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Anyone who’s ever applied for a business license or contested a traffic ticket can tell you that the law is incredibly complicated. It often doesn’t work the way we think it does, and since new laws get passed all the time, it keeps changing, too. … read more »
The principles we discuss at Mythcreants are actively at work in countless popular stories. That means if you’re still getting a feel for abstract concepts like tension or karma, you now have an excuse to watch your favorite movie and call it homework. Dissecting stories … read more »
Plot twists are tricky business for us storytellers. They need to be foreshadowed so they aren’t jarring, but they also need to be subtle so they don’t feel telegraphed. Then you have to consider differences in your audience. Trope-savvy readers can spot even the subtlest … read more »
Characters are overpowered for all kinds of reasons, but the effect is always the same. Either the character overcomes challenges way too easily or the author has to insert a massive contrivance to keep the conflict going. Neither outcome is satisfying, so if you ever … read more »
Netflix’s TV adaptation of The Witcher has been making all kinds of waves recently, for everything from its impressive fight choreography to its critic/audience split* to Henry Cavil’s impressive abs. You may have heard that it was criticized by a misogynist pundit for the outlandish … read more »
Animal companions are semi-characters with simple personalities and limited agency. While they have feelings, they don’t usually talk or undergo character arcs. Instead of pursuing their own goals, animal companions give devoted assistance to a protagonist. Read more »
When characters have agency, it means their choices matter in the story. The more agency a character possesses, the greater impact they have on the plot. This doesn’t only include their successes. A character can still have agency through failure, so long as that failure … read more »
From some of my previous posts, you may have noticed that I have a thing for battles. Can you blame me? Battles are super fun, what with all the violence and explosions, plus you can use them for wonderful drama when the hero’s best friend … read more »
The latest Star Wars trilogy is what happens when two directors get in a slap fight and the production company does nothing to stop them. Left with nowhere to take the last movie, J.J. Abrams strung together a plot that’s best described as “let’s make … read more »
Despite what some purists may tell you, there’s no clear line between scifi and fantasy. Instead, each genre has a collection of elements we associate with it, and different stories may have more or fewer of those elements. That’s why we can confidently say that … read more »