HK Arnold

Tag: Writing Craft

The novel writing race

If writing novels is a race, it pays to remember the tortoise won

unread HK Arnold
As I dip my toes into the pool of self publishing, testing the waters before I dive in, a strange pressure builds over me. You've got to publish at least four books a year to be successful. If you don't, your readers will forget about you. Amazon will forget about you. You'll vanish off the edge of the four second attention span, like the name of the cashier at the fuel station who pointed you back to the highway you got lost from. The flip happened fast. One moment I'm curiously

How systems create villains

Writing villains who believe they're right

unread HK Arnold
The cruelest villains are ordinary people, their thoughts and actions shaped by systems. They haven't chosen violence. They've simply become what is demanded. There are many systems that govern our lives. Sometimes, we operate against them, fighting to break their frameworks. Often we operate within them, and inevitably forget we are even participating, taking each step without thought of the skeleton that keeps us from collapse. Words like systems and frameworks give an

Self-Taught Scribe Thoughts

a writerly blog by HK Arnold

About

I'm an Australian writer of the dark and dragon infested, focused on power, identity, culture and belief. I'm currently querying my novel, writing blogs and working on more books.

Follow my journey

Get notified whenever I publish a new post!

Privacy Policy|Terms & Conditions|Unsubscribe

©2026 HK Arnold