HeyJaredI've thought of an inciting incident for my book
Thoughts on art--books, movies, music, and boardgames + short fiction ++ a meme or two
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- Sep 24, 2026
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- Jul 16, 2026
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10 reasons Oasis sucks (opens the original)
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So Oasis got back together for the first time in over a decade to do a few shows and film a concert movie. So what, who cares, when are you writing the Great American Novel?Well, with Liam Gallagher’s nasal whine shrilling in my ears long after I turn off the radio, how’s a man to heed the Muse?Sing to me, muse, of an overrated band.1. Liam Gallagher’s nasal whineThe dude needs to take some Mucinex, gargle with salt water, and then, like, learn to vibrato if he’s gonna sustain the notes that lon
Fantasy for those tired of fantasy (opens the original)
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Fantasy was my first love. Reading The Lord of the Rings opened my ears to the call of writing. For a long time all I wanted to read was fantasy: C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, Rick Riordan, George MacDonald, Brian Jacques…I could go on. Every fantasy I’ve read, the good and the bad, has informed the fantasy I want to put out in the world someday. We hold the highest standards for the things closest to our hearts, so I am pretty critical of fantasy books in general. <a class="image-link image2 is-
Cheating your audience (opens the original)
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I don’t often finish a book or movie mad, but when I do, it’s because it cheated me. That doesn’t mean it was a bad book or movie. When I read a bad book I know pretty early on, “Oh, this is bad! I’ll adjust my expectations accordingly and will either DNF or continue reading in order to learn what not to do in my own writings.” No, the books/movies I get mad at are the ones that really tricked me into believing they were amounting to something superlative—rereadable, rewatchable, recommendable t
Tell me, muse, of a whiny little bitch (opens the original)
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The Odyssey is the second greatest poem ever written.1 Kept alive for centuries via oral tradition before being set to papyrus anywhere from the 8-5th centuries BC, it tells the tale of Odysseus, a Grecian king who fought at Troy, conceived of the Trojan Horse, and had many famous adventures on his way home. It’s a fabulous yarn for listeners and readers of all ages, jam-packed with action, mayhem, bad decisions, monstrosities, and bodacious minor goddesses. But everyone who’s tried to adapt the
Fan fiction - father v. son edition (opens the original)
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I’m probably not the only one who wrote 3 separate, several-hundred-page Lord of the Rings fan fictions as a kid, right? Heh heh, right, fellas? Let’s see Paul Allen’s LotR fan fiction…Whenever I visit home my mom always leaves one of those thicc binders laying out on the sofa for my perusal, and I always look through it because I’m some sort of sucker for cringing out of my body. Hmm, why yes, I think maybe I’ll pick up The Return of Sauron and see if I can detect any early glimmers of genius O
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