Some villains seem more evil than others. As an author, you don’t want your villain to only raise your stakes or move your protagonist’s character arc along. You want your villain to be the most hated, despised character in all of fiction. And it’s a high bar. Dozens and dozens of villains have been created…
Author: Mara Scudder
Avatar: The Last Airbender: How to Craft Believable Magic Systems
I don’t know about you, but certain fantasy worlds seem almost tangible to me. The writer weaves stunning acts of magic into a system that mirrors our world. They somehow manage to balance two complete opposites to bring about a world that seems just beyond our own. It’s true that sometimes soft magic systems are…
Catherine, Called Birdy: How to Show Permanent Character Development
Writing believable character development can often be difficult. After managing to craft a perfect character, corrupting them with a flaw, and then dragging them through enough events to completely destroy them, it often seems impossible to prove that this flaw — which has now been such an integral part of their character — is gone…
We Got an Opportunity to Guest Blog!
Hey, there! If any of you are interested in reading our review on Millie Maven, a fantasy trilogy written to be an analogy of Christianity, check out write2ignite.com! We posted our review here, and we’d love it if you’d check it out. It’s our first guest blogging opportunity, and there will be quite a few…
Writing Templates
If you need help determining some of the core aspects of your story, these templates are for you! From determining your protagonist’s desire, fear, and flaw to making the most sympathetic villain ever, these free, printable templates can help dive in to what actually drives your story. Looking for a theme? Puzzled as to what…
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: The Perfect Mentor-Apprentice Relationship
We’ve all seen it a hundred times before. The grizzled old mentor is called out of retirement at last. Hardened and tough from years of experience, he is extremely doubtful and perhaps even adamantly against training someone as inexperienced and arrogant as our young protagonist. But full of energy and will, the stubborn apprentice wins…
Falcon and the Winter Soldier: “Do Better, Senator. Do Better.”
There were certain aspects of good storytelling that Disney+’s Falcon and the Winter Soldier did well. The villain, Karli, is sympathetic yet also evil. Karli is confused, hurt, and willing to hurt others if it will supposedly make things right. The series resolved several open threads from both protagonists’ character arcs, including Bucky’s struggle over…
Merida from Brave: It’s All Right To Let Your Characters Be Wrong
Vindication is not only an action, but a very strong emotion. For decades, screenwriters and authors have utilized this tool to pull in their viewers (or readers) and encourage them to cheer for their protagonists. We hear story after story of a brave hero who’s misunderstood and underestimated by his world or society, and only…
The Story Fortress is Live!
We are thrilled to announce that the Story Fortress is live! From DuckTales to Wednesday Addams to Newsies, we’re launching with a wide variety of articles focusing on case studies from every genre. We have nine articles up all ready, and we have many, many more in the making. We’ll post here weekly, as well…
Johnny Tremain Vs. Fitz: How to Make Arrogant Characters Relatable
Johnny Tremain is one of my (Mara’s) very favorite pieces of fiction. Ester Forbes crafted a character that captured my interest and sympathy from the very first page and didn’t let go until the very last. This is ironic because Johnny is, at least in the beginning, one of the most arrogant characters I have…