Josh Vogt - Fantasy Author & Freelancer Posts

Whenever I finish the first draft of a manuscript, my impulse is to whip it through revisions, get a few quick glances from beta readers and then shove out it the door as soon as possible. Over the years, I’ve realized this hastiness forces me to often return to a…

We have a new article in this sporadic series of “Where do writers get their ideas?” CNN recently published this article: Study shines new light on Sun’s role in Earth’s climate. The titular quote comes from Joanna Haigh, who led the research this article covers: “The sun has been behaving…

As a huge fan of all things Sherlock Holmes, I’m both excited and wary in my latest discovery. BBC has released a trailer for an upcoming series, Sherlock, where a modern day Holmes and Dr. Watson team up to take on cases that have police out of their depth. Now, I’m…

Enjoy this bittersweet short film about a meteor’s brief existence. Fallen from Sascha Geddert on Vimeo. In other news, I just wrapped up my current work in progress, which clocked in at 90k words. Nice to have another one tucked away for a bit. It’ll get a round of revisions…

Again, these notes are not from me (and again, I wish they were). But Leanne Taylor of The Storytelling Dream-Thief blog has done an incredible job of transcribing a handful of panels from WorldCon. The topics range from political structures in science fiction to issues writers might consider taboo in…

Not from me, unfortunately. I would’ve loved to have gone to DragonCon, and someday shall. But a writer from Jim Butcher’s author forums was kind enough to post a slew of notes he took while attending the Con. Topics range from Characterization to the Physics of Magic to What Editors…

Actually, I’m not sure I’m so good at pontificating. Rambling? Sure. Doesn’t sound as cool, though. Anyways, thanks to a friend I met through the same writing conference I met my agent at, I’ve been invited to give a talk to the Boulder Writers Group next Saturday. The topic is “Literary…

After four years of blogging about all aspects of publishing, MoonRat, the anonymous author of Editorial Ass, has decided to no longer update the blog. This came from a number of factors, including personal busy-ness, job transitions, and MoonRat’s feeling that they’ve said pretty much all they can without starting…

Warning: This video is salted by a few naughty words, so easily offended folks might want to avoid. That said, a hilarious video. Thanks to Pub Rants for the find.  Subscribe in a reader

Over the years, I’ve come to recognize symptoms of various problems I’ve encountered in writing. One of these is when a scene (or the plot in general) is headed in the wrong direction. Either a character is doing something inconsistent (without a reason) or the plot-logic is flawed, or any…