Dustin Bloom | Updates

#17: Character Deaths; Necessary, or Not?

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 7 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Happy August! I should preface this blog post with the fact that I’m talking specifically about my thoughts on this. As a disclaimer, if you're writing something, always do what makes sense for the story. Usually, that's the best rule of thumb to follow, no matter what type of genre you're writing in.

So, death. That's a fun topic! (/sarcasm) Interestingly, there's a reason we have such a large culture surrounding our dead in the West (and historically, worshipping our ancestors). In writing, dead characters aren't always truly 'dead' when they can still interact with the environment, their family, or maybe they haunt the location of their death as a ghost. Ghosts, spirits—there's a reason these types of beings are common in our popular culture as 'manifestations of the dead'. If you're writing in the paranormal or fantasy genre, you can effectively do whatever you want by using dead characters in an interesting sense. Even if you're writing outside of these genres and you want a more grounded view of death, you can always put in a short flashback with said character if it's prudent (flashbacks are another topic altogether, but I digress).

The motive for death is beyond just simple 'oh they died' generally, unless the substance is necessary for the backstory. Typically you have to have a backstory reason as a writer why someone in a character's past might've died, but you can always leave it as a mystery to the reader. As for on-page (on-screen?) deaths, I like to classify them in different ways.

The first way is 'old age' or disease. Truthfully, nobody dies of old age, but as we get older, our chances of death increase. The reasons being declining health, age-related diseases, or even different sicknesses that are otherwise common to society would be the final blow to someone in a generally indecent condition. Dementia eats at the brain, cardiac arrest subdues the heart, osteoporosis withers the bones, and these are all things that rarely come until you're older. Of course, age isn't always a requirement for it to be a disease or condition-related death. In the real world, young people can die if they have pre-existing conditions. If they get something as simple as influenza, it could kill them. Pandemics and diseases have followed mankind around since its inception, and they will never go away.

The second way is unexpected deaths. Someone I played online D&D with (who I hadn't spoken to in a few months) underwent surgery, and they died unexpectedly because of complications from it. They were 26. Now, while a real-example of an unexpected death, a more common one might be automobile accidents, getting lost in the wilderness on vacation, or the like. The most common types of unexpected deaths are just that: unexpected. They manifest in everyday life from tasks we otherwise don't think about, yet we know that there's a risk involved; there's danger. Because anyone can get unlucky, it's not 'lazy writing' to have unexpected deaths because of the story. This element is just as real as life.

The third way isn't as common as the other two, but is the most common in my writing. Fight/battle induced deaths, or 'action-related' deaths. This ranges from getting murdered to having a samurai-type last stand against an army. These types of deaths are often the most interesting because they have that initial buildup, the action of the fight, the climax (the 'strike' or 'shot' that is fatal), and the short time after they get struck to live (if they get a chance). Generally though, they do! And they can give the other characters emotional distress and ultimate wishes. These types of deaths are also the most common in thriller-type TV shows and movies, especially in the horror genre.

Now, these are my pillars of death and what might cause them, but from a simplified view. Nothing is ever black-and-white like this or so simple. That brings me back to my original point: are deaths necessary to the story?

And my honest answer is still: it depends on the story you wrote. If you're writing a comedy or contemporary, they rarely use death to give the story stakes. If you're writing dark fantasy like I am, where the stakes are within the thriller itself, then death becomes far more meaningful; especially if your characters are symbolic and stand for something. Plus, it's not like you'd be the only person using death in a story; look at some of the greatest writers of all time. Each of them used death as a stake in their grand epic, so why should we be so terrified of it in fiction? It makes an interesting story.

The last point I'll bring up in this blog post is the threat of death, the 'suspense' element. Sometimes, if you allude to a death (even if it never happens), it can make your reader cry. These have to be well-crafted, of course, and sometimes just the thought isn't scary enough. What if they have a dream that shows them dying—or worse, someone they care about? Maybe they use an orb that is clairvoyant and acts as a fortune-teller. Essentially, this type of seen threat or implied detail can be more powerful than actually killing a character since the suspense remains in question that they may die. Your reader never really knows; only you do. Can the story survive without this character? If so, what purpose would their death serve?

Thanks for tuning in! As an update: I've uploaded my manuscripts to Draft2Digital and IngramSpark. By next week, I should have Arc Readers, Goodreads, and everything else in the works. If you enjoy this content, why not subscribe to the newsletter? I post every Friday and hope to have an explosive entrance with my debut novel. Know someone else who might like this type of content?

Until we meet again,
don't die.

Dustin ]]>

#16: Second Chances, Resolutions, and Self-Awareness

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We seldom get a second chance; such is true in life. It's easy to take the privileges given to us and not even pay them an ounce of attention. Only if we're lucky do we truly get a second chance to change the way we initially set things for the better, but often, it's not about the second chances that make our philosophies so strong. Many of us have made irreversible mistakes; mistakes that have defined us as people, that have everlasting impacts on our minds. Like I said earlier, it's not about second chances. It's about the self-awareness behind failure.

It's so easy to mull over the past, but the past is just that: history. To the dismay of many, you can't change history as it happened. As an extension, in the 1600s, nostalgia was considered a disease. As humans, it's an emotion everyone feels from time to time, but like many emotions, we become self-obsessed and let the Paleolithic era of our mind get the better of us. How many times have we procrastinated because we didn't feel like doing something in that moment, even when it made absolutely no sense to wait? How many times have we been paralyzed by our thoughts, unable to act because our minds had their inhibitions?

The human mind is better at looking for mistakes and what's wrong over what's right. It's hard for us to be grounded sometimes when we remember when times were better. Sometimes, without realizing it, we create our own nostalgia in different ways, often without realizing it at the time. For example, back in April, I was watching a lot of Clint Eastwood movies with my dad, and that was my first time watching the Dollars Trilogy. Now I look back on April of this year in some ways as a better time (it's also when I started this blog post!), yet this brings me to my next point.

There's a lot of what happened in the past that is preferable to what's happening across our lives today, and yet, even in these times of uncertainty, we still find plenty of nostalgic moments in the contemporary decade. Why? Because it's not about nostalgia, about things 'being better in the past'. The mindset of honing a better day every day has seemed to have faded gradually in the public consciousness, but it's not over yet. There is always something better to come later down the road, and if we're too obsessed with what happened before, then it's impossible to enjoy the small moments that come.

On the flip side of the coin, there's also the prospect of focusing too much on the future. This can be in the form of procrastination, "Oh, I'll just do it later" or thinking that you have an unlimited amount of time to prepare, to sharpen your sword so that it may cut chromium instead of titanium. Like the issues of nostalgia, thinking about what could be also often leads to inaction because it's more comfortable for our minds. When it gives us anxiety to think about something that we do that will take us five minutes with a week deadline, we procrastinate. Why is that? Why do we get anxious and chemically imbalanced when something that's so objectively simple is right in front of us?

I'm guilty of both of these in the past, but I think becoming self-aware of these has helped me reduce nostalgia and anticipation. As cliché as this sounds, you want to take the past as a history lesson, because at the end of the day, that's all it is. The future helps you structure your life, but you shouldn't live in the future as if only one moment twenty years down the line is going to be the only one that matters. The biggest piece of being human is living in the present moment, and as difficult as that is to do for many of us (myself included), you tend to enjoy your life more if you consciously stop yourself, smell the roses, and try to rebalance yourself.

Time will pass anyway, and do we want to spend it thinking about what could've been? No matter how unlimited time seems now, we're all here for a limited time on Earth. We could spend that time doing things that don't matter, such as watching TV, arguing with strangers on the internet, devoting your whole life to a corporation that hardly pays you, scrolling social media endlessly, etc. I'm thankful every day that I have a family I can go back to, a family that I often spend time with because every moment is precious. It's important to maintain your health of your body and your mind.

I've spent a lot of time on my own, and after some intense self-reflection and understanding of myself, understanding myself to such a depth helped me understand other people better as well. You can only know other people as well to a degree as you know yourself, and we all have a misbelief about what we know of ourselves. We have the image, the ego, and the shadow that we ignore. It's important to make friends, to establish good relationships with people, since it's a biological necessity. Just as it's good to learn every single day to keep your mind sharp, it's just as good to consistently work out. Being of sound mind, body, and psychology will usually bring you peace no matter your life stage.

I think the single-most important thing about success is that it's all up to us to be self-aware of how we are. Some of us claim to know who we are, but our shadows tell us a different story. Not everyone is dealt the same hand in life, because if we were, it'd be a boring life. Can you imagine if all of us were the same, if we all thought the same, and did the exact same things? Sure, some things are out of our control, but it's fully within our control to be in control of ourselves. We have to temper ourselves, our expectations, if we plan to be successful. If you set impossible goals, you will never reach them. It's through humility that we thrive.

As a huge believer in individualism and personal liberty, I believe everyone creates their own success. Some of us are lucky, of course, but most people who seek to become successful, to try something different, are the ones who succeed in life. We can't expect life to hand everything; or for that matter, anything to us on a silver platter. We make our own destinies, our own successes, and our own prophecies. If you truly care about something, chase it. What's stopping you? Like characters, we all have our core misbeliefs, and so to question ourselves, our line of thinking, brings us a layer of self-awareness otherwise impossible to assess implicitly. We have to be optimistic, consider our victories where we get them, and as we develop as people, we hope that our victories will be greater and more frequent.

If you believe in yourself to do it, you can. It's that simple. I believe you can do it, because I also believe that I can do it. We're all rather ordinary; but it's the choice to be extraordinary that makes us human.

Until we meet again,

Dustin ]]>

#15: Physical Character Designs

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I'd like to preface this post with one simple disclaimer: I'm not a fashion designer. This post is also interesting to me because fashion is not something I particularly pay much attention to in writing, but I will give you my thoughts on it. Anyway, now that we've established that, I think that character designs are among the most important subtle details in a narrative. Even if it's as simple as the color they're wearing (black to show authority, blue to show loyalty, purple for opulence, etc.), or as complicated as their profession and what they'd wear on a day-to-day basis. Maybe the character has the same clothes daily because their washing machine works overtime (or they simply have more than one of that outfit), or maybe it's not so clear-cut. Since it depends on the story you're writing, you have the difference between writing characters who can wear casual clothes or characters who have a specific design. In which case, it's much easier to figure out more contemporary-aligned clothes.

In recent history, humanity has been notorious for its obsession with fashion. Depending on the location and the type of character you're making, they might be up to fashion trends of the time, or they might wear a ordinary outfit. To determine this, figure out how flamboyant or look-obsessed a character might be. Some characters with no flamboyance won't follow the rules just for the sake of it and instead dress how they feel like, whereas characters who are more eccentric might pay closer attention to the trends since they believe it gives them more status just because they dress a certain way. In other words, a scientist will typically wear something practical no matter where they go (maybe in your fictional world they're recognizable, like a uniform) whereas a successful club owner might have acquired expensive tastes, thus dressing in a much more opulent style just for the sake of it.

Sometimes, like any other topic, we're uninformed of what the right call is, the 'right' outfit for a character. When designing my main protagonist, only three things remained the same between the concept of her design and the final design, which were her trench coat, silver headband, and her black-dark palette. It was actually my friend who suggested that, because she's a scientist, I should change her design from a generic sweater to have a white dress shirt and tie; so I chose blue to match her eye color. The trench coat itself changed from fully black to black with blue accents; she started wearing black rebel boots, slacks with belted pockets, and so much more about her design changed because I had a different type of artist take a look at the character design. Since he draws, he has a different perspective; a perspective that helped significantly with the overall character designs of the human world for me.

Now, I think that's enough about clothes; you get the idea. What about the characters' looks themselves? Well, you can make the argument that unless there is a specific reason for a character to look a specific way, it's best to just leave it up to the reader's imagination (and that can also apply to the fashion if you don't feel like crossing that detail). That being said, sometimes it helps to establish a description. A person who's tall and thin might much more easily get through narrow passageways than a short but muscular person. Does it matter to show disparity? If so, why? Every detail matters, and if you give the reader useless information, they're going to roll their eyes about it and forget about it. If their hair is brown, what does that symbolize? If their eyes are green? How much does ethnicity matter?

It's really difficult to make every single detail match, but if you've had a lot of time to make a book and then edit it a few times over, it's as good as it's going to get for now. That's also to say that your character design can change in future books. Surviving characters from previous novels might have a different character design than in the first book, especially if a lot of time has passed. Maybe each novel is standalone and you want to try out your different character design ideas on a brand new protagonist. After all, it's a fresh look, and it can really help differentiate one story from another just from the physical realm.

If you're writing a novel, you can also change specific details about the character if you think it's necessary between parts of the story. Clothes are the easiest, but maybe your character undergoes a physical transformation. If you're writing a contemporary book, maybe they're exercising to build muscle and athleticism or overeating and becoming overweight. In fantasy books, this can be as simple as them making a sacrifice and becoming more 'pretty' like Yennefer of Vengerberg (The Witcher); or the character might become a werewolf, a vampire, even a zombie because of corruption. In a more scientific realm, maybe you want to take inspiration from All Tomorrows and engage in genetic modifications (though they don't have to be as grotesque; they could improve the characters themselves to be stronger, have better senses, etc.). Or, maybe you're writing a horror book and engaging in body horror. Little by little, the protagonist would change throughout the book until they've metamorphosed into something else (or maybe they go back to normal, who knows?). Like any creative project, have fun with the design; do whatever you feel is necessary with it to further your story.

The last piece of character design might be the place they live, and potentially the most subtle piece of it. If your character lives in a mansion, by proxy their personality is going to be a lot different to someone who lives in a wooden shack. Their occupation might mirror where they live as well. Most of the time, you will not see a Lockheed Martin aerospace engineer as homeless; otherwise, there wouldn't be much incentive for such an intensive job. Granted, someone can be rich and unemployed if they live off the interest, but much more likely, a poor person who is unemployed is trying to get a job and struggles to live because they cannot support themselves. Furthermore, where a character lives is important.

A person who owns a house in Aspen, CO is probably orders of magnitude richer than someone who'd live in Winnemucca, NV. That's not to say that Winnemucca is necessarily a bad place, but it's a lot cheaper to live in that area than in Aspen. Granted, these two areas are completely unrelated, so if it's a story of opulence and rags, you'd likely choose the same city and split it based on the richer and poorer parts of the city. In Anchorage, AK, the Hillside neighborhood is the most expensive and prestigious. In contrast, Government Hill has a poverty rate of 48.5%, and Mountain View, a bordering neighborhood, ranks second with 38.2% of its population living in poverty. Compared to the ~$160,000 average annual income of a Hillside resident, this wealth gap in a single city (or metro area) will draw borders in a different way entirely.

To wrap everything up, small physical differences make a character's personality in some ways. Some people might be naturally terrifying to others; there'll be the type of person who gets upset because of it, and another who will use it to their advantage to manipulate their way. Even from what they own, what they value, how they express themselves through their look, everything has to be relevant to the story. Even if it's not actively a part in the story, as a background detail it has to insinuate something or paint a picture for it to be a good subtle detail. Like in a TV show, the reader wants to figure out plot twists before they happen, and they can only do that through context clues; the same is true with backstory and character design.

Thanks everyone for reading this far and tuning in! Three months from today, if all goes well, we'll have global distribution! I've been hard at work to ensure that my book will be available to a global market; not just the United States. I'm setting up an ebook format, hard cover, soft cover, and an audiobook. I hope you can find a copy in a format that you will enjoy, so I'm making the extra effort to expand printing and electronic operations. This next week up until late April will be catalogued by book promotions on other media. If you're tuning in for the first time, why not subscribe and stick around? It's free, and I write these out of my freetime every week.

Until we meet again,

Dustin ]]>

#14: Writing for Fun/'Writing Recycling'

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When you think of recycling, you might think of taking particular sustainable materials and donating them via a nice blue tub to the recycling man. When I use the word 'recycling', it's more of a mental recycle and how that can be achieved by writing. There are multiple ways to achieve a 'writing recycle', and it's one of my favorite ways to write if I feel like I've hit writer's block and I need to recalibrate.

The very first method that is easiest for many to try is by writing out characters. Seriously, some of the best character ideas come when you're stuck and you want some extra inspiration elsewhere. You might watch a FIFA game, go hiking with a relative, or even do something as mundane as showering, and you'll find inspiration. The trick is to write it once you hit said inspiration. Some of my best character ideas start when I'm feeling either especially inspired about something (like the Winter War-inspired character not in my debut novel), or, as silly when it sounds, when I'm not even trying.

This sounds obscene, but it works! If you like a particular character or person you enjoy reading/watching/listening to, it can be anything. There's a level of judgemental when writing in that some people might classify something you do as 'lazy' or 'unoriginal', but some of the best ideas come from the realm of the mundane. You also cannot predict what your writing style might be, so you need to nurture what works for you as far as that process is concerned. You might keep the first name of a celebrity, a main character from a show, or do something of the sort. The best fictional characters are inspired by reality.

Another way I do a 'writing reset' is simply by writing what's on my mind. This can be specific creative writing for prose practice, planning, or it can literally just be writing your thoughts down. I have a specific genre that I write in, something I'm unsure if it even has a name yet, but often a writing reset can be just stepping out of your comfort zone with genres and writing something different. For example, the horror genre is one of my favorites, and I love it when horror books or movies are actually scary, not just disturbing or jump scare-heavy. Humbly, I think that the best horror comes from the mind; the psychological element. Sometimes, we writers are critical of specific genres; maybe they're genres we enjoy. Why not try writing out what we think is incorrect with it and try to write how we think it should look? Like a scientist, we can see what works and what doesn't. All part of the research element.

One thing I struggled with when I first started writing was attempting to write passages outside my usual writing time (which for me is the morning). Despite this, you can bend the bounds of your mind to work for you. Did you know that your brain writes best when it's entirely undistracted for a short time? Some people can write for hours on end, but one of the most sustainable ways to write is to try 30-minute writing sprints where you go into focus mode. I turn notifications on my phone and computer off; I just listen to music, pop up an image board, and write to my heart's content. Of course, prime your mind; think about what you want to write before you write it. Otherwise, you'll be sitting and nothing will happen most of the time.

Writing resets are interesting things in themselves. It took me a while to figure these out on my own, and while these may seem trivial, short pieces of information, they were areas in which I was stuck for a long time. Had I known these when I started writing, I might've completed my first book much faster and turned longer stretches of time into more productive, creative pieces of time.

Thank you for tuning into the Friday blog post. Have a great day, and of course,

Until we meet again,

Dustin ]]>

#13: Fantasy as a Genre (Analysis)

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Fantasy as a genre seems to be among the most popular worldwide. What is it about fantasy that is so appealing? Why is that even when there's so much imagination put into fantasy worlds, fantasy alone seems like it's not enough to stand out anymore?

While these questions seem overarching, they are legitimate questions to ask when creating a fantasy book. People can spend many years creating a fantasy world before they even write the first page of their book (as is true with other genres, but seems extra prevalent in this genre). Between maps, fictional races, fantasy politics, and the medieval stasis that most fantasy worlds have, fantasy as a genre is typically unchallenged and follows these same tropes. When an author writes a fantasy book whose cover doesn't stand out because it's in a sea of fantasy, they may have an excellent story, and you'd never know. The publishing world wants you to stick to a handful of genres that make sense, but that is the first major disbelief.

Hello everyone, and welcome back! In the plethora of topics, I've tried something different. Using an analytical mindset, I've analyzed the fantasy genre; one of my favorites. As an author, I've used low-fantasy elements in my book and, when I wrote it, I didn't even realize there was a specific subgenre called 'Sword & Sorcery', which is what I'd consider one of two primary genres of my debut (the other being hard science fiction). To sum it up for my gaming audience, Sword & Sorcery is essentially your hack and slash equivalent in books; so it's a natural gravitation for me as far as action goes. While I love fantasy and I think there are still many genres that work great, fantasy on its own is exceptionally difficult to supplement.

There's a level of complexity in writing multiple genres as well (and making them work, that's the most difficult part), yet there's a reason these generic stories rarely work for a book anymore. Maybe it's the society we live in, or the god-like technology that our society has. Nevertheless, there's no denying that part of the human condition, the human evolution, is stories. Every culture will have its own folklore, often having its own mythos. It's interesting to see why humanity, as separate tribes before civilization formed, thought of animism as a generic piece of their beliefs. Today in stories, our animism is the fantasy genre.

How many times have you walked into your local bookstore and walked into the fantasy section? There's a massive section of fantasy books, each unique, and yet the covers of these books have found a formula to indicate 'This is a fantasy book', which can inadvertently make it difficult to pick up. According to the economic principle of ‘supply and demand’, a vast readership fuels a substantial demand for fantasy literature, and numerous authors emerge to satisfy this need. It's not the genre itself that makes people stand out; it's the author. Many people will find an author they gravitate toward and go, "Wow, they did this genre so well" that it might be difficult for many people to pick up a book by a different author, especially if it's the same genre. Fantasy as a genre is a favorite among our society for a good reason, but because we're so conditioned to fantasy, we're not looking for the generics anymore.

J. R. R. Tolkien (LOTR, The Hobbit), Andrzej Sapkowski (The Witcher), Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time), there's a reason we think of these authors in the fantasy genre. Other authors, like Stephen King, dabble in many genres. Take The Stand, for example; it's a book that takes place in a contemporary 1980/1990 (depending on the version of the book you read), and the book is about an evolved flu pandemic that kills most of humanity. In the end, the story transitions into a fantasy book, incorporating a few modern aspects. The introductions of the characters are quite lengthy, but overall I'd say that the ideas here, ranging from contemporary to apocalyptic to fantasy post-apocalyptic, rarely have the analysis to the depth that they should have. Another book series of his is the Dark Tower, in which it's a western-fantasy mix. These series stand out; not just because it's Stephen King, but because he actively challenges the established norm.

So, is challenging the norm the only way you can make a fantasy book stand out? Absolutely not! I think a lot about making a fantasy book stand out is the same way you make any book stand out; you don't focus on the genre itself. The genre is of tertiary importance to the characters and the story itself. For me, my quintessential focus as an author is around my characters, followed by the story, then the setting of what makes sense. The reason I have this mindset is that even if you have a mediocre storyline/plotline, your characters will make the book enjoyable for people to read. There seems to be a character archetype for everything, but that is not the case either. Plenty of different character archetypes remain untried, and you can create them. Even if you think someone has already tried it, chances are you’ll still do it differently because you’re a different author. These three-dimensional characters with layers of complexity are relatable on some depth, or they stand out; maybe they're cool or funny in their personality, maybe both? You can do anything as far as characters go. Genre itself does not limit character archetypes; thus, you have a creative way to express yourself even in traditional publishing.

Before I even started writing my first manuscript, I was huge into the MBTI and, to a lesser-degree, the Enneagrams and DnD alignment charts. There are 16 personality types measured on extraversion, intuitiveness, rationality, and structure. Now, that may sound restrictive regarding their Enneagram type, but surprisingly, it is not. There are patterns with the Enneagram, but every human on Earth is different. Ever tried an ESFP who's a Type 5 Enneagram? Go try it, see what quirky things your charming character can uncover despite not having the calculating personality that an INTJ might. Carl Jung proposed the idea of cognitive functions, and they switch around for every type. Nevertheless, before this becomes an MBTI slog, the alignment that comes in DnD is also important because it establishes how often a character might follow the rules/go their own way, or how good/evil they are. All three personality elements are never black and white; well-written characters will have traits all across the board that don't necessarily align with their 'personality type' because that's a regular human. It's the fundamental basis of being human; we're flawed, we make mistakes, and we're contradictory. Nobody is fully complete.

Someone I spend a lot of time with is very into astrology, and so if you're into that sort of thing, that could also be a basis as a writer for personality traits. If I were to go down this route, I'd treat it as a gray zone rather than black and white (like above). If you create a character based on an astrological chart, which heavily relates to birthdays/time of birth, you must either invent their birthday and time or use the day you created them as their ‘birthday’ because it is, in a way. This isn't something that I personally do and astrology isn't something I particularly spend much mental energy at all on, but I know other people will love astrological references; so this paragraph is for you.

If you prefer not to create characters from scratch, perhaps you'd like to base them on people you know. Maybe very specific elements of their personality into a character. Whatever works, right? Even if you go down this road, there's still creativity liberty to be had. Maybe you met an annoying coworker whom you didn't like, or you have a brother who likes to get a comedic rise out of people; that much is relatable since many people have one or two of those things. The list goes on for personality traits, people you've met, and basing a character’s personality in reality. In a sense, what makes fiction realistic could be the research into the topics of your world as if they were your own religion and you're their deity, but good fiction has a basis in reality. Write what you know; there's a reason our debut novels as authors typically have protagonists that are like us personality-wise. They're their own person, of course, but you may share those similarities in your personality.

Psychologically speaking, there's more than the internal differences to note. When we're born, where we're born, matters to our personality. If we're born in the 21st century to middle-class parents anywhere in the West, that'd differ greatly from being born in the 18th century to a wealthy landowner. Your life would be so much different; your view on the world would be so incredibly different, and as a writer, we have to imagine what our characters might be in any situation they may have grown up in. Ask yourself what events make the character. What breaks them? What causes them to become your main protagonist/antagonist of your novel? Why do they have that personality? Is it because of their family, or the people they're around?

Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you enjoyed this analysis! As for a book update, I am reviewing contracts with my business manager as we speak. Two distributors are potential candidates so far. If any authors are reading this and you have any suggestions, feel free to use the internal messaging function. If it's your first time here, why not join the mailing list? It's free, and you can unsubscribe anytime. I hope you enjoyed the post; I create a new one every Friday, and we'll see how we ramp up as my debut novel gets closer and closer to publication.

Until we meet again, stay cool in this July weather,

Dustin

P.S. I had difficulty locating a suitable image that wasn't AI-generated, given the current prevalence of AI in fantasy on the internet. So, I chose Starry Night. Great classic, and we love Vincent van Gogh! ]]>

#12: Independence Day, Topographical Study, Fictional Locations

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 3 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Tomorrow's the 250th anniversary of Independence Day in the United States, so happy July 4 to all who celebrate! Our Founding Fathers established themselves as pioneers of a brand new constitution, and as anyone who's taken an 8th grade history class will say, 'Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness'. It's amazing to think they attempted to establish a system where all men were created equal. There's so much to the story that it'd be irrational to oversimplify, so let us be thankful that personal liberty stands upon the uncertainties of the present. Just imagine what the people of the 1770s-80s thought when they were to be a part of a brand new nation, an experimental government, away from the government in London and a king.

Still, these historical times provoke contemplation on the lives of surveyors and explorers mapping the continent. Sometimes, as a writer, you'll write about real-world geographical places you've never been to. Some may question a novel’s authenticity based on an author’s experiences, yet research into a local area’s culture and topography can create perceived realism. It doesn't make the novel any less authentic; in fact, while there may be mild inaccuracies, an author who might extensively study an area could report it better than an author who's been there and writes based on anecdotal evidence.

I'm someone who does both. There are countless places I'd love to visit, but money is tight for us all. The next best thing is researching, but it makes you wonder how you can still be authentic to the places you have visited. For example, if I were to write about experiences being in the Southwestern United States throughout its mountains, arid landscapes, hot summers, and frigid winters, those would be purely anecdotal. Indeed, while it's accurate to the location, I have not extensively walked all over the place like some other dedicated authors might have. I think one of the greatest examples of this is Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and how he wrote the book.

It took Cormac McCarthy around a decade to write Blood Meridian, and the reason might surprise you. Because he was trying to be authentic to the post Mexican-American war period on the American side in Texas and Northern Mexico, he traveled the trails that the protagonists in the book walked to memorize the topography and immerse himself in both the culture of the southwest and be accurate down to the hill with his geographical interpretation. Though he had spurts of not even touching his project for months on end out of frustration, he eventually wrote the book in its entirety. To this day, critics consider Blood Meridian his magnum opus and more than just that; his work of fiction is considered a nearly accurate representation of Samuel Chamberlain's work as a scalp hunter (the historical man who inspired Blood Meridian) of the men he met while working with the Glanton Gang. Because of McCarthy's immense attention to detail, the book was exceptional with his dedication to his research.

Blood Meridian was published in 1985, and since then, technology and especially mapping have come a long way. Because it's so expensive to travel and often cheaper to just run a computer and immerse yourself there, computer programs that help simulate real-world geography are some people's best friends as writers. As silly as this might sound, my friends and I were playing Minecraft recently using a program called Arnis (not sponsored), and the program generates selected, real-world areas in a 1:1 scale. The program effectively simulates what it's like to be in a location, and while the 'blocks' themselves may not be completely accurate, the topography and street maps are generally very accurate. Sometimes, to write, you have to do anything where you can get information, and this is a fun, expressive way to figure out what real-world locations might be; even if you decide to fictionalize them by adding streets, buildings, bridges, etc.

Moving onto fictional locations, especially that of a fantasy novel, I think it's imperative that an author understands realistic geographical and topographical features. Wind patterns, towering mountains, continental interiors, depressions, coastlines—everything has its own microclimate. Naturally, you don't need to world-build every little detail to make sure it's authentic or realistic. In the future, when I write a fantasy novel, what I might do is keep the full map a secret and just base it on where the protagonists of the story visit, like a journey novel. This lets you do significantly less than determine the entire area of a planet; you can just do a small region instead. You can travel around 5-10 miles a day with an Ox & Cart, 20-30 by walking, 40-60 by horseback, and from 80 to 150 nautical miles by ship (these distances are averages and don't include weather, bandits/raiders, rugged terrain, etc. etc.).

While fictional, fantastical geography is one thing, another fun idea is the geography of other planets/satellites in our solar system by fictional terraforming. Since we have the surface maps of the Moon, Mars, etc., we can theoretically make a map that's almost pre-made in a sense in the sci-fi genre. You can determine how deep the oceans are along particular coastlines, where lakes might be, wetlands, arid areas, etc. My science fiction writers will know that life on the Moon and Mars will be significantly different from Earth beyond superficial sky views. The orbital periods, day lengths, and gravity, will all determine a completely different environment to Earth. If you weigh 1/6th your current weight on the moon, you will feel an immense difference even if the moon is terraformed.

The thing about writing is that knowledge is one thing, but one must never infringe on your own creativity. If you want to do something that doesn't follow the rules of geography or science, you don't have to follow it. These tips are strictly for research only; for those who are looking to write realism as far as geographical reasoning goes. In my personal opinion, I think geography is one of the most overlooked pieces of writing since it's the physical environment and surrounding areas. While physical geography determines a world (with resources to note), what determines a world just as much are national/subdivisional borders.

While geopolitics are worthy of their own blog post, I will say that each system has pros and cons depending on what you're evaluating. There's a reason that the United States and the Soviet Union were in a Cold War as ideological superpowers, but notice how the Soviet Union attempted to control the entire Northern European plain using satellite states. This was because throughout history, Moscow is essentially open to plains from any invading army from the west. Napoleon took Moscow; the German Reich initiated a battle on the city's outskirts, and it was clear that the only geographical advantage that the Soviets had between the west was the distance. Soviet leaders understood that their western flank was weak, so they attempted to control it all the way up to East Germany and Czechoslovakia. While that's an example of physical geography determining a major piece of Soviet foreign policy, there's more than just the physical geographical element.

Another example of geography determining national borders, geopolitics, and wars is resources. In fact, I'd argue that resources would be a much larger factor on national borders than physical geography. No nation has unlimited resources, and global trade benefits everyone because of the transference of funds, goods, and resources. For example, the United States produces the most food globally and exports tons of it to other nations. However, regarding coffee, the country can only grow it naturally in Hawaii and a small part of California (especially southern areas near San Diego). Meanwhile, Brazil is the largest coffee producer on Earth, so trade between these two countries on paper works very well. Even something as simple as this can determine national relationships and how aggressive a nation's foreign policy might be. The refusal of a nation in a fantasy setting to trade, along with its complete authority over its restricted exports, could instigate a war if the resources are viewed as a necessity, thus contributing to the realism element.

Since this post is already long, the last geographical thing I'll go over is ethnic borders. Like in real life, national borders do not always reflect ethnic borders. Africa and the Middle East are prime examples of this, and the reason ethnicities matter is mutual culture and language. Kurdistan is one of the largest non-sovereign state for example, and they're ruled by other powers that control and enforce their land. So, while it's easy to draw lines or squiggles on a map and say 'that's a country', that's usually how colonial powers did it when they decolonized. Depending on the time of what you write and how fictional the world is, nation-states might be the most common thing you put, or maybe it's more modern and they have a melting pot culture like the countries of the Americas and Oceania. Ideologies matter, but these are what truly mark national borders.

Thanks everyone for tuning in! As we speak, my current update is that I'm searching for good terms for distribution that allow me to keep the full rights of my book and grant it availability to a large market. Soon we'll have distribution, likely before we even know it! Who knows, maybe I'll even have the draft of this next book done before my debut is released. It's all a process, a journey, and learning how we proceed in this strange world we are born to.

Until we meet again, Happy Independence Day!

Dustin

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#11: Scientific Realism

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Less than 4 months to go until my debut novel releases! To celebrate, I'll be talking about some processes that led me to land on the term 'scientific realism' and what that actually means. Full disclosure that I am not a scientist or a doctor, but anyone can research extensively into any topic that they find intriguing. For many of us, science is a fascinating topic because it's not just the study of our world, it's the study of what can be of our world.

Most writers will know that there's a difference between 'hard' and 'soft' science fiction. Hard sci-fi utilizes scientific accuracy and grounds itself in chemistry, astronomy, and other practical sciences that actually exist. Soft science fiction is more flexible in what's logical, more or less it relates to social sciences, relaxing the realism element. Basically, hard science fiction typically follows scientific realism, where soft sci-fi does not.

I like describing my writing as "Hard Science Fiction, Low-Fantasy", since I have fantasy elements in my book, but the hardline is the science. For me, I've always found science fiction intriguing if the concepts could apply to reality. In Einstein's theory of relativity, it's possible for wormholes to exist, and thus to our understanding of technology and physics, this would be the closest to traveling intergalactic distances in a human lifetime. Already, our world doesn't need magic to be interesting; science on its own is already so complicated and fascinating in itself.

In using hard science fiction, if you also choose to go down the fantasy route like I have, I think it's essential to understand that a world like this more than likely has a hardline system of magic just as complicated as the science. Like any good magic system, they're complicated, flawed, and not every little of magic is known. With these two writing styles converging, I enjoy calling it a 'World of Two Sciences', since one is grounded in reality, and the other is flavored as the world demands it. As a result, magic should never be used as a one-fix all type of situation. Some problems require science to solve; others require magical knowhow. If you can balance both the science and the magic system, that's how you know you have a solid system. If magic can just do everything science can and more, that's a more fantasy-like story, potentially in medieval stasis.

Maybe there's a reason behind why science might not work the same way it does in reality; as such, a story could still be just as, if not more, interesting. I'm not saying you should reinvent physics itself, but I'm sure the few authors who have done so have an immaculate attention to detail. In a future novel, I might try something similar, but no promises. We'll see how difficult it is to make a dimension where nothing makes sense.

I suppose one reason I always found hard science interesting was because I found space interesting. When I watched sci-fi shows as a kid and could point out how little inaccuracies existed, I often thought the creators were doing the real, interesting science a disservice. With the idea that advanced science is indistinguishable from magic, the ideas have gotten so carried away with that saying that they turned into soft science fiction. Whether we realize it or not, it's quintessential to the future of humanity to promote scientific minds. After all, some scientific concepts started out as fiction at some point. The most notable instance of this was when JFK, at the beginning of the 1960s, gave the US the ambitious mission to land men on the moon and bring them home. 1969, just later that decade, it happened.

Sometimes, scientific ideas come from fictional concepts, and these concepts become integrated into the real world once their substance has been explored. Leonardo Da Vinci designed countless unique inventions that, hundreds of years later, were adapted to the real world (one of the most notable being the tank). Even if it’s long after the work of art is completed and the artist is no longer around, their work continues to live on inside the human consciousness. In a sense, the writer Homer has been alive for thousands of years by this metric.

Back to scientific realism, I love this philosophy since it gives scientific answers to fictional narratives. Even with elements that are currently commercially unobtainable that exist in the real world (like Francium), there may yet come a day that we can use Francium hydroxide for scientific purposes. That day may be far in the future, but the fact that it’s possible and could be used in a fictional narrative makes it hard science.

Chemistry is only one piece of the puzzle, of course. While some other writers propose mechanical engineering, with astronomy being a popular point of sci-fi, I think one piece of science that might be overlooked is biology in writing. Not just from DNA, RNA, and creating unique or mixed animals, I also mean it from the standpoint of life synthesis. Relating back to space, every organism on Earth is a carbon-based lifeform, but an element that is just as complex as carbon and could potentially also give rise to life is silicon. In such a case, solvents need to be like how water is a solvent for carbon-based life. Nevertheless, fictional biology and especially astrobiology might be the most interesting pieces of science, since it’s not just about the scientific concepts anymore; it’s about creating a brand new organism.

Though science is still in its early infancy, humanity is on its way to the stars. The road is tumultuous, but the ultimate destiny is to expand beyond this terrestrial cradle of civilization. We will one day look back on the times when we knew the geography of the Earth, but barely knew much about the geography of the stars. After all, mapping out every individual world takes more than just using a satellite; it takes an explorer with a dream.

Until we meet again,

Dustin ]]>

#10: Writer's Block & Inspiration: Valleys & Peaks

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My writing process inspired this post immediately succeeding the six-year anniversary. As I'm writing this, I've started novelizing my original story, and it all started back on the 14th. I went back into my history of this world, what notes I originally had for the environment, the characters, etc. I attempted to novelize the original story as my first book in February 2024. However, for a multitude of reasons (at the time I thought it was because it didn't feel fresh; later I realized it wasn't this), I completely dropped the book idea for over 2 years. After getting a different perspective with time and re-defining some details that otherwise would've broken the novel, it was like my version of Pandora's Box opening up and taking my mind by storm.

Between the 15th and the 18th; I wrote a minimum of 5,300 words per day, with my peak at ~8,800 split between two writing sessions. Now, those numbers sound absolutely colossal, and they are. But in a way, I've been subtly thinking about the original book. It hasn't been my primary focus like my debut, but once I figured it out, I knew exactly what I wanted to write.

It's really that simple. When we face writer's block for a specific story, we need to take a step back, shelf the idea for now, and let it sift through the mind while a different, more concurrent project exists. Because of my extensive focus on my debut, I almost forgot how to create a first draft, but luckily I didn't! Every time we discover a new process, we do something different. Some people say you need to 'write the idea while it's still fresh’, and sometimes that works. Other times, obsessing over smaller details can get you stuck, as it did me.

Now that I'm writing, unleashing my inner story in a novel format, I've just been trying to get words onto a page. Ideas, plots, the hardest thing to do is to write without judging yourself afterward. It's easy to make something, go "That can be better", and that'll ruin your writing process because you'll keep starting over. I did this for the second book before I started legitimately writing the second. Some of my ideas are terrible now, but that's just because I've just put them on paper. An idea is like a diamond; pulled out of the ground, it's coarse, and maybe not the prettiest to look at. However, with extensive cutting and care, with trimming and polishing, you get a diamond so shiny it belongs in a museum.

After I finish the first draft of my second novel, I'm going to let it sit for three months before I look at it again. I get to look at it with a fresh perspective, edit how I see fit, and redefine smaller details. Depending on how creative I'm feeling, I might create a different book in that waiting process, juggle between them, and such is the life of a writer. We're all in different spots in our writing journey, and it's good to take everything that's said with a grain of salt.

Yesterday, I went out of my comfort zone and met people I've never seen before in my life. We met up at a library, talked briefly at the beginning about our projects, wrote for 75 minutes, then talked afterwards. I met a new acquaintance who had the same scientific/historical realism that I admired, so we exchanged Instagram handles. Through the lens of progress, of networking, it was absolutely worth it to connect and meet with like-minded people.

To say I've done everything originally on my own would be incorrect. As writers, we constantly bounce our ideas around with other people. It's like greasing an otherwise static chain; the chain doesn't move as fast when you pull it as is. But with the extra support from the grease, the chain pulls much faster. The same is true of people and ideas. Unfortunately, I did not have a writing group with my debut novel, only having my beta reader to bounce ideas off of. Nevertheless, I completed it to the fullest extent, and you can too, even if by yourself.

There are many ways around writer's block, and it's easy to panic when you have it. In my experience, I've found that panicking makes it worse since you keep thinking about the novelization from a stuck point of view. One of the best feelings is when a long streak of writer's block is finally released and you unleash a plethora of ideas that you had originally intended for your story. If I'm already a quarter of the way to the magic 100,000 words in writing after just four days, I think it's possible that our blocked ideas percolate the longest. Subtle thoughts to them, no matter how small, add subconsciously. That makes it possible to write that much, I've found. Enjoy what you write, make sure of that, always.

The final ingredient to success is consuming other media. This one sounds like a natural "duh", but it's not so simple. If you're writing a story that takes place in the early 2000s, watch a show that takes place then. Study that time period; see what happened; we have the records for each year like a great list on Wikipedia down to the specific days. Even if you have a fantasy story, think about what medieval-level technology might exist. It's always a guideline as well, not a rule!

Thanks everyone for tuning in! If all goes well, I'll start consistently posting to Instagram within the next week. I've got some excellent ideas I'd like to share as far as that goes. Have a great Friday and holiday. Let me know how your projects are going!

Until we meet again,

Dustin ]]>

#9 (Special Post!): 6 Years! Happy Anniversary!

Dustin Bloom — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

June 14 is the day that will forever sit with me as my most important as far as creativity goes. It was on this day in 2020 at 19:03:33 MDT that I embarked on the most ambitious hour of my creative life. Between using rudimentary maps of what I thought Alaska would look like in the year 2000 as well as my first map of the Underworld. I created original history, lore, and everything else. As a precursor to creating the world, I listened to Pendulum's 'The Other Side' on their In Silico album, and listening to the lyrics of the song greatly inspired me on that day. As a geography nerd, I knew Alaska was the least densely populated state in the US, thus the expansive wilderness and extensive nature allowed for there to be more questionable things that humans might not be used to. I didn't know why I wanted to create something that I previously didn't have an interest in, but I knew I had something; even people I barely knew thought so.

I originally called my project "The Other Side", even though this story was never written in a novel format. I had an original protagonist, different devils he went up against, etc. etc. I mostly just used the world-building for fun until about 3 years ago when I knew I had more than just fun RPG gaming. 3 years ago, when I was working another retail job, I had this immense creative spurt that eventually led me to think that I'd one day be an author. Not just your average fantasy indie author, but one who combined elements of scientific realism, imagination, and a stark focus on realistic character personalities. Essentially, I knew what annoyed me in writing, and so I wrote what I enjoyed. I remember reading books, watching movies, shows, and thinking "Wow, nobody talks like that." or "Even for this universe that's not realistic." So I knew what I wanted to do as far as dialogue and world realism went.

That's not to say my world was necessarily realistic in the truest sense of the word; it isn't. The point of it is that while I use realistic physics, science, and other elements that would otherwise be overlooked in a traditional fantasy novel, for the flex tape that a lot of authors call magic. There's nothing wrong with it if you enjoy that sort of thing, but as for me? I find it far more interesting if I can find real-world applications where I can, and if there's a magic system (and there is in my book), I like to think about how something like that would realistically work. Like science, a good magic system has its limitations; it's not a one-size-fits-all type of deal, and it's just as complicated as understanding broad branches of chemistry, planetary science, etc.

These gripes are indirectly what taught me what not to do when writing what I wanted to do, and so on this day 6 years ago, this is the foundation that started everything, even if practically speaking it wasn't career-based for the longest time. Sometimes, let creativity flow and have patience, and this much was true about my world. In a way, I'm glad I'm not publishing a story on the first protagonist I ever wrote, because if I look back at what I had written that first day and kept going inside that mindset, I wouldn't have had the maturity or skill to make a full novel that I do now. Experiences in life change you, and they refine your writing style especially. Perhaps in ten years I'll look back at my debut, go "I was an immature writer", and hone something even better. That's the idea that we keep improving, but as for the world?

The mythos I created was unlike anything I had before. I had little religious influence in my early life and made immature assertions at the time that hindered me, but because of my lack of exposure, I created something entirely unique. In a way, creative writing made me a more open-minded person to other ideas, other points of view, because you can always learn more from people of different backgrounds. You consider elements of life through a different lens, a different perspective, one that makes you feel more human and less checkered-pattern black and white. Before then, I didn't have the resources to properly assert what I wanted out of life or what I was passionate about, but it was more than just creative writing. I became my own advocate, because as nice as the princess in the tower stories are, nobody is coming to save us. Let us be like the man with no name and make our own way through this crazy journey we call life!

In a way, I see this day as a pivotal, transformational day. What would otherwise just be Flag Day in the US is the day that I locked in, the day I fully embraced creativity from a lens of what I had already known. I constantly talk about geography and history, but those weren't the only elements. At the time, listening to the lyrics of The Other Side, the world really painted a picture. Getting dragged through the 'Gates of Hell' to 'where you belong', the song carried its own meaning for me, which I fully embraced on this day. Though the chances of any members of Pendulum seeing this post are astronomically low, if any of them read this, know that you have my most sincere and utmost respect for the inspiration.

Every year since I created the world, I celebrated. This year is different since I'm talking about it publicly for the first time and explaining the origins to a deeper level. Since this was long before I wrote my book, it was before I had a lot of things flushed out, ready to be seen. Rarely do such ideas inspire us to such a deep level that inspire immense creativity. For me, the most unlikely circumstances led me onto the path of creating my novel. Ironically, I used to not like to read, and if you had told me 6 years ago that I'd have written a book in the future, I'd think you were crazy. I learned that it's not reading itself I didn't like; it was being forced to read something I didn't care about (or about 95% of the public education system's material and the illusion of choice). We truly don't learn that much about ourselves unless we get lucky enough to stumble upon the things that make us who we are, and this was indeed an event for me.

For the rest of my life, I will celebrate June 14 as my creation day. Let your imagination run wild; let your experiences in life guide you to creativity. Your valleys and peaks in life, your unlikely experiences that you might not think of down the road. If you're an author reading this and you're struggling to get your first book done, know that if I can do it, you absolutely can as well! Take that idea you've obsessed over for ages, let it out, put all of your cool things in the book and see what happens. Give it its own identity! Nobody can limit what you create.

6 years is a long time, it really is. If you're older, that may not sound like a long time, but think about where we were 6 years ago and how much happened. It was during the pandemic, and we were mostly quarantined around that time. From the day 6 years ago, I have developed my world until it has met my expectations of a wider universe. I did that, wrote the book, edited, and that's why I believe my fictional locations and even my real ones feel just like that. Even if you've never been to a location you're trying to write about, study the location! Study the topography, the history, the geology, and see what you can come up with. After all, if you want to create, the only thing that will stop you is that voice in the back of your head. Externalize it, give it a name, and give it a corner so you can focus and write! You will succeed, believe in yourself.

Thank you everyone so much for your support. If you've been with me for six years, thank you so much for your continued support! If you're new here, welcome! I post every Friday (with the exception of this special post, on Sunday). My world has inspired me to do so much with my life, take paths I otherwise wouldn't take; sometimes act on impulse and just trust that a plan might paralyze my thinking. After all, if I didn't act on impulse the week before I started on my book, I wouldn't have written it. Carve your own way, and you will succeed.

All the best, thank you so much, and until we meet again,

Dustin ]]>

#8: Cultural Inspirations

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

(Image credit to Fredrik Persson)
It should be no surprise that exposure to other cultures is beneficial in life, whether it be to learn more about the human condition, behavior, a new language, history, and many, many other reasons. In particular, if we realize it, we draw inspiration from different cultures worldwide on any given day. Originating early in human consciousness, culture stemmed when we had both excess amounts of time and brainpower to create. Early humans who made cave paintings had a lot going on during the day with hunting and gathering, but once they came across different caves, they left their mark that their distant descendants could see. While we often understand cave paintings as a part of early human culture and consciousness, they proved more than just simple handprints on a wall; they proved they were just as complex as their descendants. Even though they may be long gone now, their legacy exists solely through their art. It's the only thing that has stood the test of time.

Early nomadic cultures generally depended on the group of humans that were in the pack and what environment they frequented. Because our species originated in the Great Rift Valley in East Africa (most likely Ethiopia or Kenya), and it was a matter of gradual evolution, our species expanded from there on out for hundreds of thousands of years. As humanity expanded to new locations, it adapted to the location it called home; especially once the agricultural revolution began. The typical tribes of humanity converged as settlements began, and you can make the argument that this is the first instance multiple cultures mixed.

The United States, while it has many origins with the many indigenous people, the vast majority of the people in the US are used to a culture that originates on some other continent. The culture of the indigenous also still widely exists. There's a reason it's impossible to generalize about any nation, and this is especially true for the United States. Over 340 million people live in the US, all of them unique and diverse in their background, so it is one of the largest melting pots in the world. Naturally, India is a major melting pot as well, with multiple different official languages. It's no surprise that when we think of multiculturalism, we usually think of democratic countries.

Interestingly, while the United States has the identity of being a melting pot as opposed to many European countries where the cultural is mostly homogenous, there was a point when the European countries were also nomadic tribes, and originally not indigenous to their area. Thousands of years ago, these tribes existed. As time went on, they had to either work together or fight until there was a winner. As such, one of the biggest parts of evolving as humans is the depth of our culture. We were always destined to expand our minds in the departments of science, culture, technology; it's a wonder why we've lost that in our way. Let's hope the technologies of today are a temporary blip.

Anyway, what might be true today won't be true tomorrow, and wasn't true yesterday. As far as cultures go, this much is absolutely true. For example, in England, the Normans conquered it in 1066, and because of the invasion and conquest of England, we still use many Norman words in our language. An Englishman might walk into a room, where a Norman walked into a chamber. An Englishman might see Hadrian's Wall and call it old, whereas a Norman might call it ancient. There are so many more examples of this, but 1066 was almost a thousand years ago. Normans don't exist in the traditional sense anymore; they'd be integrated with today's Englishmen, effectively indistinguishable since they are one.

If humanity continues to be independent countries, then chances are our cultures will evolve separately still. The internet is a major part of having a global culture, but reading what you see on a screen isn't true culture. Understanding a culture is more than seeing it for the traditions; it's also understanding typical daily life, what a daily routine looks like, etc. If the United States lasts 1,000 years, can you imagine how different our culture will be then? It'll barely be recognizable from today, and we won't be able to predict how our culture changes since the trends change all the time. As such, time changes all cultures; all people change with time. Understanding different cultures can help us better understand ourselves, if not inspire us.

Since culture is an inevitable part of humanity, I encourage everyone reading this to pick any culture that interests you and learn more about it. One of my favorite cultures/histories to learn about is Japanese, especially around the Sengoku period. An interesting part of Japanese culture at the time was isolation from the rest of the world, the only exception to this rule being the port city of Dejima (today Nagasaki) traded mostly with the Dutch. It was so important to the Japanese to focus internally that it was a matter of life and death in the eyes of their government if you left or entered the country unwarranted. The reason the government was like this is that Japan essentially had a military-junta government for a major period of its history. Of course, I'm talking about the different shogunates. While hierarchically below the emperor and allowing him and his family to keep their position as Japan's monarchs, even letting them live in luxury, the shogun ran the country for hundreds of years. That's like today if the top-ranking military general led any country and essentially told everyone, "Alright, do not leave, and we will not engage in any outside diplomacy."

Alright, it's the eighth paragraph now, and you're wondering, "What does this have to do with writing?" Traveling and learning more about different cultures helps with creativity. It's not just a matter of "my word is this", but evolutionary inspiration. When world-building, I often have to think about everything I just talked about in order to create a legitimate culture that's passable as realistic. Think about how old your culture is, how the history shaped the area, maybe what types of ancient cultures mingled with this one. Maybe cultures in a fantasy world are based on a real one. Tolkien had many inspirations for his cultures, and one of the heaviest was actually the Finnish culture thanks to the Kalevala. Like any subject, culture is best created when it's understood to the fullest extent. What does it mean to have culture, to have societies that have different day to day lives, beliefs, and anything else in between?

An interesting way to postulate how culture might come about is the apocalyptic genre, since all cultural progress and traditions are effectively set back to zero in the early stages as people try to survive. But, as time progresses, new cultures begin to emerge. This is not an overnight matter of course, I'm talking about after the first generation of survivors is mostly gone, brand new cultures will begin to form around the communities created, much like our tribal ancestors before. Another way to postulate culture is by creating a map based on plate tectonics, koppen climate, etc. Create geography that's plausible, that makes sense, then decide where you want your first people to start. This is important because it'll determine the history for the rest of your world, and this doesn't mean it's limited to one species, either. Simulate what makes sense, how people will migrate and settle, and when you want them to discover agriculture or its equivalent. Generally speaking, they'll be creating civilizations around river valleys, and from there you can make some interesting fantasy countries with a realistic history.

For the more gamer-nerdy type such as myself, you might own a copy of one of the civilization games. If you can, create a custom map that looks like your world's geography; it's a great reference, and if you wanted to actually play as a civilization and simulate how you'd want one of your kingdoms to expand, you could run this over and over again as different civilizations and see where conflict of interest arises, where alliances might be forged, and much more. These games usually have a feature where they tell you the population, literacy rate, etc. etc. Play to a particular age and see where they're at, it might be a great reference if you'd rather play a game over doing some mathematical and geographical calculating.

As for those of you who are writing contemporary stories that have real cultures, I highly recommend studying the cultures are the specifically important to your story. It's easy to fall into the pitfall of cultural stereotypes, even for different parts of one's home country. A person from France might come to the US or Canada for work and remittance, which would be a motivation for such a character to provide for their family or whoever else. They might bring with them some of their culture, and naturally, they'd stick out as an interesting figure no matter where they went (except for maybe Quebec and Louisiana for the specific example). Maybe there's a reason you have someone like that in your story, depending on the story you're writing.

Anyway, I think I've made this post long enough. Thank you everyone for tuning in; I know this was a ton of information, but culture is such an important part of the human condition that it's impossible not to cover more of it. If you'd like to see me cover more cultures or request me to cover a topic on a blog post, consider using my contact me page. You never know, it never hurts to suggest something you're interested in to see if I might have something to say about it. If coerced, I might cover more regional cultures in the future, or maybe a focus on a specific one for a post. There's just so much to say that it might be an information overload, but regardless, I hope you enjoyed.

Until we meet again,

Dustin ]]>

#7: Evolution of the Character

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 5 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

No matter what your story is with human characters (or even characters that mimic humans) your characters will constantly evolve as the story progresses. Much like life for many of us, we're much different from 1 year ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, etc. Does this mean we're necessarily better than we were before? Not always, but in many cases, yes. When people think of evolution, they usually think of how a species becomes a different one over time. Everything on Earth evolved from the same organic life over 3 billion years ago, and throughout the biodiversity in life on Earth, we had the great dinosaurs to the relatively unchanged horseshoe crab. Life on Earth evolves, and especially the universe; how each star system and planet changes as time progresses.

The idea here isn't just that things simply change; they evolve for better or for worse. Like in writing, the common misconception in evolution is that is has to be "forward". In theory, human minds will shrink in the future due to overreliance on technology, as well as myopia and other problematic conditions if we don't figure out how to minimize the interior working conditions of everyday people. Regardless of this theory, it is just that, a theory, a possible way the human race could evolve. Our inventions are often hubristic, and we believe that what's good for eliminating more work for us is the same as good for us, especially if it can generate a profit. The darker part of humanity is this.

Evolution itself is complicated, and while you could evolve "forward" or "backward", it's not possible to reach a stasis in a traditional sense. Change can be scary for both the characters in a story and the people going through everyday life. The lack of change is something a lot of people find comfort in, knowing that their stability is ultimate, but even just experience and life will change you little by little every day. The characters can be the same way, but the bottom line is that everything evolves, it changes.

Forward character arcs imply a character is weaker at the beginning of the story and stronger, more complete at the end of the story. While this can be the case, it's worth noting that no well-written character is perfect. The "perfect" characters that are liked by everyone, oh so nice, good at everything? They're your Mary/Gary Sues. That's not to say that the Sues can't be a tactic in writing, but more often than not, they're irritating in an otherwise compelling narrative. The characters who never evolve, who are instead pushed around the plot, are your Sues. Needless to say, if you have to put one in the story, make them a toxic villain so that it's all the more satisfying when the protagonist defeats them.

On the flip side, negative character arcs are exactly as they sound. The protagonist starts the story in a good place, but the story itself by the end leaves them in a worse place. Recently, I've been watching Better Call Saul (after finishing Breaking Bad and El Camino; excellent stories) and this much is true about the protagonist, Jimmy McGill, who eventually becomes Saul Goodman. In this story, Jimmy's struggling to be good, to placate his brother, and to do anything for his love interest to make sure he stays afloat. As the story progresses, however, he falls off a cliff as far as morality goes (and that's the whole point of this show: how he became Walter White's lawyer). You can make the argument that Saul is a stronger character because of the arc he had since he's mentally tougher and more financially stable, but as far as morality goes? It diminishes significantly throughout the story, and thus you can argue that this is a form of negative character arc.

While I suppose this is the primary purpose of this post is that "oh, evolution is both forwards and backwards!" I think there's more substance than the superficial values given. I was having a discussion with a friend just yesterday about bringing back old characters for different stories, and I think the only way this could work well is if the characters themselves are different (especially if a lot of time has passed). Years ago, I remember having a different conversation with someone else who didn't like the Hobbit movies, and one of the reasons was that they reused the characters. At the time I thought, "But how? It's just trying to adapt the novel?", but then it made sense to me. To no fault of the actors or Peter Jackson's adaptation, a lot of the reused characters are almost exactly the same as they'd become 60 years later in Lord of the Rings. While any LOTR nerd will tell you that there's a lot more wrong with it, we'll just leave it at that as one of the things they could've done better. Looking back at Better Call Saul, starting Breaking Bad versus starting Better Call Saul, you immediately notice that Saul is a completely different character, and that's only around six years of timeline difference between the two.

Complexity and imperfection layers an interesting character. If immortals existed and they lived through all of human history at any ambulatory and healthy age, they too would change in their personality, philosophy, and everything else as hundreds of thousands of years pass by. You could even go a step further and have a primordial character, but even they will still evolve and be different. Personally, I love the idea that even a character as old as time itself is still not perfect; it shows that there is always room to evolve, whether backwards or forwards.

One of the most volatile genres in terms of character development is, in my opinion, the post-apocalyptic genre; especially the characters that survive the cataclysm. Whether it's a pandemic, nuclear war, or alien invasion, it doesn't matter: the characters are forced to change or they don't make it in the end. A clear example of this is The Walking Dead; Season 1 Rick Grimes is the undeveloped, fragmented counterpart of the complete, survivor, battle-hardened Season 5 Rick Grimes (it's the beard that gives him strength, right?). That's not to say that even good characters like Rick Grimes don't do evil things; they have to in order to survive. Does that make them anti-heroes? Not really in this instance, I'd argue, since it's a basis of morality and what he does.

Furthermore, these types of stories are fascinating because of their evolution. If such a horrible cataclysm happened, how does humanity come back and ultimately survive? It's essentially what these stories explore; they're stories of after the world ended, and yet there are typically still humans in these stories. Such is true in nature: you need to adapt and change in order to survive and evolve. As far as nature is concerned, being able to survive is the only thing that matters. We often forget about that since we're in a society that's engineered for every single need we have. It's quite amazing we're in such a world that our ancestors couldn't even imagine.

Thanks for tuning in everyone, and welcome to June! Throughout these next few months as I prepare to release my book, I will attempt to do more for promotions, QNAs, and hopefully build a community around these stories and our shared interest in science & history. Next week, I will have a post on Friday (like usual) and one on Sunday for the special occasion post. If you've read this far, thank you so much, and please consider joining my newsletter. It's free, and you get to keep up with my thoughts!

Until we meet again,

Dustin ]]>

#6: Writing Times

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This sounds trivial at first, but I remember being the most stuck on this step when I first started writing. While it's different for everyone and what their body responds to for inspiration, my 'writing time' usually happens just after I wake up. While this isn't to say that I can't be inspired in the evening, the mind is generally more creative in the morning after we wake up, since we've just come out of a dream state and aren't fatigued by the decisions of the last day. For me, it all coalesces and sifts, allowing me to write what I've been at for a long time. Similar to Stephen King's creative process, sometimes I don't even write down my ideas since I trust the better ones will stick with me.

For a long time, I was lost and didn't know how to write a novel. Anything short form I wrote when I was inspired, and that was no issue, but the trick is building a habit. It takes 21 days to build a habit, and if you write every morning in a sprint, even just for 30 minutes? That's a habit your brain is used to, and you continue to do it. I've been at that for almost 2 years now, and it's integrated into my morning routine. Not everyone can follow a schedule or be as organized, which is why I've found that when I'm feeling especially inspired, and I don't want to burn out creative energy, I segment my writing time.

In the morning, when I write, I can expect to spend about 2 hours on it. If I feel like I could keep going for another hour, I stop anyway and let my mind catch up with what I've written. As a planner, it helps me to know that 'Alright, I've written from 8 to 10 AM. Next, I will do a 30-minute sprint at 2 PM' and so on. Writing sprints don't have to be exact times, either; I always consider them like goals. If I were starting again, if I could write 30 minutes a day at least, I'd consider that a win, and that was when I was far more pressed for time. Even if you can't allot 30 minutes, you can allot 100 words; one single paragraph. If that doesn't sound like a lot, keep in mind you'd have a passable first draft in 500 days (1 year, 4 months, 15 days). Editing is another thing, of course, and while I was able to do extensive edits and have a beta reader, you can hire an editor to take that extra time to edit for you. All in all, if you want to start writing, nothing's stopping you. You just have to start and make it a habit. That's the trick.

As a decently seasoned writer who keeps to the schedule, sometimes I have to travel (or want to travel), and I can't write every morning like I want to. When this happens, I enjoy my vacation, my time, and I don't necessarily worry about writing every day. However, I do indeed still want to write, especially because traveling rejuvenates creative juices. I've taken my laptop on the airplane, and I've written while commuting by car. It works out well when you travel with 2 other people since they'll sit in the driver and passenger seat, entertaining each other, meanwhile time passes much faster for you since you're deep within your head, your own world. Your commute feels like it ends so fast, even if it's 2 hours long. Then, you go have fun! So, if you've ever wondered if writers still write even on vacation/when they travel, the answer (at least for me) is absolutely!

It's taken a long journey to get to where I am, and that's the entire point of writing. It's not about the destination, it's the journey you take; the minute moments that bring meaning to an otherwise epic journey. As a writer, you'll love your work, hate your work, enjoy creating and hate editing, but all in all, it's the biggest and most ambitious creative project you may ever embark on. Most novels are written by one person and edited by another, and so from that perspective, it's yours. Of the American population, ~2% have a doctorate, and only about .015% have a published novel; quite the discrepancy. I don't think it's harder to become a writer, of course, since anyone can do it, but it might be harder to start on the pathway to becoming an author. Like any artistic path, it's an unstable one, but one that heavily pays off if enough time, effort, strategy, and, of course, luck, are put into this career. It's a matter of not giving up and learning, you'll get anywhere.

I once had a potential publisher ask me if I was alright with public speaking, and to that I said, "I could do that." Then he said, "Cool, do you have any social media?" and I didn't at the time. This was shortly after I completed my first draft. I remember how many steps I was missing, and it took me a year to rectify everything in order to get the manuscript to a level that I could copyright it. Anyway, the whole point of this tangent is to say that, like any career path, there are many unknowns, and that you can't leave stones unturned. Time will pass anyway; you might as well pursue the creative path while you're on the working path.

Thanks for tuning in, everyone. This was more about my thought process and timing this time around, and based on psychological evidence, that's what I lacked years ago, and it all clicked with me one day about the habits. I highly recommend building a writing habit if you like doing it. Creativity is like a muscle; it gets weaker if you don't train it, and if you do train it, it'll be stronger than you could originally imagine. I'm more creative right now than I was at any other point in my life, and I see that as a win in itself. Seriously, try it out, tell me what you think about training your creative muscle, and tell me where it takes you! Let nothing stop you.

Until we meet again,

Dustin ]]>

#5: Villians

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is one of my favorite topics, unironically, and I think most villains don't pack the highest potential punch that they could for a story. When you think of a standard villain, you might think of a man who's evil just to be evil, that there might be no reason behind the madness. Take it from history and from some of the greatest fiction ever written: the best and most evil villains are far more layered than simple evil.

As a writer who makes devils and demons a primary part of my story, it's easy to fall into the trap, "well, they're evil because x," without really exploring the purpose. Extremely basic villains will be evil for one reason, while really interesting, complex villains will have different motives that all culminate in them doing what they want, even innately evil beings like demonic entities. True evil isn't born; it's manifested through circumstance. We can look to history's greatest villains and see that they didn't see themselves as the bad guy; they saw themselves as the ones who'd save their nation or ideology, thinking they were doing what was right. The most evil regimes to have existed had precursor causes that allowed for dictators to take power and not only oppress their own people, but to use others as a scapegoat and engage in sadistic evil beyond words.

The easiest but also one of the most memorable types of villains to write is the unexpected type: the cartoony, funny type of villain. There's a reason people talk about Doctor Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb, and while anyone can make the argument that he's this "supervillain", he's amusing because he has these elaborate inventions and plans he uses to try and get control over the tri-state area, often foiled by Perry the Platypus. Doofenshmirtz is an icon in our culture for his comedic role; despite being a "villain", he was goofy and entertaining. Depending on your wish for writing a villain, this might be a good villain to use for your story, and this is not the wrong way to write! It's your story.

As for the true evil villains? The ones I find haunting?

There's a reason people use the nazis as a stock enemy: it's because everyone can unanimously agree that nazism is the king of evil ideologies. The nazis are haunting villains not only because they actually existed, but because of what they were capable of: propaganda, workforces, soldiers, and engineers; they were capable of great evil and planned it out. Not every story will have harsh villains in it, and in fact, while many stories might include villains like nazis, they often fall short of their real-life equivalents of evil. Even still, despite the indisputable evil that they were, they would attempt to justify their evil as righteousness, as does any villain.

In many pieces of fiction, I can make the argument that the villains are typically more complex than the hero. Heroes tend to want to be righteous, save for others who later come to that conclusion (like Han Solo). With villains, you can grant them similar past circumstances to the hero, but the difference is how they may react or perceive their decisions. The difference between a hero and a villain's past can be whether or not they chose to give up being good, which automatically assumes that the villain is weaker than the hero. Beyond this, I think that a good villain is an inevitable villain. Going back to real history, Hitler was a painter in his youth and was rejected from art school not once, but twice. There's a superficial understanding in this historical context that "Hey, if Hitler was accepted to art school, there'd be no World War 2!" when the reality is that the geopolitical circumstances around the Treaty of Versailles essentially guaranteed that a Second World War would happen anyway. Maybe it wouldn't necessarily be the Nazis themselves that gained power, but chances are high that it'd be a similar revanchist-expansionist type ideology (Fascism started with Mussolini, and he got into power long before Hitler. Despite Italy being on the winning side of the First World War, they felt like they didn't get enough concessions that gave the Italians a man to venerate). Applying this to writing, historical conditions in your world indicate a villain's rise to power, their backstory, and how they might perceive the world around them. If they're forged by the flames and hatred of history, we have reason to suspect they'd be the most evil villains of all.

Moving to a more fictional villain that's still haunting, a lot of people who read literature will make the argument that Judge Holden from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian is the most evil, haunting character ever written. Remember that this is not without substance: Judge Holden was a real person (who McCarthy fictionalized for his narrative), and Samuel Chamberlain wrote that "Not a crueller villain was left unhung", the man whom McCarthy would base his protagonist on (who actually met the real Judge Holden in a gang of scalphunters). Every crime possible, Judge Holden is guilty of, and while at face value that sounds like it's being made for shock factor, the point of Blood Meridian is that violence is perpetual, needless, and unnecessary. Even still, in the book, Judge Holden is haunting not just because of the evil he is capable of, but because of the good traits of humanity he has within him. He has a genius-level intelligence, is a skilled drawer, is genuinely interested in the world, and will bow to gentlemen and criminals alike. He spends the book trying to corrupt the protagonist and thinks he's capable of such.

A tamer villain than these men might be Gus Fring from Breaking Bad. He's a brilliant drug lord, but he remains cool, calculated, and compared to Walter White, you can make the argument that he's less evil. Gus is one of the most well-known TV show villains (props to Giancarlo Esposito for playing him so well!), and while watching the show, it's often easy to forget that he's a true villain, someone who's purely evil. It's because his motivations are human; he acts compassionately toward his employees and his business partners. He has violence as a last resort, and while that may not seem villainous, he is making millions of dollars selling methamphetamine illegally. The show does a great job of humanizing its villains, making them 3-dimensional and not just stock characters.

As for me, I love creating villains and figuring out huge obstacles for my protagonists. A good villain isn't just someone who challenges your protagonist; it's someone who mirrors them. I've spent plenty of time studying what makes evil, and it's truly a fascinating subject. In fact, it's not just villains, but sometimes just antagonists who share a different viewpoint from your protagonists. I don't consider any of my protagonists anti-heroes, but if you're writing them, they have villainous parts about them. It's also possible to write a villain protagonist, and so your antagonist is the hero, and you have to figure out how to "defame" from that point of view.

Villains have great versatility, and I think it's a common misconception about most villains. While anyone can agree that the movie protagonist killing 1,000 of the villain's henchmen, then hesitating at the final boss's throat, saying, "I'll be just as bad if I kill him!", a common gripe people have is the huge villainous plan. I think it depends more on how the plan is presented and the psychology of the villain. Some villains want to be talked out of their plan, and that's why they might talk to the hero about it. Some villains might also follow a code of honor, and that's why they don't kill the protagonist immediately, the first chance they get. Having a code of honor doesn't make them any less evil; it just makes them more human characters. Villains, like heroes, are fallible, and that's why they'll slip up and make mistakes like the hero. All in all, it's just a perspective on writing.

While the term "villain" varies based on what you're talking about, you can make the argument that villains are not exclusive to characters. They might be environmental, such as the weather or natural disasters. They might be a manifestation of an idea, and some might have never existed in the first place. The latter is a great tactic for writing horror (take your monster or whatever is scary out of your scene. Is your scene still scary? If it is, it's a good horror scene!). I'd suggest thinking of ideas of the type of story you want to tell before you figure out what type of villain you want to use for your story. A serious book might contain a hardcore villain with a 3-dimensional personality, whereas something more comedy-driven and lighthearted might have a silly villain. Either way, it's dependent on what you're writing.

The amusing villain is an interesting archetype and always will be. However, I think a true villain in terms of evil will always be those of historical evil. To know humanity is capable of such great evil and yet so many people are generally good is always a light in shining darkness.

Until we meet again, stay cool, everyone

Dustin ]]>

#4: Victories, Failures, & Stakes in a Story

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

It's worth prefacing this blog post with the fact that I am a huge perfectionist when it comes to my work. Despite this, I understand that there's not one person on this planet who's perfect at anything, but we can get pretty close. Like good characters in a book, nobody is infallible, no matter how fictional or powerful their abilities or mind might be. I think that every well-written character hiccups more than once in the story; perhaps many times. Not because they're deliberately trying to throw themselves off, but out of basic and genuine human error. When we understand that our characters have human struggles and yet stand as beacons of strength, despite being fictional, there's a reason we relate to them and find them interesting. Imagine how boring the Hunger Games would be if Katniss Everdeen was good at everything she tried and didn't have to struggle in the story. Thankfully, we can see her struggles in the beginning and during the games themselves. She overcomes her obstacles and survives (spoilers), becoming a more refined character as a result.

I think every character, no matter how insignificant, has an arc (or at least deserves one). A common trope among writers is to use pain to make their protagonists suffer, and while this isn't necessarily a bad way of showing struggle, pain by itself doesn't mean development. In fact, too much pain can break a character beyond repair, and they might never be the same again after the events of the story. I've always been interested in psychology, and while I'm no expert in it, I enjoy reading the material psychologists publish. The human condition is interesting, which is why we write about it! Anyway, realistically speaking, different personalities handle trauma and their past differently, and how they move beyond their harsh times. All in all, it depends on the person: Do they sulk and go to others when they struggle, or do they go on stoically and keep their emotions bottled up until one moment shatters it? No matter the answer, there are pros and cons to each.

It's easy to focus on a character's failures, but our minds are better at figuring out what's wrong over what's correct, so we can use that to our advantage. From our failures, we can figure out what we want our characters to succeed at. Are they someone who's attempting to run the family business and hewn their charisma? Maybe they're a brilliant scientist who's trying to ignite telomere production within the human body so that people no longer age, or maybe they're an adventurer who turns into a competent warrior. Each archetype and personality you can think of has its benefits and its drawbacks. Personalities often gravitate toward certain jobs as well, so consider what your characters might be good at, experienced with, and what they might know. You can argue anything else is fair game.

I often have to write characters that are smarter than I am, but it's not as hard as it sounds. People will have a list of what they think a "genius character" might be, but you are the writer. You get to decide how the problem they're facing is solved and how quickly, as well as what the character is knowledgeable in. If you don't know much about chemistry and yet your character is a fantastic chemist, research more about chemistry! Whatever the topic they're proficient in, it helps to learn as well, and that's where the scientific/mathematical part comes in. Not only does that help your writing, but it helps to know certain information for your own purpose as well. Intelligence is only one piece of the pie, of course, and we have to consider that good characters are complex, three-dimensional beings that are not only flawed but that they contradict themselves in their personality. A common theme with this in intelligence is having someone who's "book smart" (good with academics, hard facts, etc.) versus someone who's "charismatic" (good at understanding people, social cues, emotions, etc.). But these two are not mutually exclusive in the slightest: there's a reason why the scariest villains are brilliant and well-rounded in their intelligence.

Furthermore, let's consider that some characters might be good fighters. I'm not saying you should go out and fight someone to get that experience as a writer, but I was in that position where I was writing action scenes and had to learn my formula to make it interesting. Of course, it depends on your story, but if you have an action scene in first person, this is the most limiting factor, but it also lets you experiment with interesting ideas. I often rectify these ideas by having duels in first person. I listen to heavy music and know a lot of history about the samurai, and so it helps to understand how those types of "Last Stand" or "Legendary Duel" battles go, especially with swords. We love swords!

Anyway, based on what your character is good at, bad at, you have to consider beyond simple backstory "what's at stake". Let the reader see what's at stake, whether that be from your godly point of view, or from the eyes of the protagonist. Perhaps your character isn't necessarily proficient in the right skills to deal with what's at stake, and your book's journey is that of a learning experience. Maybe your character is already experienced, and as a result the threat is far more pressing, and that's why it requires them. Why do they always hire the retired detective in movies? Because he has to close out his last case using his mind: he's the one with the most experience and can bring them to victory. I'm not saying you should follow Hollywood's formula, but to write, it's not a bad idea to have something of the sort. Or for a grand epic, maybe you have to mix both elements: your character starts out inexperienced, becomes experienced, and then the second act of the story requires them destroying the evil. There's a reason this is popular!

Growing up, I always loved playing the protagonist in a videogame that could always do cool combat moves, the one that embarked on a journey to stop evil from enveloping the world. When you're a kid (and I still enjoy these to this day), you can play plenty of Super Mario games and see why Mario has to defeat Bowser. It's because Bowser wants to control the Mushroom Kingdom and marry Princess Peach, and it's up to Mario and Luigi to traverse eight biomes to get to his castle, with each biome getting more and more difficult. In Super Mario Wii, for example (which is probably the first game I ever played), they call the biomes Worlds (not unique to this Mario game). When you get to the final battle after going through the eight worlds, Bowser makes himself nigh-undefeatable, and it's up to Mario to find that one thing that stops him after defeating all of his lieutenants before. There you go, Mario saves the day, gets Princess Peach, and the Koopas are defeated.

Everyone knows of Super Mario, of course, and there's a reason he's so ingrained in our culture. Everyone wants to be a good guy like Mario and save their home. It sounds extremely basic, but there's a reason they've been releasing these games since 1985 and have no intention of stopping. It's because the platforming games are a classic, they took inspiration from different parts of existing media and created something completely unique that has both characters (in this case, players) that get stronger and mend their weaknesses, all while the stakes are to defend the world from Bowser. Rarely you'll ask for Bowser's motivation outside of stock evil, but in any case, it's one of the most basic examples I have of victories, failures, and stakes.

I hope this helps no matter where you are in your writing. If not, enjoy my Mario tangent!

Until we meet again, stay cool,

Dustin ]]>

#3: Memorable Locations

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 8 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Locations are beyond the geography and maps they inhabit. Anyone can look at a map and go, "Alright, Vaduz is the capital of Liechtenstein, so what?", and that's because maps are supplementary information. Saying "x location and y location", like to many people, means nothing to the readers unless they're looking for encyclopedic knowledge. Memorable locations are not in the names themselves, but rather what characteristics or history the location has. These are questions I often have to ask myself when worldbuilding.

It's easy to make superficial descriptions that can ruin a scene, just as much as it's easy to overinundate the reader with explanations that don't further the story or character development. So, how do we take my earlier example and say something interesting that makes it a memorable location? Well, if I told you that the city has beautiful mountains that tower over it within the Alps, with green rolling hills and Germanic architecture, that already paints a much better picture than a political map can. Naturally, you can get more detailed, and you can even use examples; I.E. Vaduz is like Vail in Colorado because both locations have ski resorts and similar geography! There are many more differences, of course, but if you're attempting to generalize and visualize, concepts work just fine.

Another example of what makes a memorable location might be its history, in the realm of what you can't see but what you can learn about its past. What if I told you that the army of Lichtenstein in 1866, which numbered 80 soldiers, came home with 81 during the Austro-Prussian War? Few armies in the world had no casualties in fighting, and fewer made friends along the way. Even for these minor countries and locations, they have their own personality, their uniqueness. No two locations on Earth are truly alike, which adds another layer of love for the planet, doesn't it?

While my debut novel takes place on Earth, I've had to create locations that don't exist or modify existing locations. This can be as tame as renaming a building, adjusting the architecture, or as extreme as adding an entirely new system of infrastructure. For my writers reading this, always remember that no writing advice will help you unless you understand that it's your story that you're writing, so write what feels right to you. Judge later, always. Anyway, there are plenty of examples of real locations I turned to fit the world I wanted to make. Beyond real locations, I had to start from scratch in particular areas and engage in raw worldbuilding for the fantasy element of my book. In doing so, geography is more than just slapping mountains on a map like flex tape; it's about understanding the eons of history it took to create the geography of the location, how it generated the resources, and the architecture, as every minute detail here is creative. You can do literally anything, especially if it's a fantasy book and you want to create something unorthodox, as I did. There is nothing wrong with having a unique worldbuilding process or map; in fact, we need more of that!

When worldbuilding for the supernatural, mythical elements, I wrote what felt right. It's cliché to say, but it's what works. While I meticulously spent countless hours on the maps, the majority of that time went to the mythical world that I built, not the locations on Earth. I'm someone who loves looking at maps in a book, but even I understand that it's beyond just saying where the locations are. Instead of using stock locations, you could consider it a rulebreaker element, where the way I make my locations memorable is by giving different details to the wilderness, the cities, etc. It's easy to make an Underworld where everything's on fire because it's been done countless times. Even just the Greek mythology interpretation of the Underworld is unique in its own right, despite its existing longer than the Judeo-Christian Underworld depictions. Basically, don't be afraid to branch out and make something your readers aren't expecting: it's what gives your book flavor!

In earlier blog posts, I explained that music inspired my writing style, specific lyrics. This sounds trivial, but it has been quintessential to the way I write. As well as if you're not copying the lyrics word for word (as that's copyright infringement), you can find something that speaks to you and find new, more interesting ways to describe it. Remember that songs usually have to follow a specific rhythm, note, or rhyme. You're not limited by that as a writer: the page is your oyster.

Side Tangent: One thing that makes life easier in general, not just writing, is celebrating the holiday of the time: paying close attention to what day it is. In a sense, it makes you feel more human. In the United States, Memorial Day and Mother's Day are in May (among others, but these are the two ones I see people actually pay attention to). There's a reason our ancestors came up with these celebratory traditions, and it's a part of our culture, even if many of the celebrations and holidays themselves feel like they're fading. Interestingly, holidays and cultures, they inspire locations and writing. My favorite holiday is Halloween, and it blew my mind when I was a kid and found out my best friend didn't celebrate it (I have since converted him to the dark side). There's something about the horror element and the supernatural, the unexpected, that makes Halloween what it is, and there's a reason we love it in my household. While some retail places might throw out their Christmas decorations as early as the beginning of September and start playing Christmas music on repeat to the dismay of their customers and employees, I like the rule of celebrating the mid-autumn season from late September to November 2nd. In Mexico, they celebrate Día de Muertos on the first two days of November, which I find to be a fascinating element of their culture. I wish we did in the United States. Instead, November 1st is a Christmas celebration, apparently. What happened to Thanksgiving?

Anyway, side tangent over, you get the idea. I find inspiration in dates, months, holidays, and even years. If we look historically, most people can name what they remember from years ago. Everyone remembers 2020 as the year the pandemic ravaged the Earth, and 1985 as the year of the release of Back to the Future. Two completely different elements, but they're both memorable, and they both made their impact. It's amazing how easy it is to forget that the pandemic even happened, that it was six years ago now. It set the precedent for this decade.

Essentially, settings are inspired by different parts of life. No matter where you go, what you experience, what you see? There's always something more to learn. I love studying cultures, languages, and how etymologies form. Beyond just writing, these are important pieces of knowledge in the real world. It's always good to learn something new and have it in your toolbox of knowledge, as nobody can take that away from you. Furthermore, writing and fiction mimic reality in mysterious ways, painting the ideas of the human soul onto the page. Even our most fictitious of characters are some of the most real. Isn't that fascinating? It's not about whether it's real or not; it's the concepts, and all in all, that's what it boils down to.

Happy Friday, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Consider joining my mailing list if you did! I try to post every Friday (and have remained consistent so far) about what's on my mind during the writing process. Today was locations and worldbuilding, and especially the more creatively motivated people like myself love worldbuilding, even if it's from scratch.

Until we meet again, stay cool,

Dustin

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Blog Post #2 - Inspirations & the Media

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 1 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

All media inspire creativity, and in fact, any life experience does as well. While it's so easy to get overstimulated in our modern world and do other things, we seem incapable of doing so. I'm guilty of it; I'll procrastinate sometimes if I don't feel like I'm in the right mood to do something. Sometimes we need that spark of inspiration, and that could literally be anything. Of course, to have inspiration, our minds need space to think and coalesce. Boredom is uncomfortable, but it's one of the best things for the human mind to go through. You learn temperance, control, and as you give your mind space to think, there's so much it's capable of! Fun fact: the human brain can compute 38 quadrillion (38,000,000,000,000,000; 3.8 x 10^16) operations per second, all while using only 12-20 watts of power to function. That's like powering a supercomputer with as much energy as a low-power LED light (apples and oranges; it's not literally like this, but it gives you an idea). To this day, you can argue that the human mind is the most fascinating machine of all.

Have you ever thought about why your best ideas come to you while you're in the shower, on the airplane, or in other places that seem peculiar? It's because your mind is unoccupied at that moment in time. In the shower, I find it easy to get lost in my own thoughts and speculate what can be, whether that be academically, a novel, or if I think I need to solve a problem. Sometimes it's hard to think when your mind is overstimulated, and to be able to turn it off and focus, especially in this day and age, is a superpower. It's so hard to do, but once you figure out what works for you, you can control your life better if you control your impulses. In fact, there are many self-help books and videos out there that might tell you the same! After all, in the eyes of evolution, we have the same minds as our nomadic ancestors from tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years before our time; enjoying nature and less stimulation are how our minds function best.

Happy May, and welcome back to my blog post! This is where I'll try to post every Friday what's been on my mind, writing progress, and everything else in between. I know the first proposed topic of the human mind is a dense one, but there is a reason! You see, the mind is capable of so much, and as I stated, it's the greatest machine that exists (and it's a biological machine, at that!). Neuroscience is in its infancy, and so everyone has their best guesses as to how the mind works, how thoughts occur, and the like. Until a day in the future when we understand our minds better, for now, we have to assume where inspiration strikes.

For every author, inspiration is different. For me, music tends to yield the best results as far as writing goes. When writing and editing my debut novel, I listened to a lot of Trivium, the NieR soundtrack, Breaking Benjamin, Celldweller, Blue Stahli, Metallica, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Slipknot, and many, many others. To those of you who know me, that statement will not surprise you at all, but it's important to note that specific themes follow inspiration to writing. In a novel where demon hunting occurs, heavy metal was a theme that fit the overall intensity of such a task, were it to exist in the real world (I like to think). The lyrical themes and ideas behind most of this music are what inspired me to write in the first place. A lot of the music we listen to, we got into when we were teenagers, and I think that's because our emotional core is truly formed at around that time in our lives. There's specific music that speaks to us, whether it be everyday experiences, emotion, or if we like it just because it sounds cool. Whatever the reason, music inspires me in different ways.

Growing up, my parents played all kinds of music from all eras, and so I learned to enjoy different types of music. Music has always been an important element of my life, and as an author, that's what speaks to me. For others, that might be art, or reading, or even something modern like video games. I'm not the first author who actively plays video games and gets inspired by them, and I'm certainly not going to be the last.

Some of the things I do are:

Imageboards
This is where you go onto Google or other websites and simply look for images that speak to your mind. You put them together (I do so in Paint.net), and as you're thinking while you write, having something your eyes can look at is always a great idea. If you're writing a Western, you might put a desert background with a saloon, maybe you'll put in a scene from one of the old Western movies. A lot of people are better at drawing than I am, so that too inspires writing for some people if they have that image to look at straight from their minds. I like creating characters, and so my imageboards will often include (poorly) drawn characters of mine.

Music
I won't beat a dead horse with this one, but I listen to lots of music when I write. Some authors don't like lyrics since they can be distracting, but I'm someone they inspire. It's all to taste whether you want to listen to lyrical or instrumental music. Find what vibe fits your story the best, and that's what works.

Comedy
As a person who's very easily entertained, most comedy is funny to me. In fact, I love the humor of our friends in Great Britain, as it's always been a core element of my humor. After all, writing is about the human experience, and much like tragedy, amusement strikes us in many good ways. While on its own, a comedy film can be poor in taste or one of the funniest nuances you've ever seen, the key isn't just filling a novel with one simple emotion. Comedy and tragedy go well together, the yin and yang of emotions. Comedy is inspirational, and it feels good; when you hear a joke that you find to be hilarious, you laugh, and it feels good to laugh. Biology and evolution win again in the human condition!

Play Video Games, Watch Movies/TV
In my last blog post, I touched briefly upon the game that inspired me the most to write. Basically, just because these are modern methods does not mean they don't work in striking inspiration. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't be inspired by something modern like a video game; they're wrong! Video games, like shows, movies, and music, are forms of art in themselves and have been a driving force for many people around my age. In fact, I'd argue that developers of video games are artists in themselves; they have to write a storyline, do extensive coding for their gameplay, make their own music, and they always put their own touches in their games. Maybe these are my thoughts just as a CS Major, but video games are an art form I admire among the most.

As for shows and TV, there were tons of movies, shows, etc. that I never watched when I was younger. For example, a year ago I got into The Walking Dead, and recently I got into Breaking Bad, and while they're completely different shows, they strike inspiration and creativity in different ways. I like The Walking Dead because the post-apocalyptic genre is the new wild west of genres, in my opinion. You can do just about anything with a post-apocalyptic story, whether you want to make it cataclysmic or gradual, horror, or hopeful. While obviously it's not a realistic show, I always hold the notion that we can suspend our disbelief while we're watching to put ourselves in the shoes of those characters and in that universe where society has collapsed, and you're trying to survive. How do you go about it? There's a reason a zombie craze was popular over a decade ago, and it's because, in a way, we can all see ourselves doing something unique in that scenario. Any post-apocalyptic scenario, for that matter. As for why I like Breaking Bad, well, the story is intriguing, and I love that they use elements and chemical formulas in that show. I even learned a lot from that show.

Study History
Now, I know I'm going to lose some of you with this, but bear with me: history and especially geography are so important to learn and study. The warnings of history, the mistakes of history, they echo every single day in our world. I won't get too into detail about it, but any era of history can inspire a person. I love Ancient Greece & Egypt, the Roman Empire, Feudal Japan, the American Frontier, and even the finer details of World War 2. In all of history, we will never know everything that happened in that era, no matter how many documents and records there are. In a sense, history is the best form of writing since real people created the world we live in today, whether indirectly or directly. In particular, sometimes I'll look at historical documents, battles, and wars, and think about inspiration sparking from a specific conflict in history. Pro Tip for writing a battle: If you're stuck, don't just do the Hollywood Charge; look at real-world battles like Agincourt, or, depending on if it's a more modern story, Stalingrad. Battles and wars draw up borders, and geopolitical elements of history brewed the conflicts we saw.

There's more beyond just military history, of course. I consider mythology and old stories that are legendary a part of history, since they, too, formed our culture. One of my favorites is the Epic of Gilgamesh. If you find something historical as well, you don't even have to play by what actually happened in history. A full genre is built around alternative history, and so many scenarios are popular. Sometimes it's a question on if any given event went differently based on a decision.

All in all, it's an exercise of the mind. Writing is, at the end of the day, trying to discover ourselves, what we like, and how we go about our daily lives. We're all inspired by different things, but these are just a few things that inspire me. I could go on about Finnish culture, the Halloween season, and much more than what I've covered here, but you get the idea behind inspiration. In the end, writing is more than just creating whatever we want. Like any art form, the human soul is put into it: our experiences, whether comedic, tragic, love, hate, sadness, or indifference. Writing is about being human, studying what it feels like, even if through fictional narratives and characters. Sometimes, the most real and relevant characters in our real world are the made-up ones.

Until we meet again, stay cool,

Dustin

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Blog Post #1: 2026, April 24

Dustin Bloom — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

What if the world we perceive as real is just what we've decided is real? In all of the great leaps of science and technology we've made, what if it's still in its early infancy? What if there's a much wider universe we still don't know about?

After all, if you were to spend an equal amount of time on every estimated planet in the observable universe since the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, you'd spend about 4 milliseconds on each planet. Even with as much as we know about our planet, we know more about the depths of space than we know our own ocean. There is still so much humanity does not know, and it's infinitely amazing to me to see what we might discover later, whether it's tomorrow, a year from now, a decade, a century, or even far in the future when the way we look at humanity has completely changed. How will our descendants look upon their ancestors? With awe, or with a sense of barbarism?

Hello everyone, this is my first ever real author blog post! For those who don't know me, I'm Dustin, and I'm a fiction author. I have many interests, such as social studies, astronomy, chemistry, computer science, and much more, which I write about! I don't just write about it like any academic essay; however, I write through the pretense of a story. I aspire to write beauty through many of the real-world elements, but also to play off of what could be, or what may be, and even what might not be.

Realistically, I've been writing since I was a little kid. I remember creating a play with my friends back when I was in 5th grade about two friends who got stranded in the Sahara Desert after a plane crash, attempting to get home. I wish I had kept it! Maybe one day I too will write about that as well. However, that is irrelevant to my upcoming debut novel.

When I was 13, I got extremely into geography and history, which has only strengthened exponentially; thus, my geographical aptitude helped me when making custom maps and understanding the topography of different locations worldwide. My historical knowledge on why maps and geography look a particular way also helped, and so it turned from a hobby of exercise to one that helped me learn so much, and it's a passion I hope to install to everyone else. This further culminated during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 2020, June 14, I created the very world that cemented the groundwork for my wider universe. On that day, I listened to a song by one of my favorite bands, Pendulum, called "The Other Side" on their "In Silico" album. The depth of the lyrics and the style of the song inspired me to create the world you'll soon read. Little did my 16-year-old self know that I was not only a passionate writer when creating my own world and characters, but I had an innate sense of worldbuilding that compounded as I grew older.

Despite not much happening at the time of the pandemic, it wasn't until a few years later, in 2023, May, that I played a game that would forever change the way I saw writing and world creation at large. NieR: Automata was that game; I was addicted for weeks! In 15 days, I 100%ed that game and thought, 'Alright, now what?' That was the most beautiful game from a story element that I have ever played. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the game, the writer & creative director, Yoko Taro, wrote a story about humanity using non-human characters (androids in this case), and the depth of the topic explores what it means to be human. Is it blood, sinew, consciousness? Or is there a level of depth that has yet to be seen? Could it be argued that humanity is a construct, or is it by biology alone that makes us human? That game revolutionized the way I saw narratives and overall writing, and to this day, Yoko Taro is by far my biggest writing inspiration for that reason.

Unfortunately, we live in an era of mass-AI getting forced down our throats, and so everyone is fatigued with the lack of human elements. Through and through, I wrote day and night, edited until I went crazy, drew my own maps, and from 2024, November 24 to 2026, February 23, my full bulwark of work was completed. My first draft I wrote in three months, but there was much editing to be done. There was still so much I had to learn about the process, and often, I felt overwhelmed, but because I love writing so much, I kept going, and kept going, and that's where we stand today with the final product.

I've learned much about myself and even more about the world we live in as I've studied day and night for novel research. I like the idea that real science still applies, even in a fantasy or sci-fi novel. The idea that "Hey, if I used Francium, what would actually happen?" is heavy with me, and I do my best to research any topic I put into my writing. You could consider my writing style to be a fusion; I'm a rulebreaker in a good way. For some, genres are constraints, limits, but not for me. I write based on what makes sense for the story; sometimes that's sci-fi, supernatural, fantasy, western, or anything else. My goal is to create a universe that has just as much richness and depth to its history as a library has stories.

In six months, on October 24, if all goes according to plan, my debut novel, Torn In Two, should be available to buy on Amazon and at your local bookstore. I will continue to work on these elements and keep you up to date. From a nearly six-year journey, we've come far. The first book is the hardest to make, and I'm of course writing more every day, all the time, to make something I'm truly proud of. My wider universe is just starting, I'm only getting started, and I hope to see you there along the ride with me.

So, if you like that I do all my own work AI-free (I edit using only ProWritingAid; 100% of my book is human-written with a human beta reader) and you're still reading, why not join me for this journey?

Until we meet again,

Dustin

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