One of my favorite aspects of storytelling is when the world feels alive without being told that it is. I know how that sounds a bit confusing, but it’s a really amazing concept when pulled off correctly. I was thinking about it was I finished a run of Hollow Knight and started playing Silksong. The … Continue reading The Strength of Implicit Worldbuilding
Tag: Novel
Book Review: The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
Most of the stories I read are often epic fantasy adventures with high stakes and dramatic moments, but I have to admit that I do enjoy cute and cozy stories as well. There is a very nice and relaxing vibe that these stories provide even though moments of drama and action. It might be because … Continue reading Book Review: The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
How to Write Effective and Characterful Voice and Dialogue
The way characters talk to one another and even themselves is something that often makes or breaks the flow of a story. Dialogue is often a reflection of a character’s personality but also how they view and interact with others. It’s a way of illustrating how they view the world in a manner that is … Continue reading How to Write Effective and Characterful Voice and Dialogue
Update and Progress on Books and Manga
Hello Everyone!March has been quite a month of development. I’m sure most have noticed that I haven’t posted any book reviews recently. I’ve mostly been focused on getting the worldbuilding established for the science fiction novel I’m working on, but I’ve also been working on the story for book 4 of The Legend of Nariko … Continue reading Update and Progress on Books and Manga
Adding Mystery to Worldbuilding
There is an old adage in storytelling that “show, don’t tell” is always important. There’s a lot of ways to interpret this saying and most of the time those interpretations are correct. The concept of showing the ideas and concepts in a story are usually always more impactful than simply stating it outright and explaining … Continue reading Adding Mystery to Worldbuilding
Book Writing Update and Progress
Hello everyone! Having just self-published my third book, I recognize I need to not let go of the momentum I currently feel. What I recognized about myself from 2024 is that I am not as disciplined as I was when I was younger, something I hopefully can fix for this year. The only issue is … Continue reading Book Writing Update and Progress
What I Learned From Publishing My Third Book
Hello everyone! It’s been a few days since I’ve published my third book, The Legend of Nariko: Shadows of a Dead World, and I had some time to reflect on the process. There was a lot of good but also a lot of bad I recognize that came out of how I approached writing it. … Continue reading What I Learned From Publishing My Third Book
Happy New Year and the Plan Going Forward
Hello everyone!I hope you’ve all had a good start to the year. I find it’s a good time for reflections on what happened last and planning around how to make this year better. It’s not necessarily a means to criticize oneself but to consider what worked and what didn’t work. One of the things I … Continue reading Happy New Year and the Plan Going Forward
Status of New Editions and Book 3’s Release
Hello everyone! Some great news and some mixed news. Starting with the great news. The print proofs for the new editions of The Legend of Nariko Mark of Silverfrost and The Goddess Prophecy should be arriving today! Redoing the map and correcting the book cover alignment took a bit longer than I expected. I wanted … Continue reading Status of New Editions and Book 3’s Release
Return from Vacation! But things are a bit rough
Hello Everyone! Sorry for the delayed post. I said I would return at the start of November and I’m late by a week. Unfortunately the past two weeks have been quite difficult as I ended up getting laid off from work basically the second day I was back. I wanted to be a bit candid … Continue reading Return from Vacation! But things are a bit rough
Raph's Cozy Musings 