by kingdompen | May 29, 2017 | Articles, Characters, Theme
The core of story is conflict. If your story contains no struggle, it’s just a tale about nobody important who never overcame anything. Conflict takes many forms; physical, mental, and spiritual conflicts are all crucial, and even necessary. Ideological conflict,...
by kingdompen | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Characters, Theme
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a hero in possession of reasonable talents and good looks must be in want of an arch nemesis.” Although the above statement is nothing more than a bad Jane Austen paraphrase, every writer knows that a story is vapid without...
by kingdompen | Apr 12, 2013 | Articles, Characters
By Eric Johnson What makes the best villains work? The simple answer can be summed up in one phrase: lots of things. There is, however, an even simpler answer. Dread is what makes villains work. A good villain is a villain we dread, a bad villain is one we don’t. So...
by kingdompen | Aug 29, 2022 | Characters
By Rachel Leitch With the help of some friends, I recently found my way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only has it been a very epic experience to watch all these amazing movies, but it’s been a very interesting excursion for my storytelling skills to think...
by kingdompen | Aug 1, 2022 | Characters
By Rachel LeitchHere we are, back again to look at some more common stereotypes when writing fictional families.To recap what I said in the last article: due to overuse, some popular tropes have now devolved into stereotypes that don’t scratch the surface of what a...
