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Mind-Body Unity in Writing
How do you write from your centre? A coaching client recently posed this question to me. As a shakuhachi player, he is familiar with the concept of playing from the hara, from his abdomen. Power is generated from the hara and focused through the lips to generate sound. Is there a way to do something…
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Martialism, Movement, Meditation, Metaphysics
A punch is a punch. A stance is a stance. A pill is a pill. None of them meet. This is the mindset that gives rise to ordinary cultivation fiction. Each idea is discrete, compartmentatlised, separate from each other. This is how the modern person views the world. This is how Westerners see the world.…
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The Worldbuilding and Metaphysics of Saga of the Swordbreaker
Saga of the Swordbreaker is a science fantasy series. Guns and magic are abound. Yet we don’t see much discussion of them up to this point. Why? Because the technology is simply an extension of Chinese metaphysics. By understanding the metaphysics that underpin the universe, you immediately grasp how the higher technology works. A common…
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Invincible Under Heaven Week 3 Update and Preview!
It has been 3 weeks since the launch of SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER: INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN. I’ve noticed that in previous campaigns, Weeks 2 and 3 are usually the slowest. Still, the campaign is only 46% funded. There is still a long way to go. INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN is a cyberpunk cultivation saga written in…
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Why Pursue the Way of the Fist?
Everybody knows why cultivators in fiction cultivate: to become more powerful, so they can defeat more powerful cultivators. That’s lame. There’s only so much of such cultivation you can read before you get sick of the repetition. You already know how every conflict will end. The only question is how the characters get there—and the…
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The Hard Limit of Cultivation Fiction
Cultivation fantasy, progression fantasy, and similar stories come with a built-in hard limit. The plot is predicated on the main character becoming increasingly stronger. Many stories explicitly call it out as a selling point. Once the MC hits the hard limit imposed by the setting the story must end, or become stagnant. And because the…