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Detective story set in a posthuman milieu were people are biologically immortal and immune to all diseases, but can still be killed instantly by massive physical trauma, so the leading causes of death are a. murder, and b. getting Final Destinationed in bizarre accidents. The protagonist's job is figuring out which is which.

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One thing I've noticed about a lot of organizations (e.g., monarchies, militaries) in fiction and especially fantasy is that they tend to have a Main Character issue--namely, that they're written and structured in such a way that, if the main character is removed from the equation, they fall apart.

Of course, this isn't inherently bad or even inherently unrealistic, but oftentimes they are presented as good (not in a moral sense but in an effectiveness sense) and long-lasting organizations that still somehow can't function without the main character, because the main character is The Smartest and The Strongest and The Royal-est and The Most Important.

In reality, one of the most important things for an effective and long-lasting organization is organizational resilience--the organization's ability to adapt to and survive disruptions, including the loss of key personnel. No single person's loss should stop the operations of the organization. Even the president has a line of succession for a reason.

There are whole professions around building and maintaining organizational resilience, and there's far too much to cover in any one post, but if you want to write an organization that's actually realistically effective/long-lasting, here are a few things to consider:

If a character falls in a hole (or is otherwise unreachable/unable to do their job), can someone else do the job? If not, why not (e.g., nobody else has the legal authority, nobody else has the ability, nobody else has the training, nobody else would be listened to in the same way)?

If something stops the organization from doing their job the normal way (e.g., the power is out, there's an earthquake, the sole person who can do it fell in a hole), is there another way for them to do that job?

Does the organization have plans, especially ones that cover what to do in case of emergency?

Are the strategists the same as the people putting themselves in harm's way?

This last one is a little different from the rest, but it's something I see in fantasy a lot--the main character is the one throwing themselves in harm's way but they're also the main strategist for whatever's going on. The problem with that is that, if something happens to them becuase they've thrown themselves in harm's way, the organization has now lost their strategist. Organizations need both tactitians and strategists, and they're generally not the same people.

These aren't the sum total of what make an organization resilient, but they are some things to think about if that's what the organization you're writing is supposed to be.

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first time writing fanfiction of a character : uughh i hope this is all canon accurate... it cant be canon innacurate at all or the enitire fandom will throw rocks at me...

10057th time writing the character: heres them working at a mcdonalds

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insane that some people are born sooooo talented and I was born with an anxiety disorder

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someone on twitter is trying to claim that use of an em-dash is an indication of AI-generated writing because it’s “relatively rare” for actual humans to use it. skill issue

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Devastating to have more evidence that done IS better than perfect

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What's this?! It's a new chapter of FALLEN STAR!

Read it today!

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sometimes you’re not writing to tell a story; you’re writing to find the story buried in the wreckage of your thoughts. there’s something beautiful in there, you just have to dig it out.

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You can fight AI in indie publishing by leaving reviews.

Seriously.

Ai-generated garbage is flooding the self-publishing market. It works as a numbers game- put out ENOUGH fake crap and eventually someone’s aunt will buy them the ebook as an unwanted gift, and you’ll have made two dollars. This tactic works at SCALE, which means real independent titles are now a needle amongst a haystack of slop.

If you have read a book this year that has less than 5 reviews, your rating is an algorithmic spotlight on that needle.

A one sentence review helps. Really. A star rating helps if you really can’t think of anything to say, but if you can muster up even “I laughed at the part about the tabby cat” you are doing indie authors a favor like you cannot believe.

(Also if you left a review on one of my books this year I am kissing you so softly on your forehead and I adore you)

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*thinks up an idea for a silly quick piece* okay haha let's whip something up real quick

*idea gets more complicated*

*idea gets more complicated*

*idea gets more complicated*

*idea gets more complicated*

oh no

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your wip just called. hey man your wip just called. its asking where you've been man.

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So it turns out if you turn off all aspects of Copilot, Microsoft takes away the more natural-sounding Read Aloud voices from Word. For NO reason. These voices features were there long before Copilot was.

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I love writing again. Except for that One Paragraph

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"The prophecy was unambiguous and immutable."

"I know."

"No weapon forged on Earth could defeat the Lord Baarthus"

"I know."

"And yet here we are, you telling me, Lord Baarthus was struck down by the Peasant King. Wielding... just a regular sword. Forged on Earth."

"I know what I saw, okay! The Peasant King walked up to him, shoved the sword in his neck, and then just kept going. It was nasty!"

"Okay, okay, fine. Clearly what's happened here is there's some kind of loophole in the prophecy that enabled this. Happens all the time. No weapon forged on Earth... How sure are you that sword is of this world?"

"What do you take me for? I've done my research. Even tracked down, interviewed the original blacksmith."

"There must be something. Prophecies can't be wrong!"

"I mean... I didn't take stock of her inventory. If it was one of those meteorite swords..."

"No, no. The prophecy didn't say 'No weapon with parts sourced on Earth'. It was pretty specific about the Forging."

"I don't hear anything better coming from you!"

"How about this. What if it wasn't a weapon? The Peasant King... it'd only be fitting for him to slay the Dark Lord with a blade meant for peasantry! Not a weapon, but a farming tool, like a scythe, or a really long trowel--!"

"A long trowel?? It looked like a damn sword!"

"That doesn't mean anything! A ritzy, college-educated diviner like you, you wouldn't know a trowel from a ploughshare!"

"It had a hilt, and a pommel, and it went in a scabbard-- come on! Even if it was some kind of-- newfangled grass cutter I've never heard of, it was used as a weapon, and it was forged to be a weapon! I've seen the ledgers!"

"Clearly you screwed something up, madam, because the Lord Baarthus just got sliced up like an old dairy cow and the prophecy very clearly specifies the only instrument that could bring his end is--!! Oh. Ohhh. Oh, gods damn it."

"What?"

"Fucking... 'forged on earth'."

"Yes, and?"

"It wasn't forged on earth. It was forged on a fucking anvil."

"What? No, you're-- you're joking. That wouldn't-- that couldn't-- what weapon would be forged on earth, by that definition!!?"

"I hate prophecies so much..."

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bing bong ur favorite fictional guy is now a trans man !

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THE WINTER SPIRIT - PART 2 IS HERE!!!

Is anyone else having some deja vu...? Things go around again. Days like any other. Work and magic and song and Vulture and...

Read it Here