February Newsletter You can give us feedback via the contact form on our website. (If you reply to this email, we might not see it.) Have a wonderful month! | |
Q&A, Storytelling, Romance By Chris Winkle on 02/01/21 My characters love interest is kind of a jerk but I don’t want this relationship to be toxic. Should he repent for his behavior, or should I change his character? What should I do? – Shelly Crumb Hi Shelly, That’s a really good question. While […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Characters, Melodrama By Oren Ashkenazi on 01/30/21 Drama is a cornerstone of storytelling. Even the most action-heavy violence-fests need an emotional core if they want to be more than a forgettable special-effects reel. We have a number of articles covering how to get the right feels in your story, from character arcs […] Read in browser »
Storytelling, Characters, Likability, Romance By Chris Winkle on 01/29/21 Most stories are better with some interpersonal conflict. That means sooner or later, we’ll need to craft a jerk. But whether they’re an insufferable roommate, an antagonistic hottie, a harsh parent, or even a protagonist with some growing to do, it’s easy to make bad […] Read in browser »
Q&A, Worldbuilding, Magic By Oren Ashkenazi on 01/25/21 Hello, Sorry for pestering you with questions lately, but I could once again use your advice. I have a world with two factions at war with each other and a magic system based on magical pigments. One side uses written words to alter people/things in […] Read in browser »
Roleplaying, D&D, Game Mechanics By Ari Ashkenazi on 01/23/21 Multiclassing is by far my favorite mechanic in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. I love the weird and powerful combinations it unlocks and how it allows me to demonstrate an amount of creativity monoclassing simply can’t match. However, just because there are a ton of […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Magic By Oren Ashkenazi on 01/22/21 Special powers are a cornerstone of speculative fiction. Whether they come from ancient magics or alien evolution, we love to see characters with abilities that humans cannot possess. Such powers provide excellent novelty and wish fulfillment. But sometimes storytellers don't think about how their powers actually […] Read in browser »
Roleplaying, D&D, Game Mechanics By Ari Ashkenazi on 01/21/21 Last time, we looked at the Path of the Beast, and now let’s look at the second of the barbarian subclasses found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything: Path of Wild Magic. As the name suggests, this barbarian shares some design space with the Wild Magic […] Read in browser »
Q&A, Storytelling, Disability By Fay Onyx on 01/18/21 Hi! This is a question for Fay, hope that’s alright. I have a protagonist that loses an arm named Soup, and they happen to be the main focus out of their group. I have done some research, and I have come across a slight problem. […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Romance, Social Justice By Oren Ashkenazi on 01/16/21 Legendborn by Tracy Deonn is an urban fantasy story about a young Black woman infiltrating an order of all white mages, fighting demons, and uncovering her own heritage. I just finished reading it, and to the surprise of all, I am impressed. Not with everything, […] Read in browser »
Commentary, Romance, Social Justice By Chris Winkle on 01/15/21 Romance is one of the most scorned genres of fiction. Straight romances are loaded with cultural baggage regarding gender, so many of these stories are attacked on one side by misogynists and on the other by feminists. The fans who write and love these romances, […] Read in browser »
Roleplaying, D&D By Ari Ashkenazi on 01/14/21 Barbarians have been defined by the Totem Warrior subclass since Dungeons and Dragons 5E’s release, namely the Bear Totem Spirit feature that expands the class’s Rage damage resistance from bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing to everything except psychic damage. Nothing other subclasses bring to the table […] Read in browser »
Q&A, Storytelling, Plot By Chris Winkle on 01/11/21 Hi again, my wonderful mentors at Mythcreants! I just got a book manuscript back from a beta reader. A problem she noted (and although I didn’t spot this on my own, I think she’s 100% right in this) is that the pace becomes too quick […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Conflict, Plot By Oren Ashkenazi on 01/09/21 It's very common for storytellers to accidentally make their big conflicts too easy. But what if I told you the reverse can happen too? These conflicts are too difficult for the hero to credibly overcome, forcing the storytellers to resolve them in an unsatisfying way. This […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Characters, Gender, Social Justice By Svend Phillips on 01/08/21 Heading up to the release of War of the Spark: Ravnica, expectations from Magic: The Gathering (MTG) players ran high. Ravnica and its sequel, Forsaken, were touted as MTG's version of Infinity War and Endgame, a culmination of the years-long Gatewatch saga and the epic […] Read in browser »
Roleplaying By Ari Ashkenazi on 01/07/21 I have been disappointed with the Dungeons and Dragons artificer class since it was introduced in Eberron: Rising from the Last War. Like many in the community, I love the idea of gadgetry in D&D, and all the fan art of arcane Iron Man makes […] Read in browser »
Q&A, Storytelling, Characters By Chris Winkle on 01/04/21 Hello. I have been reading your character death articles, and it has made me think about my own characters in my own story. I originally was gonna have one character death, but her death was unnecessarily brutal and did not serve a purpose (the true […] Read in browser »
Storytelling, Character Archetypes, Social Justice By Bunny on 01/02/21 Discrimination against Muslims, especially Arab Muslims, is often attributed to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. However, the truth is that Islamophobia goes back centuries before that. From 18th-century oil paintings of scantily clad harem women to modern TV dramas, fiction has a long […] Read in browser »
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