Big Bad Overlord
@bigbadoverlord.bsky.social
Board games and sundry villainy. http://bigbadideas.com
Pinned
Contrary to all expectations, I continue to lurk in my volcano plotting things. It's just been a long summer y'all
August 4, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Contrary to all expectations, I continue to lurk in my volcano plotting things. It's just been a long summer y'all
Protip: if your protagonist is still making dumb, impulsive mistakes 700 pages into the book that make the reader want to stab him, maybe the book isn't the heroic journey that you think it is
July 2, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Protip: if your protagonist is still making dumb, impulsive mistakes 700 pages into the book that make the reader want to stab him, maybe the book isn't the heroic journey that you think it is
Third book in a row where almost every paragraph is one line.
Punctuated, for emphasis.
Similes scattered like sesame seeds.
Not randomly, but with whispered intent. Unassuming. Waiting.
Whatever writing guide or workshop is pushing this style could you PLEASE STOP. It's making my eyelid twitch.
Punctuated, for emphasis.
Similes scattered like sesame seeds.
Not randomly, but with whispered intent. Unassuming. Waiting.
Whatever writing guide or workshop is pushing this style could you PLEASE STOP. It's making my eyelid twitch.
June 16, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Third book in a row where almost every paragraph is one line.
Punctuated, for emphasis.
Similes scattered like sesame seeds.
Not randomly, but with whispered intent. Unassuming. Waiting.
Whatever writing guide or workshop is pushing this style could you PLEASE STOP. It's making my eyelid twitch.
Punctuated, for emphasis.
Similes scattered like sesame seeds.
Not randomly, but with whispered intent. Unassuming. Waiting.
Whatever writing guide or workshop is pushing this style could you PLEASE STOP. It's making my eyelid twitch.
Protip for anyone writing a book about the mafia: there are no umlauts in Italian
May 5, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Protip for anyone writing a book about the mafia: there are no umlauts in Italian
Quality over quantity, folks. Just got a client review which said my work was the most expensive, succinct (i.e. briefest), and slowest of all the reader reports they got.
Also that mine was the best by far.
Also that mine was the best by far.
a little girl is wearing a scarf and holding a cup of coffee and a toothbrush .
Alt: A confident young girl puts on sunglasses with an air of satisfaction
media.tenor.com
April 29, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Quality over quantity, folks. Just got a client review which said my work was the most expensive, succinct (i.e. briefest), and slowest of all the reader reports they got.
Also that mine was the best by far.
Also that mine was the best by far.
I thought this book was unfocused and boring but then it got weird and now I wish it was just unfocused and boring again
April 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
I thought this book was unfocused and boring but then it got weird and now I wish it was just unfocused and boring again
I like the use of old-school rhetoric in social media
April 9, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I like the use of old-school rhetoric in social media
Protip: there are only so many bad decisions a protagonist can make before they start to aggravate the reader
April 8, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Protip: there are only so many bad decisions a protagonist can make before they start to aggravate the reader
It is not common for me to get a commission that's genuinely well-written, and when I do, I find four times out of five the clients do not believe me and accuse me of going easy on them
April 8, 2025 at 12:22 PM
It is not common for me to get a commission that's genuinely well-written, and when I do, I find four times out of five the clients do not believe me and accuse me of going easy on them
No fair burning down your own country before I could get there with my horrific legions of shadowy monsters
Now WTF are we supposed to do? Play Pictionary?
Now WTF are we supposed to do? Play Pictionary?
March 22, 2025 at 12:03 PM
No fair burning down your own country before I could get there with my horrific legions of shadowy monsters
Now WTF are we supposed to do? Play Pictionary?
Now WTF are we supposed to do? Play Pictionary?
Goals
If you put the toaster on its side you can fire the toast across the room directly into your mouth
March 21, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Goals
My victories are small these days but THEY ARE STILL ACCOMPLISHED WITH BADASS FLAIR
a man in a suit with the words it 's called style people behind him
ALT: a man in a suit with the words it 's called style people behind him
media.tenor.com
March 8, 2025 at 4:19 PM
My victories are small these days but THEY ARE STILL ACCOMPLISHED WITH BADASS FLAIR
Guys, I respect whatever writing process works for you, but if you send me your book in thirty-five separate files because you start a new one for each chapter I am not going to be a happy camper
March 5, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Guys, I respect whatever writing process works for you, but if you send me your book in thirty-five separate files because you start a new one for each chapter I am not going to be a happy camper
Nature. Gotta love it
March 4, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Nature. Gotta love it
I strongly dislike it when people ask me to "grade" their book, as if for a class of some kind. Aside from the fact that this is reductive and simplistic (the style may be better than the structure e.g.) they never like the answer. If I say A, they don't believe me; if I say C, they get mad.
March 3, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I strongly dislike it when people ask me to "grade" their book, as if for a class of some kind. Aside from the fact that this is reductive and simplistic (the style may be better than the structure e.g.) they never like the answer. If I say A, they don't believe me; if I say C, they get mad.
Protip: your prologue should not be 40 pages long
March 3, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Protip: your prologue should not be 40 pages long
The problem with having friends is that they expect you to share stuff like bacon which everyone knows is MINE
February 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The problem with having friends is that they expect you to share stuff like bacon which everyone knows is MINE
So it's normal to eat the lunch you packed at 9am, right?
February 18, 2025 at 2:07 PM
So it's normal to eat the lunch you packed at 9am, right?
All right, goal for this week is no new disasters unless I cause them myself
a poster for the great shows a woman with blonde hair
Alt: Young blond woman in an elaborate courtly hairdo from the 18th century says "We must aim high"
media.tenor.com
February 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM
All right, goal for this week is no new disasters unless I cause them myself
Ha ha, joke's on you mister arsonist, my place was already on fire
February 15, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Ha ha, joke's on you mister arsonist, my place was already on fire
Just once this week I would like a plotline that is not driven by the impulsive actions of a protagonist who is 13 or is an adult but acts like they are 13
February 11, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Just once this week I would like a plotline that is not driven by the impulsive actions of a protagonist who is 13 or is an adult but acts like they are 13
I am very picky about my owls so when you say there's a superb owl coming today that bird had better goddamn live up to its name
I want CREEPY HOOTING CALLS IN THE DISTANCE and SILENT DEATH BOMBING DIVES and talons that can wreck a Prius and an ATTITUDE
I want CREEPY HOOTING CALLS IN THE DISTANCE and SILENT DEATH BOMBING DIVES and talons that can wreck a Prius and an ATTITUDE
February 9, 2025 at 12:48 PM
I am very picky about my owls so when you say there's a superb owl coming today that bird had better goddamn live up to its name
I want CREEPY HOOTING CALLS IN THE DISTANCE and SILENT DEATH BOMBING DIVES and talons that can wreck a Prius and an ATTITUDE
I want CREEPY HOOTING CALLS IN THE DISTANCE and SILENT DEATH BOMBING DIVES and talons that can wreck a Prius and an ATTITUDE
It's really a way of life
I'm about to print this out and put it on my wall.
February 6, 2025 at 1:54 PM
It's really a way of life