Discrimination against Muslims, especially Arab Muslims, is often attributed to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. However, the truth is that Islamophobia goes back centuries before that. From 18th-century oil paintings of scantily clad harem women to modern TV dramas, fiction has a long … read more »
Hello Mythcreants, I am your Star of Hope again with a new question: *Spoiler warnings for Assassins Creed Rogue* How can I write a conflict based on a misunderstanding without making it contrived? For instance the hero hates a character for something they didn’t do, … read more »
In storytelling, happy endings are the default for good reason. But there is another option. Sometimes the story doesn’t end well; nothing goes the hero’s way, and they either die or lose what is most precious to them. That’s right, this episode is about tragedies: … read more »
While receiving direct instruction via books, workshops, or editors is a fine way to learn storytelling, it’s also helpful to build skills on your own. If you’re looking for ways to get in extra practice, try these five activities. Read more »
I have a character who recently got blinded and now has to deal with what that means. How can I show him struggling and adapting to his new life without caricaturing or stereotyping the experiences of blind people and blindness in general? In addition, my … read more »
We’ve discussed creating tension at a big-picture level many times. However, it’s not enough to have a big-picture plan; tension must also be brought out in the narration. While the bestselling books I critique almost always have tense narration covered, manuscripts often don’t. Let’s help … read more »
Sometimes you want a story to do one thing, but you also want it to do another thing. Can it do both things? Should it do both things? That’s our topic for today: multitasking! This critical skill will help make your stories more efficient, allowing … read more »
No matter the medium, every storyteller has to be selective about which events the audience will experience and which will be summarized or simply left out. This is particularly true for stories that take place over long time periods. Leaving out important events will frustrate … read more »
We’ve mentioned many times that stories can’t handle infinite complexity; audiences have a limit to how much they can absorb and understand. When stories are over-burdened with too many ideas, they become both confusing and slow. Plus, dividing your wordcount between, for example, ten important … read more »
What are the best ways to do verbal climaxes, and what are some good examples thereof? I want to write a story where the climax is a conversation between two characters to uncover the truth, or a detective’s denouement, or a courtroom cross-examination ending in … read more »
