Crafting Distinct Voices
Crafting Distinct Voices sets nine questions designed to tease out a distinctive voice for individual characters. Given the sparse dialogue I’m writing in my fantasy series, any prompts are worth considering.
…
Writing
Galadriel’s Study in Psychopathy
I worked out the central premise of Amazon’s Rings of Power: Galadriel’s Study in Psychopathy.
I resisted talking about this because it’s become mired in gender politics almost as toxic as Republicans versus Democrats. Let’s ignore the politics and call it what it is: bad writing.
…
The Character’s Core Wound
According to the late teacher and script doctor Peter Russell, the character’s core wound powers the story. Writing and speaking extensively on TV and film scripts, Russell advocates a character-first approach to storytelling.
…
Introducing the Cumulative Sentence
It’s a rare item of writing craft that finds me introducing the cumulative sentence.
I had a “progressive” education, which meant I wasn’t taught grammar and punctuation or any of the glue that binds language together. I’ve had to discover it for myself. That goes for the cumulative sentence. Stick with me, it’s not that technical. You might even like it.
…
Conventions of the Action Genre
Writing a fantasy series, there’s no way I can ignore the conventions of the Action genre. A solid action piece has to include some mandatory ingredients of plot, character and theme. Scratch the surface and you’ll find I write all the tropes of a classic Western. With swords.
…
Every Story Asks Questions
Not the obvious ‘how does it end?’ but something more basic; every story asks questions.
‘What’s is about?’ isn’t really the question either. Jaws isn’t about a shark, it’s about friendship; Fast and Furious isn’t about cars, it’s about family. But those are themes. Both ask different questions of the audience. Can our Three Men in a Boat(!) overcome their fears and band together? Do our street-racers overcome their distrust and become family?
…
The Trouble with Prequels
Amazon’s Rings of Power demonstrates the trouble with prequels like no other. When the outcomes and consequences don’t matter, how do you make the audience care?
…
Endearing Female Protagonists
Let’s compare the wildly popular Black Widow and the (unfairly in my view) not wildly popular Captain Marvel. Then look at who I have in my fantasy series.
…
The ‘All-is-Lost’ Story Beat
The ‘all-is-lost’ story beat is obligatory in just about every story structure from the Hero’s Journey to Save the Cat.
…
Completing a Character Arc: Misbelief
This week I found the key in completing a character arc: misbelief. It followed two years of writing, ignoring that my protagonist wasn’t working.
…