In the young writing community, there’s a lot of pressure to be a prodigy. Some of that can be good. It’s important to not be limited by your age or the expectations of older individuals around you. There are a lot of writers with a wealth of untapped talent because they believe they are too…
There’s a lot of discussion in the world of storytelling about how to address politics in writing. From reboots that speak to social issues to brand-new stories with blunt political messaging, politicization has been a recurring issue especially in the last few years, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. But the…
Mysteries can be some of the hardest books to write. Between convoluted plots, contrived resolutions, and painfully obvious clues that only lead to one individual, there are a lot of common pitfalls that are insanely easy to fall into as a writer. But that doesn’t mean they are inevitable. This summer I read the mystery-novel-turned-television-drama…
We’ve all come across parts of our story that we, as writers, have complete control of. The screenwriters get to decide when Spider-Man runs out of web fluid. The writers can choose how much the traitor knew before he betrayed his friends to the villains. Whether or not the fans fall in love with Huntrix’s…
There are a lot of unnecessary torture scenes out there. So many of them only exist to show off how dark a characters’ world is and how violent the author is willing to get. Some writers seem to see them almost like a rite of passage — you can take their book seriously because they…
Your story’s written, your characters fleshed out, your first draft done. You’re just about to begin editing — your highlighter hovering above the page, red pen ready by your side to catch any mistakes — when it hits you. One of the characters, or plot lines, or concepts, has been so overused it’s cliched. Maybe…
I’ve talked a lot on the blog about how damaging it can be for a story when the writers have the characters laugh at themselves, their situation, or (worst of all) emotional moments. Part of why I talk about it so much is because of how popular it’s become. It’s hard to find a single…
There are few scenes as powerful as your climax. No matter how well done the rest of your work is, a poorly paced climax will leave your readers disappointed with your book. On the other hand, a page-turning climax can cover a multitude of flaws in your story. In short, your readers’ conception of your…
It’s been a long time since the DC Extended Universe — home to some of the most famous superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman — has gotten any attention, either positive or negative. But that all changed when it was announced that the DCU was being rebooted this summer. The reboot is facing an…
Throughout this series, we’ve taken a deep-dive into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and what they did to make sure their emotional moments left an impact on the audience. We’ve looked at everything from the Avenger’s very first team up to their final stand in Infinity War, examining exactly what made those moments powerful. But…