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Meta By Chris Winkle on 01/01/21 We can all let out a sigh of relief that 2020 is over. It was a nightmarish year, but at least some of us got extra time to write! Celebrate the bright spots by reading our top content of the year. Our Top Ten Articles […] Read in browser »
Q&A, Storytelling, Conflict By Chris Winkle on 12/28/20 Hello Mythcreants, I am your Star of Hope again with a new question: *Spoiler warnings for Assassins Creed Rogue* How can I write a conflict based on a misunderstanding without making it contrived? For instance the hero hates a character for something they didn’t do, […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Dark Stories By Oren Ashkenazi on 12/26/20 When it comes to film adaptations of classic novels, people have, shall we say, strong opinions. A common refrain is that the movie is always worse than the book. Fortunately, that isn't true. While plenty of film adaptations are indeed worse than their source materials, […] Read in browser »
Storytelling, The Writing Process By Chris Winkle on 12/25/20 While receiving direct instruction via books, workshops, or editors is a fine way to learn storytelling, it’s also helpful to build skills on your own. If you’re looking for ways to get in extra practice, try these five activities. 1. Write Shorter Stories While the […] Read in browser »
Roleplaying By Ari Ashkenazi on 12/24/20 Welcome to part two of my D&D 5th Edition ranger rework. In part one we covered what inspired me to attempt this, along with all of the new main class features. In this part, we examine each revised subclass and the features they receive. I […] Read in browser »
Q&A, Storytelling, Disability, Social Justice By Fay Onyx on 12/21/20 I have a character who recently got blinded and now has to deal with what that means. How can I show him struggling and adapting to his new life without caricaturing or stereotyping the experiences of blind people and blindness in general? In addition, my […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Dark Stories, Social Justice By Oren Ashkenazi on 12/19/20 You might be tired of dark stories, I might be tired of dark stories, but, nonetheless, the dark stories just keep coming. Since that's apparently the state of things, we might as well try to get dark stories right. Oversaturation aside, there isn't anything inherently […] Read in browser »
Storytelling, Writing, Tension By Chris Winkle on 12/18/20 We’ve discussed creating tension at a big-picture level many times. However, it’s not enough to have a big-picture plan; tension must also be brought out in the narration. While the bestselling books I critique almost always have tense narration covered, manuscripts often don’t. Let’s help […] Read in browser »
Roleplaying By Ari Ashkenazi on 12/17/20 Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition‘s ranger has been a sore spot for the community since the game came out. Like the paladin, the ranger is a half caster, mixing martial abilities and spells to the theoretical benefit of the class. Unfortunately, the ranger has never […] Read in browser »
Commentary, Q&A, Characters, Social Justice, Villains By Chris Winkle on 12/14/20 So, I want to write villains and want them to really play the part. But I read on this site that villains can still send harmful messages or be hurtful to the audience if you’re not careful. How can I make my villains really evil […] Read in browser »
Roleplaying, D&D, Game Mechanics By Ari Ashkenazi on 12/12/20 As much as I love 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons, it’s not the most balanced of games. Some mechanics are numerically stronger than others. This doesn’t just hold true for items and spells, but for entire classes as well. I’ve written a lot here on […] Read in browser »
Storytelling, Plot By Chris Winkle on 12/11/20 No matter the medium, every storyteller has to be selective about which events the audience will experience and which will be summarized or simply left out. This is particularly true for stories that take place over long time periods. Leaving out important events will frustrate […] Read in browser »
Commentary, Q&A, Characters By Oren Ashkenazi on 12/07/20 Hello Mythcreants I am back. I want to ask if portraying Vengeance as something that can be good is inherently bad. In many stories Vengeance is vilified as evil and more often than not it’s expected that they have to grant forgiveness to the bullies […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Endings, Turning Point By Oren Ashkenazi on 12/05/20 This is it, friends. We've made it to the end. We started our journey oh so many years (months) ago with the MCU's phase one climaxes, and now here we are with the second part of phase three. Will these final films stick the landing, […] Read in browser »
Storytelling, Plot By Chris Winkle on 12/04/20 We’ve mentioned many times that stories can’t handle infinite complexity; audiences have a limit to how much they can absorb and understand. When stories are over-burdened with too many ideas, they become both confusing and slow. Plus, dividing your wordcount between, for example, ten important […] Read in browser »
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