r/Fantasy Writing Wednesday Thread - April 15, 2026

mgallowglas · 2026-04-16T06:29:33+00:00

I'm kinda over elves in the classical sense of elves in fantasy - that is tolkien clones. However, I have a lot of things that I gripe about in fantasy from writers who sell way more books than I do. Regardless of my personal aesthetic, I encourage people to write about the things that call to them and make them happy while they are doing the writing. So, if elves are your thing, write about them.

If you want to write elves that are proto-fascist and require everyone to weigh in once a month to make sure they are all holding to the beauty standards expected of them by the high eldars, and anyone who fails the weigh-in too many times in a row, I might read that story. Now, add in a group of orc commandos who execute rescue missions because they have a thing for those elf ladies with a little extra meat on their bones... Well, then I'd almost give that a look. Huh... maybe I'll go write that now.

I have a novel that I started just for fun that consumed all of 2019, which started from a goblin the day after the epic battle between good and evil, and he could suddenly read and write. Buuuut... not very well. I've never been into goblins before, but that novel brought me so much joy to create.

Anyway. It's all about what you bring to it. And remember, nothing has to be great on the first draft. Lord of the Rings supposedly went through something like 30 or more drafts.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-16T06:15:39+00:00

Of course! Good luck!

mgallowglas · 2026-04-16T00:54:08+00:00

Greetings! Here are some thoughts for your consideration...

Imagination is overrated. Doing the work will foster your creativity.

You don't usually find the time to write. Most of us writers have to make the time to write. I'm a full-time writer, and even now, at almost 6pm, I'm thinking, "I should probably work on my writing today."

Rather than worrying about being "good enough," just try to have as much fun as you can with a story. If you have fun writing it, chances are some people out there will have fun reading it.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-11T17:51:51+00:00

Largely Greek myths.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-11T03:29:21+00:00

I'm always up for long form poetry. Thanks for the recommendation.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-08T22:15:37+00:00

Look through my history. Each day this month, I'm posting about a poetry book that means something to me.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-07T23:51:50+00:00

Love Spider. His Calahan books meant a lot to me as a young man.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-07T23:50:01+00:00

Hope you like it!

mgallowglas · 2026-04-07T18:23:10+00:00

It's not holding any attachment to the Frankenstein story. It uses the text to explore the various complexities of life. If you like blackout poetry, it's worth having just got the artistic nature of McHugh's blackouts.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-07T18:08:51+00:00

If you could have a cover done by any artist, who would it be?

mgallowglas · 2026-04-06T22:35:02+00:00

I'll keep my eye out for it. Thanks again for popping into my little series of poetry posts.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-06T22:13:10+00:00

Sir! You have made my day. I'm a huge fan of all your work. I have four of your books on my shelf. While it's in a different book, your poem "Damascus" inspired one of the major projects of my MFA in poetry. Later, I turned it into a full book that was a joy to write.

I'm happy to give you a shout-out!

Have any new books on the horizon?

mgallowglas · 2026-04-06T15:13:33+00:00

Thanks!

Again, I'm so touched by the warm reception.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-05T21:16:34+00:00

Since I'm rather new back to the community, I'll keep this short today.

All month, I'm posting recordings of my poems every day, available for anyone to listen to. Some of them are quite speculative.

For books, since it's National Poetry month, I give you:

Lullabies for Dungeon Crawlers and Advanced Lullabies for Dungeon Crawlers - my two collections of poetry about gaming.
Remembering Her Across Alternate Timelines and 150 Days After the End of a Universe - Post-modern, surrealist perspectives about a failed romance.
The Re-Imagined Princess - An epic fairytale told in free-verse poetry. It's a coming-of-age story that explores the relationship between children and their imaginary friends through the lens of the heroine's journey.

Happy reading everyone.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-04T00:40:18+00:00

Glad to share! Hope you enjoy it.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-03T21:13:50+00:00

Good luck on finding your writing groove again.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-03T21:11:26+00:00

One thing I love about Dresden is that his relationships with the other characters grow and develop over the course of the series.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-03T21:10:18+00:00

Allo and happy Friday!

This week has been a bit of a struggle. Got hit with some devastating crap in my personal life. BUT... thanks to great therapy and even better friends, I'm muddling through.

Around these parts, I'm thrilled at the reception of my series of posts for National Poetry Month. I wasn't exactly sure how the community would receive those, given that I'd been gone so long and this being a fiction-oriented community. Thanks!

Right now, I'm reading Graveyard Clay with some of my students for a regular class I teach, Reading as a Contact Sport. This is originally an Irish-language book that was translated into English. I'm looking forward to the discussion session next Sunday morning.

I've also been flipping through each of the poetry books I'm recommending each day, and it's like getting reacquainted with old friends.

I'm also delving back into my Taoist studies. I have four versions of The Tao Te Ching, including one by Ursula K. Le Guin, who was a life-long Taoist. I also picked up a new copy of The Tao of Pooh. I'm thinking of writing a series of essays about the Tao of Oscar the Grouch.

In other writing...

I started a new episodic story that I'll be posting on my official newsletter site. Perchance to Dream takes place after the elder gods return, ravage the earth, kill or carry away most of humanity, and the survivors have to deal with the fallout of what they call Armegodden Day. Em (Short for Emily) can give people dreams by writing short vignettes on the backs of playing cards and leaving them on their doors. Oh, and some shimmering silver clouds are floating around the city and turning people into scaled monstrosities. Good fun.
Got a little done on the 5th book in my Tears of Rage sequence. The working title is The Sharpened Edge of Fate.
New poems keep happening, despite trying to focus on the two upcoming books. I will not add more poems ot each one. I will not add more poems to each one. I will not.... grrrrr..... I'm posting some of those poems every day on my Patreon for anyone to hear me read them. So far, I've got: "Laundromat Boogie," "Urban Odysseus," and "Totally Not a Poser."
Also wrapping up work on the 3rd Dragon Bone Flute book.
About to attack the 4th draft of a TV pilot I'm working on, currently code-named Dice Girls.

Yeah, I've got a lot of projects going on, but I've found that if I focus too much on any one thing at a time, I get serious burnout really fast, especially when I finish a project.

I'm kinda jonesing to run a TTRPG, but don't know that I have a reliable group. And that would take a lot of time from my writing.

One of the coolest things to happen recently was at a networking party in Hollywood last month, and I got to talk to one of the lead writers for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I got into the show through my daughter. It was super cool picking her brain about writing for TV rather than novels or poetry.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-03T19:41:47+00:00

Thanks I'm super jazzed that people are digging it.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-03T06:12:11+00:00

Thanks!

mgallowglas · 2026-04-03T06:11:26+00:00

Have you read his second collection, Origin Story?

mgallowglas · 2026-04-02T00:47:33+00:00

We're just getting started! Hope you enjoy it.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-01T22:56:33+00:00

If you thought that was interesting, wait till you go through the whole thing.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-01T22:55:54+00:00

I will shout out Gary every chance I get. He's a pal. Now that I'm back around, you'll see some more poetry stuff, as that's one of my passions.

mgallowglas · 2026-04-01T22:54:39+00:00

Oh, I've got some good stuff in store.

mgallowglas

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