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Stories about good and evil are classic, but black and white morality can rob a story of complexity and nuance. That’s why a couple of years ago, I provided some alternatives. Since one article can’t cover every source of gray conflict, I’m back at it. Look over these dualities the … read more »
External conflicts are obvious to the audience and easy for storytellers to conceptualize. The hero either defeats the villain or they get beat; they either convince the jury or they are thrown in jail. But while these conflicts are usually the first thing that new storytellers reach … read more »
Conflicts within Team Good allow us to develop characters while adding excitement to scenes. However, most good guys have every reason to stay on good terms. Without a villain, it can be tricky to get them fighting. As a result, many protagonist conflicts rely on good guys that act out of character or manifest glaring new flaws. … read more »
Since we’re discussing heroes with dark counterparts, we brought on a new guest host: Graham, who is basically evil Oren. With our evil new co-host, we discuss all the ways in which a villain can be used to show us the darker side of a hero, and … read more »
This week, the normal voting process for deciding a topic was suspended, and it was decided by tyrannical dictate that we would discuss democracy in speculative fiction. Why is there so little of it? Can it be used to tell good stories? Why are we … read more »
Hooking readers is the first job of any story, and to do that you need conflict. But where does that conflict come from? Writers often spend the first part of their story exploring the setting, looking for the cracks where conflict can be found. Because nothing … read more »
Getting your audience to the finish line requires bait at every step. That bait is the tension created by your opening plot hooks. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for that tension to drop in the lulls between high-conflict scenes. Use these techniques to insert more tempting bait during those low points. Read more »
If the two lovebirds are meant for each other, why don’t they just hook up? This question has vexed countless storytellers and lead to a plethora of bad romance tropes. But as the romance genre shows, this question has many wonderful answers. Get your imagination going with these seven. Read more »
Plot twists are an essential writing tool, and every writer uses them. It’s important to shake up expectations so readers never get complacent. But despite the ubiquity of plot twists, they are really hard to get right. The internet abounds with disgruntled reviews from readers who saw a plot twist … read more »
So far I’ve written six critiques of best selling books that I think are bad. Needless to say, I am not easily impressed. Then my commenters had the gall to ask for something positive. What do you think I am, a magical praise-emitting unicorn? Well, it took some doing, … read more »