Adaptation Station

I overheard your muttering. "I wonder what sort of video game Clark Ashton Smith's tales should be converted into." The answer is Diablo-clone. You're welcome.

Thoughts on The LIes of Locke Lamora

Had the title been Father Chains's Big Score, I probably would have read the whole thing. I'm treating "Father Chains" as a name rather than considering the components here, by the way.

Generating New Ideas

When you're stuck as to what kind of story to write, start by thinking of nonsensical genres you could put on the cover somewhere. Catalectic Fantasia. Quasi-Experiential Scientific Opera. Dark Internalization. Shamelessly Speculative Narrativa. With your senses of reasonable storytelling accordingly jarred, true creativity will be possible.

The First Shaping of the Land

Shortly after the world was created, there was land and nothing else, and flat land to boot. There was nothing of interest. Animals roamed without purpose.
By miraculous chance, First Horse and First Bee. Bored, they exchanged a few boasts.
"Behold how I fly," First Bee proclaimed. "What do your legs do?"
First Horse snorted and kicked the ground, crumpling it up into valleys and hills. "So much for not having strong legs. What can you do?" He showed his contempt further by spitting. The salive dribbled into the valleys and started up the rivers.
"Lord! Master! Great one! I admire what you did. I'll make a new home for you to rest half the day after you perform your feats." First Bee flew up and made the first beehive for First Horse. We call it the sun.
That was how the work of creation began. As for everything else, the oceans, the mountains, the lakes, plateaus, forests, clouds, corn, all else there is, First Pig was busy inventing it at the same time but he never got much honor for it. Things usually go similarly today.
Finis

Child Names Fundamentals

In a world with elemental magic, do you think optimistic parents would give their children names like Tempest and Pyroblast? You're thinking it now, of course.

Nickname Fundamentals

Remember when you're giving characters nicknames that most of those are 1) insults, 2) simple descriptions, or 3) common, as in Simple, Tall, or Gentleman. Everyone knows this. A super-cool nickname therefore is likely to come off as risible. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but try out a bunch, really think it over.

Dragon Transformation

Many dragons turn into humans these days, but why would they do that when they could be a bear? Just look at what druids get up to when they have shapechanging powers, which is an odd thing for them to have, historically speaking.

Addendum

People living in space colonies will of course use a little star for the same purpose. Far from being a harbinger of intra-solar war, tensions will be relieved by the existence of these points around which local pride can coalesce harmlessly.

Truly Visionary Science Fiction

When you think about it, there's no real reason people in the future shouldn't replace the period on their keyboards with a little heart. As for the apostrophe, nobody will know what that does fifty years from now, speaking optimistically.

Doubts About the True Nature of Magic

Usually in fantasy magic is great at killing people, but if you go to a magic show, the guy cuts and stabs people left and right and doesn't kill any of them. I'm starting to think magic isn't worth much in a fight just like those Empire of the East books told me.