Mallory O'Bier

@jenali That’s awesome to hear that the lesson was able to help you get over that fear! I do think that explicitly-Christian fiction can be harder than writing non-explicitly Christian fiction (because you now have a second element of what it means to live as a Christian), but I think it’s definitely a challenge that can be conquered with…[Read more]

@jenali Good combo. Acceptance is a unique theme to have. What would you say the focusing question is for that theme?
The story actually sounds a bit more like Method #2 to me, since the major and minor themes are providing part of the answer to the primary theme of leadership. Unless I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying?

@jenali That sounds great! Doing foils with a theme of friendship can be especially interesting because then the two characters’ foil relationship with each other becomes an aspect of the actual theme (friendship), and the reader can see how both characters treat the same friendship differently. Good choice.

@jenali Good. I would generally agree with you that writers who struggle with theme don’t often have more than one theme. I like the way that your two examples parallel each other (one being the third method done well; one the third method done poorly). Contrasting similar situations of stories that work and stories that don’t work can be a great…[Read more]

@ethryndal Liriel’s guilt in the reaction to scene #1 is unclear to me. If she didn’t care about his life in battle, why after battle does she begin to care? Are there any events that happen between those that send her on that path? Or is it the realization that he could be dead that makes her re-think her decision?

Scene #2 looks good to me.…[Read more]

@ethrynal Haha, got it. As long as you’re clear on what those events are, that should be good. 🙂

@Christi-Eaton thanks. 😉

Welcome to the site, @moriahs! Glad you found us. Who are your favorite authors?

Welcome to the site, @morahs! Glad you found us. What do you like to write?

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that the Reader Behavior Survey has now been taken by 226 people. It’s moving along! I’m just going to let it run for a week or two more and then I’ll do the analysis.

@f5a8c3e92 I like this.
*switches into professional mode* Your prose is stronger than a lot I’ve seen, and you show a lot of promise with dialogue and characterization. Your sense of flow and pacing does seem to be a bit off— the prologue was too short and vague, for one. It didn’t connect me to the story, which is what a prologue is for. I…[Read more]

@Christi-Eaton *squeals* Still love it!

… can I post mine again here for comparison? It’ll make it look awful but I want to see the similarities. Thanks. 😀
*doesn’t wait for permission*

@northerner *eats raspberries* Thanks. 🙂

@winter-rose Signing off. I wrote 544.

@christi-eaton Wow, Christi, that’s amazing! 😀

@Mark-Kamibaya YES. Rogue One. Everyone. Watch it. The more I think about it, the more sure I may be becoming that it’s my favorite movie ever. Seriously. Everything about it was so well done, and the theme—!
*buries face in hands* Just… watch it. You’ll see what I mean.

@emma-flournoy Yeah, we generally know more general antiheroes than true antiheroes. Probably because, as Christians, true antiheroes can be potentially harmful to us.

@winter-rose Your insight on the “unheroic success” character arc is really good. I never thought of it that way. 🙂 Personally, however, I’d see the unheroic success as hard to pull off successfully, but super awesome if done well. Quite a few of my favorite films have unheroic success, so I know it can be done well. A reason why the unheroic…[Read more]

@timothy-young Well, Balaam was actually a pretty nasty dude even from the beginning. His character arc does follow the tragic character more closely, though. And yeah. Joab is definitely a true antihero.