TaleBlend

News for Storytellers

[taleblend]

Censorship and the Storyteller's Role

Censorship and the Storyteller’s Role

When I was a child, I participated in a campaign to block the censorship of The Hobbit, by a group of religious fundamentalists in my hometown. The child of a church-going member of the group had apparently taken out a copy of JRR Tolkien’s first foray into The Shire and, upon the discovery that the book contained such “Pagan” themes as dragons, trolls and fellowships, instead of making the child…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

The Gambler's Ruin

The Gambler’s Ruin

“It was in the early years after our home was forever lost to us that saw the best that mankind had to offer. In the face of such a profound disaster and loss, the survivors put their best foot forward, selflessly offering help to those who could not help themselves. From Inner Sol to the Fringes of the Jovian System, great acts of bravery and heroism became the norm. Unfortunately, our baser…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

Stan Lee's Legacy as a Storyteller

Stan Lee's Legacy as a Storyteller Excelsior!

You’d be hard-pressed to find a person who didn’t know who Spiderman was. Or, for that matter, the X-men, Fantastic Four and Iron Man. Stan Lee’s legacy to the world makes up so much of contemporary mythology that his creations will be remembered for far longer than his name.

When I was a kid, I was raised on reruns of the 1967 Spiderman cartoon. I went out dressed as Spiderman on two different…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

It's Giveaway Time Again!

It's #Giveaway Time Again at TaleBlend!

In September, we arranged a giveaway for a free copy of The Fall of Gondolin, by JRR Tolkien. Numerous entries were received, and a winner was chosen.

However, while we are indeed lovers of fiction here at TaleBlend, we do what we do because we love the craft of storytelling. And so this time around, we wanted to give away something that was far more useful as a storytelling tool.

The RPG Maker…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

Making Maps for Fantasy and Science Fiction

Making Maps for Fantasy and Science Fiction

“Maps codify the miracle of existence.”

― Nicholas Crane

Making maps for fantasy literature have been a staple of the genre since L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. The tradition grew stronger with the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. These days, they’re practically a given. Readers love maps– but not all writers do. Some believe that maps distract from the story.

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

The Problem of Censorship in Writing Groups

The Problem of Censorship in Writing Groups

I was listening to an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience where he had the author of Fight Club and Choke, Chuck Palahniuk, as a guest. He spoke at length about how writing groups or workshops are slowly dying out because the authors themselves feel like they cannot tell other authors anything because they are afraid of offending anyone.

This got me thinking and I started to look into the thought…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

Ditch the Three-Act Structure

Ditch the Three-Act Structure

As a young writer, I met a man at a party who was a traditionally published author on a series of books about maritime history in Canada. At the time, having anything published was a far away dream situated firmly upon an unreachable horizon. At first, I had been keenly interested in what he had to say, and he was all too happy to share some advice with a young writer. He told me to learn the…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

The Importance of Your Writing Ritual

The Importance of Your Writing Ritual #amwriting #amwritingfiction

I have always found discipline to be an obstacle in writing, so I have tried every trick in the book. Once I had a girlfriend lock me up with nothing but a laptop that was cut off from the internet. It worked, but it was highly impractical since it wasn’t something that could be repeated daily. So, waiting for inspiration, I experimented with other methods. I wrote, “I can’t write anything,”…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

What Makes A Great Antagonist?

What Makes A Great Antagonist?

It’s a timeless problem for authors of all shapes and sizes. How do you write a great antagonist that does not become a cliched cartoon villain? Can you write a character that the reader is supposed to dislike while also understanding and maybe even empathizing with him?

It is all too easy to fall into the trap of loving your protagonists so much that you neglect to give your antagonists…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

A New Culture in Art & Writing

A New Culture in Art & Writing

Every so often society creeps into a bit of a stale state and there is a need for a revivification of the culture. I have felt this for some time now and I get the sense that many cultural institutions might have the problem of being stuck in a rut. There are very few innovative styles of writing that makes sense to the general public and most creatives within the institutions have lost all…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

Worldbuilding Ideology and Religion

Worldbuilding Ideology and Religion

This is a chapter excerpt from the upcoming TaleBlend Worldbuilder’s Guide, which will be released in December, 2018. To be kept up to date on the release of the book, please sign up for our mailing list in the right sidebar.

When a person has an idea, they can generally do one of two things; they can try and enact their idea, or they can simply fail to act upon it. Ideology, on the other hand,…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

Focus on Writing: A Guide for Disciplined Writing

Focus on Writing: A Guide for Disciplined Writing

The question of how to maintain your focus on writing projects is something even the most veteran of writers deal with. Many of them have advice for how to overcome this issue, but there just isn’t a one-size-fits-all method on how to focus on writing. With that said, reining in your muse isn’t as difficult as many might think. More often than not, effective writing discipline is developed…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

Developing Fantasy Names for Worldbuilding

Developing Fantasy Names for Worldbuilding

In order for us to understand how to properly develop fantasy names for the locations in our stories and worlds, we first need to take a moment to look how different cultures have named things historically. Chances are that any developing society will take the same routes.

So how did London get its name? We know for certain that Roman tablets recovered from the areashowed that the Romans referred…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

Character Analysis: Doctor Strange

Another @JHLillevik Character Analysis! This time around: Doctor Strange

Note: I will do this from the viewpoint of the movie as I do not feel I have read enough of the Doctor Strange comics to make a judgement on the comic version of the character. If anyone has any good idea about whether or not the movie character matches up or if my analysis matches the comic, please let me know in the comments down below.

I thought it was about time that I took a look at the…

View On WordPress

[taleblend]

Calling All Creative #Writers for the TaleBlend Creative #Writing #Survey! #amwriting Loading...

[taleblend]

[taleblend]

Diverse Character Representation Survey Results

Diverse Character Representation Survey Results

It’s no secret that one of the biggest discussions happening in the storyteller’s world surrounds the issue of diverse character representation. The female-led Ghostbusters reboot was the subject of scorn from the get-go. Controversies erupted when Scarlet Johansson accepted a role as a transgender man, prompting her to eventually turn it down. Video games like The Last of Usfeaturing straight…

View On WordPress