Menacing Force
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Should I Publish My Story Online in Sections?
What do you think about posting a story as you write it, chapter by chapter, or section by section, and then self-publishing the completed work, as opposed to finishing the whole thing and trying to publish it then? Drew Hayes did this w/ Super Powereds, … read more »
272 – Terminology Wars
Words words words! What do they even mean? And who decides what they mean? When you’re a writer, these are very important, which is why today we’re talking about the terminology of storytelling. In fact, we’ve already started, since “storytelling” is a bit of terminology … read more »
Building Temeraire: How Novik Included Diversity and Justice in a Historical Setting
We often think of worldbuilding in terms of creating entire new worlds from the ground up, but there are other options. That’s why today we’re dissecting the worldbuilding in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. Her setting doesn’t have a fancy name because it’s set on our … read more »
Five Common Dialogue Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Among the ever-present need to sound natural but not too natural, the logistics of specifying who said what, and the importance on bringing out characters’ personalities, dialogue can be pretty tough to write. Let’s look at some common mistakes writers make and how we can … read more »
Rescue Attempt
A hero never flinches in the face of impossible odds. Read more »
How Can I Make a Villain With a Disability Work?
So another question for Fay Onyx. With villainous characters like Darth Vader & the Joker it seems like the best thing for the disability community is to focus on a single flawed element of the villain rather then an entire condition. But what if the … read more »
271 – Downward Arcs
Look, redemption arcs are great fun, but what happens when a character does something bad and doesn’t ever redeem themself? That’s a downward arc, and it’s one of the hardest tropes to pull off successfully. That’s why it’s the subject of today’s episode. We discuss … read more »
Six Magic Systems That Need Stricter Limits
When building a magic system, authors are faced with a balancing act. If they restrict their magic too much, then it won’t be cool and interesting. That defeats the whole point of magic! On the other hand, if an author doesn’t put enough restrictions on … read more »
A Breakdown of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog: Act III
Previously, we’ve taken apart Act I and Act II to see how they tick. Now it’s time to watch the film bring its three throughlines to an effective finish. When we left off, Dr. Horrible had decided to break his no-murder code to finish off … read more »