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Storytellers love character archetypes. They feel ancient and symbolic, and they’re just fun to play with. A while back, we mentioned some archetypes we think stories are usually better without. To banish the rain on our archetype parade, here’s five we want to see more … read more »
Making your protagonist a relatable underdog is a great way to encourage your audience to bond with them. Unfortunately, it’s easy for this effort to go wrong. Instead of feeling sympathy for your hero, the audience might think your character is whiny and unpleasant. The narration … read more »
Space battles are an important aspect of science fiction, especially space opera, and we want them to be engaging. At first blush, that might sound easy. Space battles have hyperdrives and torpedoes and lasers, oh my. How could that not be engaging? But it’s harder than you … read more »
Writing and roleplaying are vastly different mediums. Writing offers much greater control over the story, but roleplaying has something else: a strong connection with the audience. Whereas writers have limited knowledge of how readers respond to their work, game masters (GMs) must be closely in … read more »
A good protagonist is active. They get out and do things to move the plot forward. But making a protagonist active is often more difficult than it sounds. Sometimes you get caught up in the “refuse the call” phase of the hero’s journey and don’t … read more »
A great reveal can be sublime. Unfortunately, this has storytellers chasing after the perfect reveal even when their story would be better off without it. Reveals have to be set up just right to work, and some information is too critical to be withheld until … read more »
My main characters are part of secret government unit that goes after supernatural threats to America. Should I start the story with the new members being training? Or should I start with them being assigned to the unit and have flashbacks to the training to show how they’ve become friends, etc.? Read more »
Most storytellers know that the climax should be more exciting than the rest of the story. However, many don’t know that climaxes need a critical turning point. Neglecting this turning point is one of the most common mistakes that writers make, and without it, endings … read more »
Storytellers love to add deep ideas to their works. A well-crafted adventure tale is fun in the moment, but it’s the thoughtful piece on the nature of human existence that will be remembered. This is a healthy instinct, and audiences do love a deep idea … read more »
Most writers know that their important protagonists should have the lion’s share of viewpoint scenes. However, some stories need another point of view to communicate information the protagonists don’t know. Often, that point of view comes from the primary antagonist. Unfortunately, using a villain’s point … read more »