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Every member of Team Good should help save the day. But the larger your ensemble cast is, the trickier it can be to make sure everyone is contributing. When a protagonist doesn’t pull their weight, they end up feeling superfluous at best and annoying at … read more »
Sometimes, the reactions we assign to characters in the outline stage don’t feel natural when written out. In these cases, it can be difficult to judge whether planned character behaviors are unrealistic or the storyteller just isn’t in the right mindset. Since character choices can … read more »
Unless your story is specifically about sexual assault, you should probably remove any rape, attempted rape, or even mention of rape from your story. This is because these depictions normalize sexual assault and are often hurtful to survivors. Let’s go over how rape ends up … read more »
All communication can use story structure to engage audiences. This includes not only narrative works like creative nonfiction but also articles, speeches, essays, and informational texts. This doesn’t mean all communication should have story structure. Stories string audiences along – that’s how they work. Giving … read more »
Parents are a real bugbear for any author writing an underage protagonist, and it’s not difficult to see why. Not only are parents generally more capable than their children, but they also have a vested interest in not allowing said children to undertake dangerous tasks, … read more »
Hollywood has made the act of revisiting old fan favorites something of a gimmick. With a rising wave of returning franchises, classics like Star Wars, assorted horror and superhero movies, Star Wars, numerous 2D-animated films,* and Star Wars have made their way back to the … read more »
Everyone loves a good mystery. But mystery stories have a common problem: no satisfaction at the end. That’s because everything in the story leads to a big reveal about whodunit. Reveals are always tricky to pull off, so if the story’s not firing on all cylinders, … read more »
Mythcreants dwells a lot on ANTS, the four effects that make stories engaging. But while we’ve devoted whole articles to specific aspects of attachment, tension, and satisfaction, novelty hasn’t gotten as much time in the limelight. The problem is that anything in the story can … read more »
You’ve poured your heart and soul into a fanwork, and lo and behold, it’s caught on with other fans. While success is great, it’s not paying the bills. To financially benefit from all that labor you put in, you’ve decided it’s time to retool your … read more »
Writers often know where their stories start and end but draw a blank when it comes to all the stuff in between. And unfortunately, common plot structures like the hero’s journey aren’t as helpful as they seem. While they provide a rhythm of success and … read more »