Sentenced to Writing

Once upon a time there was a terrible bad guy who wanted to do terrible bad guy things. There was only one thing standing in his way: he had no clue why he wanted to do bad things. There is nothing worse than getting knee-deep into a story and finding out you have no idea why the villain is doing things. This glaring problem stopped my writing progress for months. I had a great story idea, and awesome characters to go with it, but I could not figure out what was motivating my villain to want to destroy the world. Without that piece I couldn't make any progress on my story. Who even is this guy? In the years that I'd been working on this story, I had neglected to think about what happened to all of my characters before they are introduced. Those experiences (still yet undiscovered) played a major role in the characters' decision making. This was glaringly obvious when it came to my villain. I needed him to want to destroy the world. That was the crux of my whole story. All o...

Sometimes we should try something outside of our comfort zone. Poetry is that something for me. I get so caught up on it being perfect, that I tend to forget the purpose of poetry: to illicit an emotion. What emotions do you feel as you read my poem? Once upon a time In a land far from here Dwelt a king and a queen And their daughter, so dear.  The child was delightful, Fair and so pure. A blessed ruler she would make, Of this they were sure.  Time passed along  As time often will And the princess grew up And developed a skill.  Her magic was smokey, A dark, clingy mist, And death did it bring To all that it kissed.  Her parents met An unseemly demise As they grew most decrepit  Right before her eyes.  The princess, she ruled Amidst death and despair But for the cries of her people She had not the slightest care.  Her enemies lay In mounds of pale bone The horrors they suffered Will never be known.  For the princess lay waste To all of the ea...