Kathryn Comstock

@hope Looks good. I like how you’re subdividing the minor themes there between the major and primary categories.

@hope Yeah; I hate it when books get to that length. xD Novel length expectations can be very annoying at times. =P I was just curious on that front.

@hope Oh, I like that. A very nice blend of similarities and dissimilarities like that can create really strong foils. You even get some of the benefits of Method #2 as well since while they may both intellectually believe the same things (and thus have the same character arc) in practice they seem to live according to different EiLs, if I’m…[Read more]

@overcomer Haha, that makes sense. Sounds like you’re on the right track! You may find it worthwhile to jump ahead to the ‘How to Handle Multiple Themes in One Story’ lesson in the last module of the course, as that’s where I really address what to do with stories like yours that have multiple themes. Some aspects of the lesson may rely on…[Read more]

@hope Both of those are awesome ways to connect major characters! I love it.

@hope Nice work. I like the similarities between Hilith and Cedric on that front. Are they both family members?

@kate-flournoy I like that development for Eldred not liking hope for that reason. Nice character development there. All those minor characters look good with their Experiments in Living.

Yeah, that’s a pretty insane word count there. =P I have no idea how I’d even begin to write a book that long!

@audrey-caylin Nice–that seems like a very effective way to make him the best villain possible for her arc as she struggles to learn forgiveness. I would say he fits the Tempter type the best.

@overcomer All those theme/focusing question pairs look great! For that last set of focusing questions, they all seem to stem from the common theme of heroship.

@dragon-snapper @daeus @jane-maree How’d I ever get associated with a frog? O.o

@dragon-snapper Star Wars is an example of space opera. Your story could be planetary romance or generic SF, tho. I guess I mostly wanted to clarify if it had a large space element or not.

My hands-down favorite sci-fi series is the Ender’s Game Quartet by Orson Scott Card. Be forewarned that there’s some language in the series, if that bothers…[Read more]

@dragon-snapper What sub-genre of sci-fi are you looking at writing? Hard sci-fi? Space opera? Steampunk? Something else? I haven’t written much sci-fi, but I’ve read a decent bit, so hearing what type of sci-fi you’re looking at writing would help me know what to best recommend on the reading front.

@kate-flournoy Ah–I missed your original comment saying it’s Method #1. I think it depends on how you view it. Now that I think about it a bit more, they probably are both versions of Method #1. From a plot-based standpoint, they’re more Method 2, but from a theme-standpoint they’re likely both Method 1. Which is actually a really nice way of…[Read more]

@jane-maree Something like that could work. You could also try the Lord-of-the-Rings method of making another figure under that villain a more prominent villain for the heroes to have to fight against, a la Saruman or Gollum. There is a place for the overlord character type to remain bland as long as the focus isn’t really on him as a villain.

@hope Ah; okay. He probably does have a bit of a tempting role, then, even if he is more solidly foil than tempter.

@hope Ah; I like that. So they’re not only foils with the main theme, but appear to be opposites with what might be a major or minor theme of power. He sounds the most like a foil to me. He isn’t an ultimate foil with regards to the primary theme, but if he’s an ultimate foil with regards to another theme, he can still function as the best…[Read more]

@kate-flournoy Ah; nice. I like that. Moving characters from extremes to a middle ground is a really good way of implementing Method #2.

Ah; nice. I like that. Moving characters from extremes to a middle ground is a really good way of implementing Method #2.

@jane-maree My recommendation would be to figure out what chain of events will lead the protagonist from the inciting event to the first plot point, and then use those to structure that area. Also possibly use that period to develop your characters more before throwing them out into the fray. K.M. Weiland wrote a post about this several years back…[Read more]