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Q&A, Worldbuilding, Technology By Oren Ashkenazi on 03/29/21 Hello. While I was worldbuilding, I noticed that my characters do not really use technology to do things like travelling – however, there are things like trains/cars/flying vessels in big cities. My characters come from a small town, where there are some bits of technology […] Read in browser »
Worldbuilding, History By Oren Ashkenazi on 03/27/21 Worldbuilding is a complicated craft, and with so many possible settings out there, it's difficult to give advice on the subject as a whole. Fortunately, there are some principles that are useful across the board. That's what we're talking about today: best practices that will […] Read in browser »
Storytelling, Conflict, Plot, Tension By Chris Winkle on 03/26/21 While stories use multiple methods of engaging audiences, conflict and tension are probably the most essential for longer stories. What we call pace is the timing and intensity of that conflict and tension throughout. A pace that’s too low will put an audience to sleep, […] Read in browser »
Q&A, Villains By Oren Ashkenazi on 03/22/21 Hello. How are you? I was wondering about antagonist personalities after they make a change. From Amity of The Owl House to Peridot and Yellow Diamond of Steven Universe, some people (myself not included) believe that they became “less likable” and “lost what made them […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Bad Advice, Social Justice By Oren Ashkenazi on 03/20/21 You know what I can't stand about speculative storytelling? The politics. I know, it seems like I mostly object to poorly constructed plots, underdeveloped characters, toxic messages, and so on, but really it's the politics. You just can't have a good story if there's politics […] Read in browser »
Storytelling By Chris Winkle on 03/19/21 In 2014, I wrote a primer on the basics of conflict, with a few notes on tension thrown in. Whereas conflict is easy to spot and a central topic of most writing advice, tension is subtle and rarely defined even when it is mentioned. Given […] Read in browser »
Commentary, Q&A, Characters, Disability, Social Justice By Fay Onyx on 03/15/21 You’ve mentioned that characters faking disabilities can feed into the ableist misconception that disabled people are likely to just be faking for benefits. Is it less ableist if an abled character impersonates a specific other character who happens to have a disability? The example I’m […] Read in browser »
Storytelling By Oren Ashkenazi on 03/13/21 In most speculative fiction stories, the heroes face down some kind of external conflict. These conflicts take many forms. In some stories, an advanced battle station is blowing up planets. In others, a bigoted politician plans to pass new laws targeting people who are already […] Read in browser »
Storytelling, Characters By Chris Winkle on 03/12/21 Occasionally, the pressure to make our stories compelling can encourage practices that don’t actually give us the results we want. One such pattern is the hindrance character. Let’s go over what they are, the problems they can cause, and how to avoid them. What’s a […] Read in browser »
Q&A, Villains By Oren Ashkenazi on 03/08/21 Hi! I am not too sure if this is okay to ask, seeing as it doesn’t really have to do with writing, but how can I make a villain that is threatening while also making them have a pastel/cutesy theme? Especially if it’s a guy […] Read in browser »
Storytelling, Plot By Oren Ashkenazi on 03/06/21 In an ideal world, every story would function as a unified whole, with each aspect working together for maximum engagement. In the real world, many stories suffer from fragmentation: disparate elements pulling the story in opposing directions, leaving the audience bored rather than engaged. Fortunately, this […] Read in browser »
Analysis, Social Justice By Chris Winkle on 03/05/21 Space Sweepers, the new Korean blockbuster on Netflix, is not a flawless movie. Some portions are incredibly confusing, plot twists come out of nowhere, its pace becomes exhausting, and jarring tone changes make important events feel contrived. But along with a strong set of heroes […] Read in browser »
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