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I’m working on a plot about two soldiers on the run trying to expose the corruption of a military organization. And to make it more realistic and get deeper into worldbuilding, I want to add a subplot about a journalist working on the same case … read more »
A hand with all of the fingers the same length. Eye whites that aren’t white. Seeing a stranger in the mirror. A subtler cousin of horror, the uncanny is more about discomfort than fear. Sigmund Freud* described it as, in greatly paraphrased form here, making … read more »
Crafting a great plot is no easy feat. You need compelling stakes, a likable main character, an urgent problem, and so much more. Fortunately, we have a lot of advice on Mythcreants about how to build just such a plot. But once you have your … read more »
In my capacity as a content editor, I read a lot of manuscripts.* While storytelling problems are infinitely myriad and complex, I’ve noticed a handful that pop up over and over again. These issues sometimes even make it to publication, but they’re especially common in new … read more »
We’ve previously discussed how every story requires a throughline – the plot arc that binds the story together. Most manuscripts desperately need to prioritize a single plot arc and cut whatever doesn’t fit within that. But like most things, throughlines are more complex in practice … read more »
The more characters in a story, the greater burden it is under. Ideally, each character’s narrative will weave together into the throughline, but that doesn’t always happen. Instead, stories often fracture under the pressure of an oversize cast, splitting off into unrelated plots. In the most … read more »
The Lessons From Bad Writing series has long been one of our most popular segments here at Mythcreants, and for good reason. Authors learn a lot from seeing a popular book’s early chapters broken down and analyzed, and spec fic fans enjoy our snarky comments. But … read more »
Balancing plot and worldbuilding is a tricky business. You might want a world where magic is light and fun, but then want a plot about how magic is dangerous and needs to be hidden away. If that’s happened to you, then congratulations, you’re in good … read more »
This week, we’re talking about quests, and not the kind where you go out and kill ten boars. These quests are the stuff of legends, of great heroes venturing out to seek a relic of power. Or of a young child taking a gift basket … read more »
Prologues and epilogues seem so simple. They come before the first chapter and after the last chapter of a book, right? But maybe there’s more to it than that. When is a prologue really chapter one? When is chapter one really a prologue? What is … read more »