Spider-Man: No Way Home has a bittersweet ending because the world is unfair and a sacrifice is needed to save the day.
The Four Ways to Create a Bittersweet Ending
Character karma doesn't stop us from creating complex and nuanced stories.
Latest in Plot
Who Wins: Antz, A Bug’s Life, or Ant-Man?
Uh-oh, there are ants all over this post.
Q&A: Should My Mystery Start With the Murder?
Submitted by Adam,
answered
Seven External Plots for Relationship-Centered Stories
Add excitement without sacrificing what's important.
Episode 375: The Story’s Middle
How much of a story is middle, anyway?
Q&A: Does My Protagonist Have to Solve the Problem?
Submitted by Evan,
answered
Five Underwhelming Reveals in Speculative Fiction
What happens when storytellers make mountains out of molehills.
Q&A: Can I Have Multiple Antagonists Without Fragmenting the Story?
Submitted by Cathryn,
answered
Episode 372: Foreshadowing
Could you have predicted this podcast topic?
Who Wins: Name of the Wind, Fifth Season, or Way of Kings?
Three books go head to head in a high fantasy battle royale!
Episode 371: Character Arcs
Have you heard the Klingon proverb that revenge is a dish best served cold?
Five Conflicts With Weak Turning Points, and How to Fix Them
When good conflicts turn bad.
Six Types of Downward Turning Points
Downward turning points make failure feel satisfying.
Episode 370: Good Adaptations
Hot Take: Sometimes the movie is better than the book.
How The Book of Boba Fett Could Have Been Good
Fixing a Star Wars train wreck.
Episode 369: Bad Adaptations
More The Hobbit than Lord of The Rings.
How to Create an Unhappy Ending
In a truly tragic story, the hero fails because they made the wrong choice.
Q&A: Why Are Disingenuous Reveals So Common?
Submitted by Kel,
answered
Episode 367: Raising the Stakes
The story is tense, but could it be... *more* tense?
Five Stories That Spoil Their Own Mystery
No need to speculate on the mystery if the story just tells you!
Juan