Cities of the Mind Writing

10/20/2018

Hey, so I haven't put anything up on CitiesoftheMind in forever, but I have started a PodCast on another site that you guys should consider checking out: https://somewhereamerica.com/map/life-advice-from-a-31-year-old-broke-single-guy-sleeping-in-a-hammock-in-his-parents-backyard/1/

A Ringing Endorsement I realize that title doesn’t seem a particularly compelling biography for anyone giving advice, but either I rise above this, and it is inspiring, or I don’t, and this a cautionary tale. Either way, pay attention. I’m not sitting around smoking joints while I mooch off my...

09/29/2018

Just a quick look at a test run through Gutenberg, the new writing plugin from WordPress. And my new video software. And my new microphone. There are some errors because I'm incredibly bad a juggling, metaphorically and literally. Anyway, it's not good, just so you know.
https://citiesofthemind.com/a-video-review-impression-of-gutenberg/

A Video Review/Impression of Gutenberg Just a quick look at a test run through Gutenberg, the new writing plugin from WordPress. And my new video software. And my new microphone. There are some

07/18/2017

http://www.azed.gov/communications/2017/07/07/yavapai-co-schools-rally-during-goodwin-fire/

Had a great time writing this article and taking these pictures. I'm also pretty excited to see it as the top article for the Arizona Department of Education's new site launch!

The Goodwin Fire Fire season in rural Arizona is off to a dangerous start. Among the dozens of fires that have erupted across the state this past month was the Goodwin Fire, near Prescott. The fire moved rapidly through the brush and chaparral, expanding from 4000 acres on Friday to almost 25,000 on...

07/01/2017

If a soulless husk on a server can't motivate you, maybe you just aren't the sort of person who can appreciate a really great font choice.

06/12/2017

The Two Wolves I'm going to jump into the guide to internal antagonists in a moment, but first I want to tell you a very short story. It's a very old story, to which I've seen various origins ascribed, and, given its simplicity, I suspect has risen independently with small variations many times in the history of the world: A young man came to his grandfather one day, distraught, asking for his counsel. [ 1,684 more word ]

http://citiesofthemind.com/basic-guide-internal-antagonists/

Basic Guide to Internal Antagonists The Two Wolves I'm going to jump into the guide to internal antagonists in a moment, but first I want to tell you a very short story. It's a very old story

05/23/2017

Bad Villains Happen Look, just because you're writing someone bad doesn't mean you need to write them badly. Sure, people do write poorly constructed antagonists into their books, shows, and movies with sad regularity. And good writers get away with it. They're most common and excusable in movies, which allow only so much time to really delve into them, but they happen in written fiction, too. [ 2,050 more words ]

http://citiesofthemind.com/10-obvious-mistakes-avoid-creating-antagonist/

10 Obvious Mistakes to Avoid in Creating Your Antagonist

05/15/2017

Who's Your Most Important Character? So who is your most important character? If you can read titles, you've probably figured out the answer. Of course, the important question is actually why? First, let's get the fluff out of the way. There's a tendency I've noticed in guides to sort of fluff things up and really drag out the word count. I don't have patience for that. [ 1,315 more word ]

http://citiesofthemind.com/the-antagonists-handbook-intro/

The Antagonist's Handbook Who's Your Most Important Character? So who is your most important character? If you can read titles, you've probably figured out the answer. Of cours

04/28/2017

Had some sort of database death, restoring from backups. No big deal, but the site will be down for twelve hours or so.

04/15/2017

In celebration of the new trailer and, "It's time for the Jedi to end."

http://citiesofthemind.com/jedi-are-the-bad-guys/

Everyone's excited for Episode VII, but be sure you're rooting for the right team! What if I told you the Jedi were really the bad guys all along?

02/22/2017

https://www.facebook.com/thebiteanthology/

If you're a writer or a reader, check out The Bite!

Bite-sized stories with big teeth! A series of great anthologies on fun and interesting themes. Feat

02/16/2017

http://citiesofthemind.com/bite-anthology-godaddy-podcast-new-contract/

The Bite Anthology, GoDaddy Podcast, & New Contract Success in any thing is the continued application of positive habits. Or so I keep telling myself. Otherwise, why am I doing all these push-ups and writing

02/13/2017

https://www.godaddy.com/garage/smallbusiness/market/connor-rickett-dishes-on-the-freelance-life-podcast/

So I was featured on GoDaddy.com's PodCast with Brian Dunn.

I'm not excited. Like, at all.

Freelancer Connor Rickett riffs on everything from Aston Martins to professionalism, recurring revenue to taking work off your plate, in this podcast

01/09/2017

http://citiesofthemind.com/cody-wagner-why-marketing-sucks/

Normally, I'd go back and fix the feature image, but honestly, this just feels right for Cody Wagner

EDIT: The preview only showed him from the neck down. Sidenote: I accidentally made this image my desktop background while attempting to save it in order to upload it to the blog.

Basically, the moral of this story is that Cody's always a pain in the ass, even when he's just a photo.

Guest Post by Cody Wagner: Why Marketing Yourself Sucks Today's blog is from Cody Wagner, a friend and fellow author. You can read more of his blogging at Wagner-Writer.com or check out his highly-rated debuted

12/12/2016

A look at the five basic types of antagonists, and some nifty art so that you don't get scared away by all the words.

http://citiesofthemind.com/the-five-basic-types-of-antagonists/

There are five basic types of antagonists in most stories, and making sure they're all up to the challenge of ruining your hero's life is your job.

12/06/2016

http://citiesofthemind.com/antagonists-workbook-important-character/

There's one character in every story who's more important than all the rest combined, more necessary to a great adventure, and cooler too: The Antagonist!