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Chris is the founder and editor-in-chief of Mythcreants. On the side she also designs, codes, and writes stories. When she manages to escape from chronic workaholism, she likes to drink tea, wear funny hats, pet kitties, and crush her enemies at the game table.
Many storytellers enjoy looking through the lens of more than one character. In speculative fiction, multiple viewpoint characters are often used to show different places in the world, or illustrate a conflict that is epic in scale. Unless the story involves a device that is … read more »
It’s the chicken and the egg question of spec fic: should you make a world and then plot your story in it, or should you create the story and then build the world it’s in? Most storytellers answer this question by beginning with the part … read more »
Stereotypes are deeply embedded in our culture. They permeate every aspect of our communication with one another: journalism, lyrics, movies, casual conversation… you name it. It doesn’t take long before they wiggle their way into our minds, and from there they sneak into our stories. Read more »
Inserting extra fluff scenes is a very common mistake for new writers. Useless scenes destroy a story’s pacing, turning a page-turner into a plodding pony. Luckily, they’re also easy to recognize; you just have to know what to look for. Read more »
As a kid I spent a lot of time lying in bed, in the dark, waiting for the mysterious process some call “falling asleep” to take over. To make the time go faster, I invented stories. As a kid my stories were just fantasies about being beautiful, and kicking ass, and getting the guy. Read more »
Spinach and Candy have waged a war over every character you’ve ever loved. Candy has been loudly launching grenades at spinach, while spinach tries to infiltrate the candy base and steal their flag. Not only is the fate of the character at stake in these … read more »
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America was a very credible organization… until recently. It seems that like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, it’s been growing out of touch with present day. Read more »
I used to love watching the Oscars. The high point for me was 2002, after the Fellowship of the Ring came out. Whoopi Goldberg was the host that year, and she was kind enough to tally the score between Fellowship and A Beautiful Mind, which … read more »
It would be a mistake to go into the theater expecting The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to be like LotR. It is still an excellent movie. However, its goals are different, and if you’re going to see it, your goals should be different too. Read more »
The writing blogosphere is entangled so deep in reviewception, I think it’s at risk of being lost forever in a limbo of pointless discussion and debate. The debate goes something like this: Flatterers: Why are writers so mean to other writers they review? They should … read more »