To the Mythcreant it may concern, I’ve been running a D&D game for about 6 months now (several of those months have been online for obvious reasons) and it has mostly gone well. Recently, at a critical plot moment the players captured an NPC that … read more »
Hello, Mythcreants! I’m a subscriber and your site has been very helpful in honing my writing/storytelling abilities. Anyway, I have a question about how to critique something that’s commonly thought of as good in my culture. What can I do to simultaneously be polite and … read more »
Red Rising by Pierce Brown imagines a far future where humanity has spread across the solar system. There’s just one problem: a rigid, color-coded caste system ensures the constant oppression of those at the bottom for the benefit of those at the top. Ruling Golds … read more »
In the real world Paralympic sports are underfunded compared to traditional athletic sports. In a more optimistic setting with better accessibility for athletes & racers what kind of people might we have being team representatives & competitors? — Bryan Read more »
Like any other form of bigotry, it’s easy for classism to seep into our stories. Some of the signs of classism are similar to other types of bigotry, such as spreading stereotypes about poor people. But unlike most other areas of marginalization, no one is … read more »
Joseph’s Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces (HWTF) has been incredibly influential since it was first published in 1949. The book is the basis for the popular structure known as The Hero’s Journey, and it’s influenced numerous storytellers such as George Lucas, Richard Adams, … read more »
On the last podcast, Fay brought up the problematic trope of the killing of disabled people, especially if they’re disabled during the story. This made me think. If you’re writing historical or historically inspired fiction where this is something that did happen ([Malcolm provided several … read more »
Many of us grew tired of conflicts between absolute good and evil a long time ago. These conflicts often reduce antagonists to caricatures, include dehumanizing stand-ins for real groups of people, and feel too simplistic to be interesting. So, instead, many storytellers have depicted conflicts … read more »
I’m interested in writing a female character who is “vain” (i.e. she knows she’s attractive and she spends a lot of effort and money maintaining that), but I want to portray it as a neutral trait or as only a mild flaw (e.g. maybe she’s … read more »
Can what your protagonist thinks and does really be that important? Can it actually have an impact on how readers understand the story? Yes, yes it can, and that’s what we’re talking about today. This episode is all about authorial endorsement: what it means and … read more »
