Three Dictionaries, Beta Reading, and Other News

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I’m going to try and keep this quick. I want to get back to Beta editing.

But yes, readers, your eyes have not deceived you. Beta editing! Axtara – Armies and Accounting is now in Beta! I finished the primary Alpha pass this last week, and I’ve spent the last two days doing pre-Beta work, which is still ongoing … But I sent the Beta Invites out yesterday anyway for the first Beta pass.

So yeah, we’re drawing one step closer to the release of the third Axtara book. As soon as I’ve gotten everything into the hands of the Beta Readers, I’ll also be reaching out to the cover artist of the first two books to start looking at figuring out what the cover might look like. Unlike the first two books, where I actually had a really strong concept for the cover long before I contacted Codie, I don’t really have an idea of what I want to feature on the cover of this one, so I’m going to have to work out a few possibilities to float and see what Codie likes the concept of.

Also, I am going to be looking at getting this installment of Axtara something else that’s been requested quite frequently: Maps! Yes, that’s a plural. A map of Elnacier (incomplete, obviously, so that later areas can be fleshed out as new books require, because I haven’t planned that far ahead) and also a map of the important areas of the continent.

Don’t worry, they’ll go up on the site too. Now, as to how I’m going to pay for all this? Haven’t figured that out yet. Maps aren’t free, and cover art definitely isn’t. My options are “Sell more books,” “quadruple Patreon support,” “kickstarter,” or “miracle.”

In other words, if you’re a fan of the series, keep letting the world know. Publishing as a whole is really struggling right now, for a multitude of reasons, but as an author, I’m in that struggle.

Now, on to happier news after that abrupt dose of reality.

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Being a Better Writer: What Drives the Reader?

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Welcome back writers, to the AI-free oasis! It’s Monday, and that means that once again it’s time for your weekly installment of Being a Better Writer, a series that any explanation of becomes a tautology. And, if I understand the term correctly, an analytic statement.

But you’re not here to discuss semantics. You’re here to talk writing! And talk writing we shall!

Though if you’d like to catch up on last week’s news, as well as understand more why I referred to the site as an “oasis” above, I’d recommend checking out last week’s news post. We talk about some other stuff to, so if you weren’t aware that there’s a project underway to get an Axtara – Banking and Finance audiobook made, well …

But no, that news is for those news posts. We’re here for Being a Better Writer, and we’ve got an interesting topic to discuss today. It’s … a bit of an odd one, yes. But it’s also a complicated one.

See, here’s the thing: If I were to go to reddit and post this question on a writing or reading sub, it almost instantly would dissolve into disagreement. I know this because I’ve seen it happen organically without anyone even asking. I’ve watched as people dismissively tell other posters that because they liked something but didn’t like something else that they were reading for “all the wrong reasons” because “real readers know that ____ is what you should really care about.”

Uh-huh. Obviously this is getting into a topic we’ve discussed heavily in the past (so heavily that it has a dedicated tag), IE audience. And yes, we’re touching on that, but I don’t want to dwell on it. Additionally, I’m not speaking of genre here, because any genre can focus on these “blanks” to one degree or another (nothing demonstrates this better than a suitably varied Sci-Fi anthology).

But I can’t avoid that yes, today’s topic does touch on audience a bit. And we’re going to discuss it, but only briefly. Because while audience matters, what matters more for our discussion today is this question: what do you want the reader to be driven by?

Hit the jump, and let’s see if we can find you an answer.

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Welcome to the Oasis and Other News

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Hey folks. It’s Friday so I figured that like usual I’d drop a bit of an update on what’s going on. There’s not a ton to talk about, but there are some things worth bringing up. And plus it lets you folks know what I’ve been up to lately, so you know that A) I’m working on stuff and B) what sort of rough timetable things keep.

Side note: I’m frequently amazed by how often readers (but not writers) assume the timetable must move at ten times the speed it really does. 300,000 word book? That’s what, a month of writing? Editing? Four days. Surely it couldn’t take more. Maybe a week. How could it take months?

Very easily. Anyway, I will be doing more editing work on Axtara – Armies and Accounting today, and in the early days of next week, looking to wrap up the first Alpha.

But that isn’t what I spent this week doing. Instead, this week I finished up my draft for what will likely be my first submission for Iron Horses in the Sky. It’s a few hundred words over the limit, but that’s fine because I’m going to do some editing passes on it next week anyway to trim it down and enhance some of the more subdued elements that I want to really pop. The second submission is going to be something new that I’ve never tried before, so we’ll see how that goes and if I pull it off or crash and burn before the draft is completed. I do mean it’s something I’ve never done before, but that’s one of the fun bits about writing: Seeing what new things one can pull off. I’ve never done it, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll be able to, or that I won’t be able to. I’ll just have to give it a go and see what results!

Other news? Well, there isn’t a lot. I’ve decided to move ahead with the Axtara – Banking and Finance audiobook kickstarter, but there’s a bunch of clerical work to take care of before I can really start dropping information about that, so … we’ll see what comes in the coming week. I’ve gotten a bunch of stuff done on my end, but there’s some parts that just can’t be rushed. I am looking forward to hearing potential narrators offer their take on the voices of Axtara and Mia, however.

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Being a Better Writer: We Need Evil

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Oh yeah, there’s a title! Welcome writers, to this week’s installment of Being a Better Writer, and I hope you’re ready for an intriguing topic. We’re getting a little philosophical today, but as usual, there’s more to that title than meets the eye. So don’t grab your pitchfork just yet.

Also, before we get into this week’s writing topic, I do want to point you in the direction of last week’s news post. You’re already here and reading, so why not broaden the horizon a little and see what else the site has to offer?

Or check out that books tab up top and see if a book catches your eye. Or the Free Fiction tab. There’s some fun stuff in there.

Now, with that said, let’s dive into this week’s topic. Which I admit from the title is a little eye-catching. So let me explain by starting with a story.

A few years back I was talking about various shows with someone I know, exchanging a sort of “Oh that’s good, that was okay, and that wasn’t worth it” interaction, and the Star Wars show The Bad Batch came up.

Now, I really liked The Bad Batch. It has some missteps, sure, because rarely is a show “perfect.” However, it has a lot of things it did well too. One of which, and quite arguably one of the whole cores the show is built around, is showing how the Empire took control and power after the fall of the republic.

Yeah, if you don’t know Star Wars, the show explores how an authoritarian imperial government replaces the republic that it overthrew through the eyes of a group of characters (the titular Bad Batch) as they try to keep their heads down and afford things like food.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes this show is dark. The Empire is not good. The show demonstrates how they work to drive wedges between people, or make groups turn on one another to make it easier for the empire to control the whole. Early on, the Empire goes after refugee and minority groups, declaring them terrorists and dangerous threats in an effort to both eliminate those groups and track down rebel cells already forming against the Empire. There are dark scenes of imperial forces, once servants of the republic, declaring a refugee camp enemies of the empire and sentencing them, the scene cutting away to the one giving the orders watching as soldiers with flamethrowers step forward, his face glows with flame, and screams and begs fill the speakers. There are stories following these individuals as they justify the things they do with mantras like “Good soldiers follow orders” or ‘they must obey the law.’

Yeah, I know, it’s dark in places. And this is a show, I remind you, meant for 10+. Why is this important to the story? Well, here’s why. Hit the jump.

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Accidentally Right and Other News

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I’ve got a fun story from my writing this week, which conveniently doubles as exposition for what I got up to as well. So I’ve been working on my story for the Iron Horses in the Sky submissions, which I will note is set in the Axtara universe (I really need to come up with a better name for it than that at this point) but earlier in the timeline, perhaps around the time she’s an egg or even before. Anyway, this particular story revolves around cargo hauling.

Now, as I was writing this story, I needed to call the various workers who were employed at hauling cargo and goods across and between cities something. They had to have a term for themselves, right? Well, I went with the most basic term: Haulers. I mentally put a pin in it, but also resolved that I could leave some instances of the term in the story as slang, while using a more official term dug up later.

Some of you, I’m sure, are already thinking along the same lines as I was: Longshoreman, or Teamster. Though I knew the latter one couldn’t be it, since it was too modern. Well, about 6,000 words into this story (currently exactly 10,000 words, oddly enough) I decided to go ahead and track down an official term from the historical period.

Which turned out to be … hauler. Yes, it turns out my unimaginative slang term for hauling cargo was exactly the job title used for this particular class from the 1500s and onward. Which means that all the instances of it in the story, including ones where I was pinning them for cleanup later … are correct.

I’ve still got plenty of other touchups to do after the story is finished (it isn’t yet), so it’s not like this was a “Aha, I’m perfect moment” but it was amusing. “Fine, let me find the official term for … Oh.”

So, yeah this week didn’t have editing for Armies and Accounting getting done or work on Shipbreakers. Though a few of you might be wondering “Wait, 10,000 words in four days? Isn’t that below your quota?”

It is! Because I also spent some time this week doing more research on the potential Axtara – Banking and Finance audiobook kickstarter. Looking at other kickstarters for similar projects, both successful and not, and what they offered as rewards, and running numbers on how much those rewards would cost, etc.

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Being a Better Writer: Wrong on Purpose

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You have no idea how tempted I was to put a typo in that title. Welcome, writers, to another installment of Being a Better Writer, where as you can see, today we’re talking about doing it wrong. On purpose.

Oh, this is going to be fun. And a little controversial. I think we’ll definitely earn that tag today. And, I can definitely tell you that there are going to be some who find today’s topic utterly repulsive. I know. I’ve interacted with some of these people.

But you know what? Let them play in their little corner of the sandbox, while us writers? We’re going to have fun.

But first, as usual, you can check out last Friday’s news post here. I talk about a few things, including the continual battle against AI slop, where work is on Axtara – Armies and Accounting, and other things. You can go check it out.

Oh, one of those things is the currently active submission call for the next LTUE benefit anthology. I know, I’ve mentioned this before, but … it’s an active call! Especially if you’re here for writing advice, this is a chance for you to put that advice into practice and action! You can get more on it here, but the theme is Iron Horses in the Sky, AKA trains in Science-Fiction and Fantasy.

Are you sending something in? Today I’m working on my entry!

All right, that’s the news out of the way. So let’s get back to that controversial topic.

Now, I want to make something clear before we start: This is not an excuse to not learn the rules of writing. Nor to excuse poor writing. That question—or sometimes accusation—comes up a lot when this topic is discussed. But I want to make this clear, before we talk about anything else: This post is not an excuse for poor writing. It’s not a writer saying “You don’t have to know how to write well” or “You don’t need to know what the rules of writing are.”

So remove that notion from your head immediately. This isn’t a free ticket to just throw letter and words together without a care for the rules of grammar. In fact, if you don’t know them fairly well, what we’re talking about today actually becomes more difficult. So learn those rules. Pay attention in your English classes. Etc.

Now that you’ve fixed that in your mind, hit the jump. Let’s talk about this concept of “wrong on purpose.” And what it can bring to your writing.

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The World Turns On – The Friday News Post

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So this morning my feed delivered to me an opinion piece on how people are turning on Grammarly. I presume because it recently began offering an AI “writing” service that allowed you to “buff” your writing by turning it into AI slop that was “modeled” after famous authors (who of course, Grammarly will never pay any of the authors whose work it absorbed for their part in creating this material, as AI in America believes it shouldn’t pay anyone, ever, for what it absorbs), and this move has been, to the surprise of their executive, unpopular.

But maybe it wasn’t about that. See, I say “presume” because I couldn’t actually read the whole article. I got most of the introduction, and then I was hit by a blocker. That informed that to continue reading this “free blog” (which was someone’s personal site, mind) all I needed to do was just sign up for their newsletter. They just needed an email, a password, a few other things …

Instead I resolved to do something else with my time.

Thing is, while the cynical part of me is just tempted to say “data mining” given how many places on the internet are setting up walls in a feverish attempt to keep AI scraping theft out, it could just as easily be that. Or both.

Honestly, some days it feels like I’m watching the literal death of in the internet, drowning in real-time under AI slop. If you’re not generating it, your material is being stolen to be regurgitated by it, your work being taken to be sold to someone else with no recourse.

Sands, in the last week a major game reviewing website came under fire from the public for submitting an entirely AI-generated review of the new game Resident Evil Requim. Not as in, a real person played this game and then had an AI generate slop based on his notes. As in no one played they game, the managers just told the AI to generate a review, which it did based on regurgitating lines from written preview reports of the game (and possibly a few early reviews it could scrape) which they then posted as their “review.”

That’s right: No one critiqued it. No one analyzed it. No one even touched a controller. An AI just hallucinated what they game might be like for a person to play, and they uploaded that.

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Being a Better Writer: Pacing – A General Overview

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Welcome back, writers, to another installment of Being a Better Writer!

Now, before we begin, I have a small request of you. I know many of you have been coming to this site for years. I have the metrics. Hundreds of you receive email updates of new posts. Hundreds of you (sometimes thousands) use the site daily, mostly for the writing advice from posts like this one. I have the numbers, and I see you guys.

Please consider supporting via our Patreon, or by purchasing a book (and if you’ve already purchased a book, please leave a rating on Amazon, as the algorithm demands those for a book not to be hidden). Being a Better Writer has run now for over ten years, and in that time we have never allowed advertisements on the site, nor have we collected user data for our own ends, nor have we paywalled any of the articles here on the site (there are some Patreon Supporter-exclusive short story previews for unpublished shorts and previews of books, but that’s it). Though our host, wordpress, would desperately prefer that we did, judging by the number of ads we get for it recommending that we paylock our most popular posts.

Look, it’s no secret that things right now have gotten pretty bad. The US economy is in shambles and contracting fast. It seems like a week can’t go by without another small business or company closing its doors. Record profits for the 1%, cake made of sawdust at a 200% markup for the remaining 99%.

I know it’s bad out there, because this site is one of those places struggling not to close the doors. Things have gotten so bad that with eleven books out for sale in the world, and a 4.35 review average on Goodreads (phenomenal for that many titles and reviews), I’m seeing sales numbers that reflect the world over a decade ago, when I had 3-4 books to my name and was a relative nobody.

So please: Consider supporting the Patreon. If you can’t afford that, or buying a book, but have bought a book in the past, leave a rating. And if things are so tight that a $4 book or a $1 support tip is out of the question? Share the posts you’re reading from the site. That’s free, and better yet helps other people who are looking for writing advice and solutions find it. And if one of them can help support the site, so much the better!

Look, I know some of you are probably tired of posts like these (“Oh boo-hoo, do people really need to eat?”) but with the state of things being what they are, we’re just trying to survive. And something as simple as a share helps us fight that.

Now, one last bit of news, which feels a little related. We spoke of it in last week’s news post, but currently a groundwork look is being done at the feasibility of producing an Axtara – Banking and Finance audiobook through Kickstarter. For that to happen, however, the Kickstarter would need to be a success (and despite what some might think, you do still spend money if your Kickstarter does not succeed, so it’s not a case of “there’s literally no reason not to”).

If a Kickstarter for an audibook version of Axtara – Banking and Finance appeared, would you back it? If so, why, and if not, also why? Please leave a comment and let us know, because I would like to make this happen.

Okay, with all that said (and hopefully, acted upon), let’s talk about writing.

Now today isn’t going to be a more esoteric topic. No, as many of you have noted, we’re going back to a basic principle of storytelling. One we’ve discussed here on the site so many times that it has its own tag. But even though we’ve talked about it enough to have dozens of entries with that aforementioned tag, it has been a few years by our reckoning since we just talked about it in its own post.

So today, we’re going to talk about pacing again. And no, we’re not looking at a specific angle here. We’re doing a general overview of pacing itself. The basics .. but as with most things in writing, even the basics can be pretty hard to get a handle on. We’ve covered it before, but as with many of our repeat topics, the hope is that if we come at it from a new angle, it’ll be more approachable to those who perhaps didn’t find the last one as easy to parse.

So hit that jump, because today we’re talking about pacing. And to do that, I need to talk to you about pizza.

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The Cold Doesn’t Care – Another Week Rolls By

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One would think that perhaps after having my back go out right after LTUE that maybe, just maybe, life would decide that a break would be nice.

But no, I can’t have nice things, apparently. No sooner did I get my back in working order than I caught a cold. Normally, this would be a simple solution: Get rest. And for last Saturday and Sunday, then part of Monday I did that.

Monday morning however, my body decided that I needed more of a problem, and I woke up with a really bad kink in my left shoulder. “Can’t tilt your head to the left without pain” level kink. What this meant was that sleeping suddenly became a problematic act, because anytime I moved my head in my sleep, the pain would wake me up. Suddenly the best way to beat this cold, sleep, was being actively denied me.

Which brings us today. The knot/kink in my left shoulder has loosened enough that last night I finally got some consistent sleep, though it was late on account of the cold having survived long enough to be a cough …

Basically, it’s been a week on that front. I did no writing, since I did not trust my fatigued and foggy mind to really make the words flow. So Shipbreakers hasn’t been touched this week.

No, instead I threw myself headlong into editing and a special project. We’ll talk about the former first: I’m pushing through on the Alpha 1 Edit for Axtara – Armies and Accounting. Which I acknowledge is now three months into 2026 and still in Alpha. Again, Christmas holiday was a terrible idea for sending out Alpha invites. Never again. Ever.

Second, I do think I’m going to put this one to a second Alpha. I know, that’s going to delay the release even further. But I want to make sure a few things hit right, and I think I need another pass just to be certain of it. After all, this is a pretty large book—the largest Axtara to date, and almost the same length as Shadow of an Empire. So there’s a lot to go over.

That, and I want to make sure it all glides along well. Alpha 1 feedback has mostly been pretty fair, but there are areas that I want to make sure I get a second opinion on before this moves into Beta. I know this delays the release further, but polish is polish.

Now, about that other bit of news. This one I need reader feedback on. So comment. If you don’t comment, but think in your head “Oh yeah” it means nothing because I’m not a mind reader. But some preliminary work is being done on an Axtara – Banking and Finance audiobook.

There’s a catch though: Producing an audiobook is not cheap, no matter what people outside the industry may think (I recall one person who harangued me about it who genuinely believed an audiobook could be made for a few hundred dollars). Producing one for Axtara would be expensive enough that the only path forward would be through kickstarter.

In that vein, with all those that have asked for an Axtara audiobook over the years: How many of you would be willing to A) donate to such a kickstarter (securing yourselves a copy in the process, naturally) but also B) share and put out word of such a kickstarter? Kickstarters live and die by people being interested enough in the product not only enough to donate to it, but to share news about it with other people?

If you’re not into that, don’t comment. If you’re into that, please comment and let me know. It isn’t just me working to pull this data together, and before any kickstarter can launch it needs to be determined if this is viable or not. Please comment.

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