Love it or hate it, Star Wars is undeniably a big part of our culture. The original trilogy sent shockwaves through the storytelling industry that are still reverberating today, nearly half a century later. So when LucasFilm announced that, after 42 years of movies, prequels, and sequels, they were finally closing the nine-part Skywalker movie…
Author: Mara Scudder
Writing Workshop: Create Vibrant Characters
In an article this month, I talked about how to create vibrant characters by using conflicting traits. We looked at the Map of Tiny Perfect Things, and how the writers put together unusual traits to create a protagonist that was unforgettable. We don’t just want to create protagonists that make our readers laugh, or cry,…
Nineteen Eighty-Four: Paint Little Pictures
They say a picture paints a thousand words. But not all writers can paint. And we as writers miss out when we can’t include them in our novels. Art can have a truly profound effect on emotions, actions, and even how we understand complicated concepts — results most writers have to find a substitute for….
You might have noticed that there was no newsletter this weekend…
Unfortunately, we’ve recently switched to a new email service, and we’ve been having some technical issues with the transition. Hopefully we’ll have our latest email up and ready for you guys shortly. We’re both excited to send out our first newsletter of the year, complete with a whole bunch of new bonus material. So check…
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: How to Write a Cliffhanger
Recently I read a mystery novel (the first in a series) that ended the first book with a cliffhanger. The mystery hadn’t been solved, the character arcs weren’t concluded, and the biggest questions that the author had been leading up to throughout several hundred pages remained unanswered. I had enjoyed the book up until that…
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things: Craft Unforgettable Characters
Some characters are just plain awesome. They’re memorable, we root for them, and they become impossible to forget. They generate so much interest around the plot, setting, and story just by being who they are. But others seem like cut-outs. They aren’t necessarily cliched, but they speak and act just like the other characters in…
Home Alone: Stretching Suspension of Disbelief
I watched a comedy sketch recently that voiced some criticisms about Home Alone — specifically the crazy loops the family jumps through to make leaving their son home alone believable. The skit was fairly funny and the inconsistencies were certainly worth pointing out, and yet… almost no one does. Home Alone is a beloved Christmas…
The Iron Giant: The Heart of Storytelling
Everywhere you look, writers are telling you the same thing: read, read, read. You MUST read in YOUR genre, books from authors writing books JUST LIKE YOURS. Don’t just read classics — scope out the competition, what does well in the market, and what elements make a story popular. If you write a book completely…
Big Hero Six: The Fix for Dragging Scenes
Time and time again I’ve opened a chapter I’ve written only to find that it drags, that the dialogue is forced, or that it seems to lose direction. Even when there’s plenty of motivation, tons of character, and the scene is absolutely necessary to the plot, often it can seem pointless or just awkward… often…
The Little Mermaid: How It Changed The World Of Storytelling (And You Can, Too)
I love Disney history. The story of a small start-up animation studio that changed the world with its storytelling is not only inspiring, but also fascinating. It’s crazy to think that once-upon-a-time, the mega corporation that we know as Disney was a small animation studio with big plans and not enough money to fund them….