The motley lot that we writers are, there’s a pretty massive split in opinions on outlines. Writers either adhere to them or abhor them, and there’s very little middle ground between. Myself, I’m a huge fan of the outline, and always employ at least one before a rough draft. But long before I start an outline, I begin a treatment, which will then hopefully morph into a bible. Treatments Before we tackle our writing bible study, let’s first focus on the treatment, which is bas

[From the Biba Sacara Book 7, Chapter 12] Now the people of Yestia turned against the will of Sol and gathered together an army against their rightful king Tomaz. And so Tomaz called out to his people, saying Let all men of age come forth that we might repel these usurpers. Among Tomaz’ subjects was the shepherd Cor who obeyed his king’s call and gathered his sons to him to depart for the Philo army. Cor also had a daughter named Ezria who desired to do the will of Sol along

It’s kind of funny* that we’ve spent the last three sessions on structure and are just now getting to characters even though characters are the most important aspect of a story. They are not only the proxy through which your audience experiences that wonderful plot you’ve planned out, but also the living, breathing soul of your story. I am well aware that the actual importance of characters is debatable, as any summer blockbuster will demonstrate. But such blockbusters can ge

[excerpt from Dobra Tales and Lore, collected by David Hooper] Long ago when glass was still new, a ship crashed against the shore and sank, none aboard surviving. The ship belonged to a king, and therefore carried great treasures that were spilled upon the ocean floor. The next morning all the children of the nearby village swam out to the wreck and discovered gold coins and gems of a thousand hues intermingled with the bodies of the dead and drowned. So they collected the t