History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Sci-Fi Inspiring Science?

| October 23, 2023

People are accustomed to scientific developments inspiring science fiction, but what about the other way around? At the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, they do exactly that! They look at science fiction works for technologies described within that might become plausible inventions. This article about the program talks about some […]

WriteHive Panel: How to Subvert Tropes

| October 16, 2023

One of the WriteHive online conference panels I watched was How to Subvert Tropes. This panel talked about what tropes are, when they become cliches, and how to then twist those tropes to make them fresh again. The panel started out by talking about how tropes are the building blocks of stories that establish trust […]

Writing Tools: Writer Emergency Pack

| October 9, 2023

I’ve accumulated a large collection of card-based writing tools, each of which is useful to different parts of my writing process. So I’ve decided to do a series of posts about the various decks I own and how I use them in my writing. It’s been a while since I’ve added a new deck to […]

WriteHive Panel: How to Self-Edit Like a Developmental Editor

| October 2, 2023

One of the WriteHive online conference panels I watched was a presentation on How to Self-Edit Like a Developmental Editor. Even though I am an editor, developmental editing is one of the places where I’d like to increase my skills, and getting some tips and tricks that can help me practice these things on my […]

Stephen Fry on Diction and Poetics Today

| September 25, 2023

As I mentioned previously, I’m working through Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled very slowly to absorb as much wisdom as I can about writing poetry. This week’s post (the final one!) covers Chapter 4 on Diction and Poetics Today. Most of this chapter is Stephen Fry talking about how poetry has moved him and some of […]

WriteHive Panel: Seasons in Worldbuilding

| September 18, 2023

One of the WriteHive online conference panels I watched was Seasons in Worldbuilding, which was an interesting look at how you can use seasons as part of your writing. Even outside of the part they play in worldbuilding, seasons can be used evoke emotions related to that season. In some writing, the season and/or the […]

Interview with Ryder O’Malley

| September 11, 2023

Today, I’m talking with Ryder O’Malley, who writes superhero and supervillain fiction, including some on the gay and steamy part of the spectrum! Read on to learn more! DV: Tell me a little about yourself and your writing. RO: Howdy! Most people know me as Ryder O’Malley, the author of gay steamy superheroes. My origin […]

WriteHive Panel: Newsletter 101

| September 4, 2023

One of the panels from the WriteHive online conference this year that I found valuable was Newsletter 101: The Basics. Though I’ve had my newsletter up and running for a while, I still find it useful to read and watch things about newsletters to see what I can do better. And this panel had lots […]

Stephen Fry on Form, Part 11

| August 28, 2023

As I mentioned previously, I’m working through Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled very slowly to absorb as much wisdom as I can about writing poetry. This week’s post covers Chapter 3, Section 11, on shaped verse. This section goes through many different forms of poetry, but the thing the forms all have in common is […]

Write Hive Conference Videos Available!

| August 21, 2023

A couple of months back, I watched a bunch of the WriteHive conference videos online as a moderator. Now they’re all online and available for anyone to watch here! There are also videos from previous years available at the same location! I’ll be posting some of my thoughts and summaries about many of the individual […]