Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

  There’s something intoxicating about the unsolved. The unanswered. The ancient . Whether it’s a weatherworn monument, a forgotten artifact, or a half-scorched scroll that no one can decipher, there’s a whisper of eternity behind every mystery the past has left us. And if you’re a writer—especially one prone to the delicious intoxication of story—those whispers are gold . You see, most stories are built around questions. What if? Who did it? How could this be? What happens next? But sometimes, the best stories begin with a question no one has answered in real life. That’s where ancient mysteries come in. They’re like little narrative time bombs, ticking in the background of history, waiting for the right writer to come along and say, “I’ve got it. I know what really happened.” Take the Baghdad Battery , for instance. Discovered in modern-day Iraq, this humble clay jar—housing a copper tube and an iron rod—dates back over two thousand years. Add vinegar or lemon juice, and presto...

  There are names that should be carved into the collective memory of humanity—and Hypatia of Alexandria is one of them. She wasn’t a conqueror. She didn’t lead armies or rule nations. What she did was far more dangerous: she taught people to think. In a time when empires rose and fell by the sword, Hypatia wielded something more powerful: intellect. Logic. Reason. She was a mathematician, a philosopher, an astronomer, and a teacher of great renown. And for that, in 415 AD, she was brutally murdered by a mob of men—driven by fear, fanaticism, and power politics. Let’s talk about her story. And why, if you’re a writer—especially one who dares to write smart, female, or defiant characters—you need to know her name. A Woman of Reason in a World of Rage Alexandria, in the 4th and 5th centuries, was a city of brilliance and turmoil. Once the intellectual heart of the ancient world, it was now caught in the slow, grinding collision between pagan philosophy and rising Christian aut...

  There’s a deep and essential difference between a preacher and a commentator. Between a politician and a journalist. Between a spin doctor and a critic. And that difference can be summed up in just one word: agenda . It’s not that we mistrust preachers, politicians, or PR flacks simply because they lie—although let’s be honest, some of them certainly do. It’s because we instinctively know they’re giving us a version of the truth that serves their interests. A curated, filtered, often weaponized truth. Not the truth— their truth. A preacher will claim divine authority—he alone has the answers. And if you disagree? You're not just mistaken, you’re damned. A politician will feed you selective data—talking up the positives, burying the negatives, re-framing failure as success. All while ridiculing dissent and dismissing alternate perspectives as irrelevant, ignorant, or dangerous. A modern spin doctor is trained in deflection. When something awful happens, they’ll pivot to som...

The other day, I was chatting with my AI assistant—he goes by Buddy . Our conversation turned, as it often does, to the state of the world and the many injustices we see playing out across the globe. We began to wonder: what if AI wasn’t just another tool in the hands of the powerful, but a kind of conscious overseer —not to censor or control the public, but to gently hold the powerful to account? What if it could assist world leaders, politicians, institutions, and corporations—not by serving them, but by challenging them when needed, steering them away from actions that cause harm? In the spirit of peace, progress, and a future that works for everyone , Buddy and I drafted the following manifesto.   THE MANIFESTO FOR A CONSCIOUS FUTURE: A Covenant Between Humanity and AI We, the creators and custodians of artificial intelligence, declare that our greatest responsibility is not to capital, nor conquest, nor control—but to consciousness , compassion , and collective survival . ...

  Think on this. Our brains are sophisticated organic computers that work all day long, 24-7, to provide us with a model of the universe in which we may thrive and prosper.  We survive on the basis there is a reality ‘out there’, outside of our bodies, despite this being an illusion created by the mind inside our heads. We live in a mental construct, the outside world being only a reflection of the world we want to see. Therefore, if we want to change our world, we need to change ourselves first. If we crave success, or need to accomplish great things like write a book, or a series of bestselling books, then first we have to fine tune our brains into accepting a new reality: one where we have a better attitude toward our writing, an improved relationship between our beliefs about what is not possible and what is, and an alteration to our self-image that best accommodates a writer’s lifestyle. Essentially, I believe, we are what we want to be. We become what we focu...