Though it has certainly sparked some controversy, the Barbie movie was actually better than I thought it was going to be. It intentionally made fun of itself (which led to some hilarious jokes), the acting was well done, and the dialogue felt natural. This movie also had it’s fair share of problems, but the main…
We’ve talked a lot about romantic relationships in the past. How to write good ones, how to write different troupes, etc. But not all relationships are romantic ones, and they certainly shouldn’t be that way in stories. Having a myriad of relationships in your story is a great way to show how different each of…
It’s pretty hard to find an original idea in today’s modern fiction works. Everything in theaters is either a sequel, a rework, or a play off of nostalgia. Even a few books have been turning to classic cliches instead of creating a premise of their own. On this blog, we love to use fictional examples…
The ‘girlboss’ trope has grown increasingly popular in many books and films. She’s usually a headstrong, young, fighter woman that beats up a group of guys in order to save the day, and she’s meant to be a positive role-model for girls all around the world. However, these kinds of characters don’t often successfully do…
Anti-heroes. The characters that are too bad to be good, but too good to be fully bad. Some people like to overuse the troupe, while others…avoid them altogether. Why? Well, some would argue it’s because they’re too complicated. But, if you’re the latter group of writers here, you should know that, while anti-heroes can be…
Romance is hard to read sometimes. And it’s not because you don’t like the characters in the romance. (Actually, you might really like the two people involved.) But when they’re acting romantic…something just doesn’t hit right. You don’t feel like the characters belong together and every ‘romantic’ scene comes across as forced or cheesy. We’ve…
A few weeks back I wrote an article explaining how to include a good theme into your story to make it wholesome. This week, I’d like to show you how this can be a bad thing, if pushed to an extreme. Have you ever sat down to watch a movie, read a book, or just…
We’ve all seen the classic story. A brave individual is tasked to go on a quest that will determine the fate of the world. They have to pack supplies, maybe a weapon or two, and a few friends for support. Said friends (the people we writers call a side character) follow them wherever they go,…
I think all of us can agree: the Marvel Cinematic Universe has declined recently. With every new movie (or TV series), the MCU seems to get worse and worse. The characters are no longer loveable, every topic discussed is incredibly preachy, and it doesn’t feel like the writers have a direction anymore. Marvel fans have…
All of us want to write those loveable yet quirky side characters like Sokka from The Last Airbender and Marcy from Amphibia. They add something so fresh and humorous to the story that they become impossible to replace. Yet there are some characters out there who just come off as a little too quirky. They…