Another year has passed! In 2015 Mythcreants partnered with Patreon, held a panel at GeekGirlCon, and of course, wrote lots of juicy articles. For your year-end pleasure, here’s the highlights.
Top Ten Most Popular Posts
Ditch These Five Character Archetypes
Archetypes tell us what role a character plays in a story. Many of these roles are critical for storytelling, but some are just the opposite. Troublesome roles allow storytellers to cut corners, reducing the overall quality of the tale. Take these five archetypes: P.S. Our … read more »
Five Dualities That Can Replace Good and Evil
If you want more complexity than Team Band and Team Good, try these dichotomies. Read more »
Lessons From the Terrible Writing of Eragon
Poor word choice and a comical villain hinder this fantastical story’s opening. Read more »
Four Behaviors Fiction Needs to Stop Glorifying
We humans have spent the last 200,000 years trying to figure out how to treat each other, and while we’re still confused on a few subjects, the basics are pretty solid. At least, they should be. Somehow our fictional characters can’t go two seconds without doing something horrible. Read more »
Six Emotional Motives for Your Characters
With emotional drive comes the character depth your audience will love. These inner forces are incredibly flexible. They can form the backbone for your entire story or simply add another dimension to the plot and characters you already have. Read more »
How to Create a Rational Magic System
Magic systems vary from colorful bears with tummy badges to ritual blood sacrifices. Magic isn’t real, so it can be anything we want. But that doesn’t mean all magic systems work equally well for stories. Some feel cohesive; others feel random. Read more »
Five Failed Character Arcs
Character arcs form the heart of the story. They give audiences a reason to cheer a character on and add emotional depth to the plot. But not all characters arcs are equal. A good arc doesn’t just take a pauper and make her queen; it … read more »
Three Writing Exercises for Better Characters
Characters can be tricky to pin down – or even write correctly in the first place. Some lucky writers have characters that are willing to sit down and chat with them. Others can slip themselves into their character’s shoes without much difficulty. If you’re having … read more »
Six More Character Archetypes to Ditch
Ditch these character models to ensure your story won’t age like already-spoiled milk. Read more »
Six Characters Who Should Have Died
Character death is a tricky subject, whether in prose, roleplaying games, or television. Sometimes a character can pass before their time, especially if an actor’s contract expires or a critical hit goes the wrong way. On the other hand, the death of a beloved character … read more »
Blogger Favorites
Seven bloggers wrote at least two articles this year. I badgered each one until they told me which piece they liked the best.
The Why & How of Second Person
How to experiment with this oft-maligned but intriguing perspective. Read more »
Six Consequences of High Magic
How the world would change if some could bend physics with their minds. Read more »
Matriarchies, Patriarchies, and Beyond
How your writing can do better at gender rep, however your story’s society handles it. Read more »
Crafting Plausible Maps
Building a map for a fantasy setting involves a lot of details – most of them fun! Art styles, fonts, and icons need to be chosen. But some mapping concerns go beyond mere aesthetics. If you’re building a sizable chunk of continent on an Earth-like … read more »
How to Personify the Seven Deadly Sins
How to show these moral taboos in your story. Read more »
Using Conflict to Revive Your Story Game
Four ways your collaborative campaign might flounder—and how to avoid them. Read more »
Why Social Justice Is Intrinsic to Storytelling
Storytellers are responsible for making positive change with their tales. Here’s why. Read more »
Happy New Year to all our wonderful readers and patrons! Thanks for your encouragement and support.
Thanks for this . . . as a latecomer to the blog, it’s helpful seeing stuff like this.
. . . and now I want to write in second person.
You realize that second person is a legitimate writing perspective. You know it tends to work best in shorter formats. You go write some.
Will do . . . but right now I just started my entry for the “No shit, there I was” submission call . . . hard to do that in second person.
But, I will do a SP piece this week. Might even share it.
It will be fun adding yet another tool to my sure-fire rejection arsenal.