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Readers have a lot to learn during an opening, and somehow they have to learn it while being entertained. Doing that takes a careful, piecemeal approach. However, all the information readers need is often interconnected, making it difficult to figure out where to start explaining … read more »
I recently read your article on writing a character-driven story (I really enjoyed it, and it helped clarify my ideas quite a bit!) and realized that the fantasy YA series I am writing–especially the first book–is mostly character driven. From my browsing of bookstores, it … read more »
Travel is the bane of many speculative fiction works. The hero must get somewhere to achieve their destiny, and all too often, the time spent tromping around feels like an annoying delay. But some stories are about travel. In these fictional travelogues, where the hero … read more »
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 »