sense of cause and effect) through the plot and character interactions.

Have you written characters that developed more in response to the needs of the plot you were writing rather than developing from the character history and the circumstances of the plot?

I think you have my way of making characters pretty well understood, but I would say that I never try to put any character in a bubble. In other words, even if Pisces is a Necromancer, that doesn’t define him. He can change, and indeed, the best characters surprise the readers in believable ways. Pisces has depths, past, and his own reasons for being the way he is. Think you understood that, but just want to reiterate.

And yes, I have written characters just for the sake of the plot, just as I’ve written characters and then written the plot around them. If I have a great idea for someone I want to meet, then I’ll totally move the story to fit them in. On the other hand, if I need someone, I’ll make them, just hopefully not in a two-dimensional way.

Brunkr is an example of a character I needed because of the plot. I knew I needed a Gnoll, and so there he was. On the other hand, Octavia was intended to be a throwaway character at first, but then as I came up with the idea of the String People, I had to make her a bigger character and so Ryoka found her alchemist.

Question #6

I was wondering if you had any tips on how to regularly write quality stuff, at a speedy pace. Do you plan really well, allowing you to just follow your plan as you write, or do you make it up on the spot? Do you just write really fast, like WPM over 100?

I do plan out my story, at least in the general sense. I know what each new chapter is probably going to have in it, and I know how The Wandering Inn ends, and major plot points. But I also like to keep things new and exciting, so I constantly add minor or major details that might alter the plot. If something sounds good or I have a great idea while writing, in it goes.

It’s all about experience, really, and finding the time and rhythm to write in. I give myself a lot of time to write and I’ve had practice writing, so I know what I can and can’t do. I don’t think I write too fast, although I’ve certainly gotten a lot quicker as time has gone by. Remember, the first chapters of the story were only a few thousand words long. It might take me around…6 hours to write 10,000 words, which means I tend to write at 1700 words per hour, but writing isn’t about speed.

Addendum: I forgot to mention in the original email that my planning is usually done a day in advance, on my ‘off’ days. I’m all for inspiration and improvisation in the moment. But sitting down and then trying to figure out my chapter? That’s something I should have done yesterday, or at the very least earlier in the morning.

Question #7

I was thinking about going to an art college that has a writing major. I don’t know if I will do this yet, but for example I know California College of the Arts has a writing program. I was wondering if you attended college or are attending and how do you feel about the matter? Did you plan to be a freelance fiction writer? Was that your goal?

I have attended college. I took one course dedicated to creative writing, and that was it. I’d say from what I hear that taking a writing major might work or it might not–some say it’s very helpful, yet I personally never wanted to take a course like that.

Writers draw from their experiences, and so learning about the world helps just as much as a writing course. With that said, a writing class can teach you if you need to brush up on the fundamentals, or you want to study styles or just write for practice. It’s up to you.

I never planned on being a freelance fiction writer. I didn’t know I wanted to be writer until a few years ago, and I was aiming to be a published novelist instead. I was simply in the right place at the right time to jump in on web serial writing. Don’t constrain yourself is my advice, and I hope you have good luck in whatever you choose to do!

Question #8

Hey, I was wondering if like when you first started on here did you get discouraged by comparing your growth to others on here? (Referring to RoyalRoad website)

I try never to compare myself to others. My advice is simple. Never look at your ranking. Never look at your views. Just keep to your schedule and write on. That’s why my main story is NOT on Royalroad–it’s on my own site, where rankings don’t matter. I only put my story on Royalroad after I had my own community. My advice to all web writers is not to expect even more than a single comment until you’ve been working for 6 months.

6 months, with no views, no comments, no recognition. I think that’s the bar people struggle with. And it will be far, far longer if your goal is sustaining yourself with writing monetarily or achieving accolades. There is no good advice I can give besides keep writing for the sake of writing. For the one or two people who read and enjoy your work. If I offer any other words about ranking, numbers and so on, it will all be subjective and unhelpful.

Advertise your work, by all means. Stress about it, engage your audience, all those good things. But write because you want to, not because you’re expecting something for it.

Question #9

I’m trying to write my own story but it’s coming in pieces and tidbits; nothing coherent. Something I admire about The Wandering Inn is how the characters have DEPTH to them. I’m not sure if you’ve ever read The Wheel of Time series – the female protagonists on there are so FLAT. I am desperately trying to avoid that in my own story. (Asking how to write characters. Also, I like The Wheel of Time.)

I get a lot of questions about my characters, and I understand the struggle all writers have in making their stories come alive. I’ve read the Wheel of Time, and I understand your frustration with those characters–however, some writers tend to characterize their readers in a style. Robert Jordan’s method of writing his characters is hit-or-miss, but he is generally consistent in how the characters he writes evolves. It’s just their personalities that some find unbearable or worse, unbelievable.

…

But as for writing characters…I think there’s no golden rule to guide you, but I can tell you that when I think of a character, I daydream about what they’ll say, what they’ll do, how they act, how they interact with other characters, their ambitions, dreams, dislikes, fears…everything you would think of in a real person. The trick is that I do this constantly.

It’s easy enough to say ‘Pisces is a [Necromancer]’, and write a character like that. But it is infinitely more preferable to me to know that Pisces is a fan of wine because he’s snobbish, hates finger-foods for the same reason, prefers undead to have a sense of style…you see how these things all connect together? I try to build a picture of a person, rather than a snapshot.

Question #10

I have toyed with writing a novel for a long time (5 or 6 years) and I have come up with varying ideas with different settings and premises, but I never know how I should start writing. What type of outline I should write before I start? Should I just write as I come up with ideas? If you do suggest an outline could you give me an example because I have no idea how detailed the outline should be before I start writing.

Also since I am a beginner are there any tips you could give me in general that I am just to ignorant to ask about?

My advice to all new writers is to prepare to fail, to understand that there is no way to prepare to fail, not to expect to fail, to write as if every book is going to be your best, and to start writing and stop thinking about it. I’ll explain that as briefly as I can.

Most writers write terrible first novels. I did, and I can point to countless famous writers who were the same. With that said, some people come out with wonderful first novels, but even if they do, their second or third novel is usually even better. And yet, it’s important to write with passion and keep writing if a novel fails. Once you’re done a good writer edits their word, revises, edits again, and that’s true of a good novel and one they’ll never sell. Because the work matters.

And when you write, you get better. If you write one book, your second one will be even better. If you write three, your fourth will be better and so on. I wrote the equivalent of about 5 novels before The Wandering Inn. All of which I was proud of in some way, but none of which were ever a success by any metric.

That’s not meant to discourage you, but it is a fact. Writing is exceptionally hard, which is why it’s okay to make it a hobby or okay to treat it as something that you won’t do for a living. But I would say that a good Writer will keep writing despite failure and other distractions while wannabee writers give up for lack of attention or validation. No one will listen to you at first, even if you make a web serial. It took me over a year before I had any kind of comments or viewership on my web serial, and that was a long and lonely road.

Now, all of this is just to preface the journey of writing. When it comes to the writing, my advice is simpler because you will find your own style as you go. Absolutely come up with an outline even if it’s only in your head, but it doesn’t have to be detailed. Come up with a world you want to write, a character that you love, or a plot that grips your soul and go for it. Some writers like to detail every aspect of the plot–others, like me, change up the narrative on the fly on a whim because that’s more entertaining to us. But the key is to start writing with a firm idea of what should be in your head and not to procrastinate too long or start writing with no clear idea whatsoever.

If you want more advice, I’d suggest you search up Brandon Sanderson’s YouTube videos or look at writing tips from the greats like Neil Gaiman or Stephen King. Actually, don’t bother with my suggestions, Google your favorite writer and see what they have to say on the subject. Just remember that writing is a subjective process and no one’s word is law. Especially not mine.

Question #11

Did you build all your characters before you started the story?

Not at all. I started with some characters in mind. Ryoka, Erin, Relc, Klbkch, and interestingly, Flos, but many were spontaneously created. That works for a web serial if you really work on new characters and build them like people who evolve as the story requires. I would hesitate to do that for a novel though, because that would pretty much mean you’d have to rewrite the story after you finish it.

That’s not a bad thing because some authors will write a first draft and then write the same story again, but with all the expertise of knowing how the story should go, but it’s not my style. Web serials allow for that kind of organic growth and creativity and all I can say is that if you’re not the type to plan out how a story should go in every detail, don’t worry about coming up with more than a central cast, or having a main character or two and leaving spots for others to be added.

Did you make a timeline for which character comes when and what happens at certain times? If yes did you also make it before you started to write on the story?

Again, the answer’s no, but I do have broad plot points I’m always writing towards. They do matter chronologically, but it’s completely possible to switch around plots to have certain events come quicker, slower, or not at all. Having an outline in mind before writing is very important, but the execution of the story can change as you see fit.

Do you have a process for designing new critters?

Yes, absolutely! It’s ‘make it fun’, or ‘make it original’! I used to read the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual as a kid, and coming across interesting monsters would make me smile. Unfortunately, the novelty of new creatures both horrific and amazing wore off quick as I realized a lot of designs are, well, copied from others.

Everyone has a horrific squiggly organs-thing, or a big monster with tentacles and teeth for a boss monster. That’s boring. And frankly, lazy. A creature should be as unique as possible. That doesn’t mean completely outlandish of–no one’s thought of a 5-dimensional neiLioth who speaks in the tongues of voiceless infants and has a 52-bone arm with liquid-metal joints because that’s unrealistic and silly.

But what about a…spice dog? A dog whose fur is coated with a pollen or spore it produces that’s unbelievably hot. Naturally it’s a great defense mechanism, but you could see the dog domesticated and being highly valuable. But then the issue arises: what happens if the wind blows and you’re downwind? What if it’s wet and it comes in and shakes off?

That’s a silly example I just came up with, but it’s what I like to see. It’s hard to be completely original, but adding your own twist that makes something truly unique is better than creating another forgettable creature. They second trick is making your creature make sense in the world. Give it biology, motivations, an ecological niche…let’s not have unicorns wandering about unless someone asks the question of where they’re pooping and if unicorn poop is a more powerful magical manure.

On a rough average how many times do you restart writing a passage?

Honestly? Almost never. I’ve mentioned that my style is to write a very strong first draft, and as a result I have to write in a way that doesn’t really allow for me backtracking. I think this is mostly having established my narrative voice and having experience in, well, writing this story.

Back when I started The Wandering Inn, I definitely backtracked and had to fight to figure out how to explain something. And when I write a new character, I think I’d probably backtrack more then. But at any other time? Very rarely. It’s only in the scenes where I know I have to deliver a certain emotion, or capture a certain idea that I’ll go back and restart for a better version.

Or if I’m off my groove. If that happens, I’ll delete 6k+ words if I have to. That’s usually when I’m tired, or I’ve taken the chapter the wrong way. It’s a disaster when it occurs, but it has happened.

Do you spend more time thinking about what you’ll write, or writing about what you think?

Cute question. Thinking about what I’ll write, by far. It’s a very bad idea, in my opinion, to write blindly and hope it’ll all turn out well. You can do that if you have a broad idea, but you have to know your characters and world very well to pull that off, and it still comes across as meandering.

I think that’s a technique a novel writer can come up with, because they can cut and revise. For me, everything has to make sense in terms of plot or I have to fix it. I most definitely cannot kill off a character and then bring them back or do something stupid, so I think of what I’m going to do–then ask what that will affect.

For instance, if I have a big plot point coming up, I think on how it’ll happen–and then about all the characters and events it may affect and whether or not it all makes sense. If I run into inconsistencies or plot holes in my head–or if I think it’s just stupid–it’s back to the drawing board. Thinking and re-thinking about what I’m going to write in my next chapter is a big component of the days when I don’t write a word.

Question #12

How do you write a “genius” if you yourself aren’t a genius? Or maybe more generally, how do you write characters that have levels of competence greater than you possess? Or maybe more specifically, how do you know what the most amazing strategist in the world, Niers, is going to do next?

Ooh. That’s the same question I had a while back. I’d like to say I have a good answer, but…

Here’s the way I see it. When you write a character, any character at all, be them villains or monsters or aliens or robots—or sapient dirt or something—it’s impossible to write what you don’t know. As an author, we can guess intent and motivation, but knowing is impossible. For instance, when I write someone who’s older than me, I simulate their thoughts and take into account their age.

Easy enough because age is a somewhat universal thing, right? However, I do have to research hard to take into account details that give me away. Like thinking of muscle pain if I were completely healthy and that was never something I experienced. Research can close the gap in writing a foreign prespective, as can simply thinking of how a character acts in any given situation.

The other trick that writers rely on, though, is uncertainty. We can write robots and aliens because no one knows what such beings would be like. Or if they do, they ain’t saying. So our illusion of an alien holds up…so long as we can keep our characterization consistent. Those two elements allow me to make up any kind of character I want fictionally. I can write a dragon. I can represent an android.

But geniuses? Geniuses are tough for two reasons. One: there’s not as much research you can do about what it’s like to just be…smarter than anyone else. It’s not something as easy to approximate. And two, it’s something that is concrete so people can more easily judge if a character is smart by their standards.

That’s my preface. Now, how do I deal with it? I would say I manage to write a genius because I’m writing a type ‘b’ genius, as opposed to type ‘a’.

Allow me to explain. To give two examples of genius, you have two types. Either a genius is someone who can think or act in ways that a ‘normal’ person can never predict…or they’re simply able to get from A to Z faster than anyone else. Both ways can be written, but you have to be clear on what kind of a character you’re writing. And for me, I write the latter.

Ryoka’s one version of a genius. A flawed one, with many traits that detract from her ability, but exceptionally smart nonetheless. She’s not that hard to write because what she does is figure out things or use information in ways that other people could—but a lot faster. An example would be coming up with a plan in seconds where other people would take minutes. Similarly, in most stories, the genius is really just someone who comes up with a clever solution to a predicament that anyone could come up with given time.

One great example of this is Sherlock Holmes. He’s a genius, but all he does is make inferences the audience could faster than we can, or even with information we don’t have access to. His Japanese counterpart, Shinichi Kudo of Detective Conan is similar in this regard. He solves mysteries by putting together facts and clues in each story very quickly. A sharp member of the audience can actually guess the answer along with him, but in-universe, Shinichi and Holmes work far beyond other characters. Thus, a genius is born.

Those are just two examples. But really, a genius is simply a different kind of character. It’s most important to know how to show them in context rather than to write them in a way that screams ‘amazing genius!’ all the time. Both Holmes and Shinichi have characters that react to their abilities in a way that shows genius, rather than explicitly telling the reader how smart they are without proof.

And that is all Type B genius, or the ‘relatable genius’. I can do it, to a lesser or greater degree of skill, and most people can write that character with effort. But a Type A genius? True talent? That’s…different.

I don’t think I’ve ever created a character that’s truly intelligent beyond my level of intelligence. Because the problem with writing a character smarter than you are is that they have to be smarter, and thus think of something that you and the readers could not in a million years. A character like that would think and act in a way that I have no frame of reference for. In some ways, it’s almost a paradoxical or philosophical argument on whether anyone can write a character like that. But, I think it can be done.

The key to writing a complete genius would probably be the same as writing the relatable genius. Effort. Studying. Mental simulation. However, to write the complete genius I think you’d need to shadow people who are that intelligent. Not only give the task of writing their character at least ten times more time and effort than other characters, but wait for pure inspiration. The kind of burning connect-the-dots moment that wakes you up from your sleep or hits you out of nowhere. Revelations and insights that you’d never make except in moments of pure grace. And you’d take all that and create a character that acts and lives in a different world from the one you normally inhabit.

In short, it’s not easy. Or really practical if you’re writing a web serial. I think a novelist could pull it off, definitely. And the more people you observe, the easier it would be to take on a foreign mindset. But I’ll stick to the relatable genius.

They’re easy to write in some ways. After all, genius just means you’re quicker to come to conclusions. It means you come up with innovative ideas, but a writer can design the trap so you can manufacture a key suitable to the character you write. In the end, a genius is just you, scaled up in some way. But I have no idea how to write the other genius. Because, in the end, I’m not one.

PS: Niers is totally a genius of the relatable type, by the way. Experience drives him, as does having those perfect insights to a problem that his opponents lack. If they’re all grasshoppers on the road of life, he’s…an older grasshopper. With a beard.

Does it feel weird to have readers who at times seem to know the story that you wrote better than you do?

Not at all. I write a chapter once. But a reader rereads multiple times. I reread The Wheel of Time multiple times, and I know Robert Jordan had trouble keeping his plot points in order for that very reason.

I’d be more embarrassed if I wasn’t writing a web serial, honestly. But given how I’m constantly trying to think ahead, I often make mistakes in remembering what I’ve done. As I’ve said before (I think), in writing The Wandering Inn, I’m essentially running a huge simulation in my head. I know the big plotlines, I know how characters should end up, and what plotlines intersect…but I am still writing things chapter by chapter. Sometimes I’m plotting ten chapters ahead, other times I’m sweating because I have no idea what goes in this chapter.

And what’s best/worse is when a character strides onto the scene and steals everything. They literally derail the plot, change it, or make it warp around them. Pyrite is one such character. And to an extent, so is Pisces. And…maybe Reynold. But, I would hope, they feel natural in the story because the instant I realize I need to make a change, I have to reflect it across all the emerging plotlines. It’s the butterfly effect each time. It’s great–but difficult to control.

All this to say that this is still a first draft. And it has mistakes, plenty, plenty of typos, but I’d hope, less huge errors. Small ones like bags of holding containing less than what I wrote earlier isn’t a bad mistake. Bad mistakes would be things I can’t take back like…well, I can’t think of an error that huge yet. But if I err, I’m at least reassured that you’ll call me out on it! Another perk of having an audience as engaged as you all.

Do you guys think pirate gets sad? Writing sad things?

First off, it’s pirateaba. Pirate is a different character. But I’m just nitpicking. And this is a good question, so I decided to answer it because it speaks to the type of writer I think I am.

The answer is yes. Pirateaba the writer gets sad when writing. Sometimes I get angry, other times I just write cold. But often I’ll laugh when writing a moment meant to be funny, get angry and write an angry scene, or a hard one…and when a character dies, I’m sad. Because I write with my emotions.

Obviously writing is a very individualistic process. But I do think there are some writers who don’t need to be upset when a main character bites the dust or something bad happens. They can write a horrible, painful scene and do it great justice without so much as reaching for a tissue because they know the character and the story and they are technically good enough to convey emotion without needing to feel it. But I’m not that type of writer.

When I kill a character, I get sad. Sometimes I cry while writing. That’s because with few exceptions, I like the characters I write. I can’t write a character and not like them in some way; otherwise I wouldn’t be motivated to tell their story. In that sense I’m a poor writer because I can only write what I feel passionate about. And killing characters is very, very hard for that reason.

But I do it because it’s what happens in the story. To me, a writer who prioritizes saving a favorite character because they want to, or avoids having bad things happen because they want their chosen character to succeed is a bad writer. The plot is seperate from your feelings. It has to make sense. Your job as a writer is to bring to life the characters and story as best you can. Even if it kills you as a character dies.

The question is, does pirateaba feel sad? Yes. Sad, sad, desolate. When a character dies, I might be crying and typing, but I am still writing. And in that moment I write my best. Some of the best moments in the story were written with tears in the eyes. And I try to get into that headspace whenever a powerful moment comes along. Powerful music for triumphs, painful music for sad moments–it’s one of the reasons why I’m constantly searching for the best songs that click with me. To deliver me into those emotional headspaces more easily.

It is a double-edged sword, though. Because if I can’t get into the flow state, if I can’t be sad, I can only rely on my basic abilities to write what should be a painful scene. And I lack confidence in my writing then–it leads to uncertainty in how a chapter comes out. That’s why, sometimes, I say after a chapter that it might be awful. Because I didn’t feel I’d written out the depths or heights of emotion I’d felt in my mind and put it on the screen. But that’s what every person who creates feels.

It’s impossible to capture exactly what we feel–we can only deliver a portion of that to the reader. The trick of tricks is getting them to fill in the empty spots and have an experience just as powerful to them. So the next time you cry over a scene, remember that pirateaba might have been crying too.

The Weight Room Theory, by pirateaba

This is a common phenomenon I’ve observed among readers, or people in general. To preface this, I have a Discord and I sometimes chat with readers.

This occurred when I was writing about lifting weights in a chapter (Insert Chapter Here). During my stream and the chapter, I made a point to write new species (Drake, Gnolls, etc.), as well as those with classes and Skills that enhanced their strength testing out the bench press by themselves for the first time.

It was meant to be a fun chapter demonstrating a number of events, from the mechanics of weight lifting making a difference to the differences in biology across species and gender—one point I can remember being that it wasn’t a difference in female vs male Gnoll max reps, for one thing.

However, what stood out to me was when I threw out the number that 200 lbs was ‘high’ for Humans, and that a trained [Guard] could hit that—the average person? Not so much.

I was basing this on internet searches of statistical data. But my readers assured me that it was, in fact, something the average Human man could bench even without weight lifting experience.

I called bullshit. However, people told me that they could do it, so I put out a challenge: pics or it never happened. Video for preference.

I have yet to see one image. This is not to call all of my readers weak or delusional, but to highlight a common reaction the readers gets to have.

‘If it was me, I’d do it better’. Or ‘if it was me, I could do it’. Same with…emergencies. The fact is most people faced with a sudden emergency they are not prepared for do not react well. They freeze up, they make poor decisions.

It’s not a failing, it’s just reality. But the perception is that it’s not you. I’ve been in that scenario personally and seen it happen. Just remember as a writer that readers have that opinion.

Also remember it doesn’t excuse bad writing. Just that if you want to write a character freezing, someone performing a feat of strength that is impressive technically—some people might object. They think they can lift 200 lbs.

They can not.