Search Results for: Writerly Sound Bites

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 8: Character Progression – How Characters Broken by Trauma Recover and Rebuild, Part 1

~ Caroline Furlong ~ 6 Comments

If we seem to be focusing on broken characters exclusively, future authors, the reason for that is a fair number of creative writing courses and a lot of advice ties back to the sound bite I criticized here at the start of this series: the need to give characters flaws. Too often the “flaws” modern … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 8: Character Progression – How Characters Broken by Trauma Recover and Rebuild, Part 1

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 7: Character Progression – How Broken Mentors and Mentors Who Aren’t Broken Deal with the Loss of What They Held Dear

~ Caroline Furlong ~ 3 Comments

Last week we established that a broken character can and often does maintain the traits he spent years developing even when he chooses to act contrary to his nature. When a man like Bowen from Dragonheart* becomes a dragonslayer, for example, he is doing so in an effort to atone for an error he made, … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 7: Character Progression – How Broken Mentors and Mentors Who Aren’t Broken Deal with the Loss of What They Held Dear

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 6: Character Progression – Consistency and Repetition Make Even a Broken Character Who He Is

~ Caroline Furlong ~ 6 Comments

Considering the points made in the previous two articles here and here, one has to wonder what makes a character at all. If it isn’t earth-shaking events like those seen in Picard, Avengers: Disassembled, or The Last Jedi that make a character who he is, then what does? What does real character progression look like? … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 6: Character Progression – Consistency and Repetition Make Even a Broken Character Who He Is

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 5: Character Progression – Which Archetype Are You Using?

~ Caroline Furlong ~ 6 Comments

Last week we discussed “shock and awe” events in three popular serials. These events were supposedly meant for character development, but they only succeed in destroying said characters, along with the canon and continuity of the franchise. However, one has to wonder just why the actions forced on the characters mentioned in the previous post … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 5: Character Progression – Which Archetype Are You Using?

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 4: Character Progression – Or Character Destruction?

~ Caroline Furlong ~ 8 Comments

Gunsmoke‘s main cast I was privy to a discussion on character progression sometime in the past month. While I did not take part in it, that conversation got me thinking: many storylines in a variety of franchises with long or established characters aim for “shock and awe” character changes. These usually happen when everything appears … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 4: Character Progression – Or Character Destruction?

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 3: The Worship of Evil – Or, “The Villain Is the Hero of His Own Story”

~ Caroline Furlong ~ 12 Comments

It might be an old – and somewhat uncouth – meme, but it makes the point. Slap an unhappy backstory on a villain, and odds are that someone somewhere will ask whether or not he is “really the bad guy.” How can Thanos, for example, be considered evil when he just wants to prevent other … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 3: The Worship of Evil – Or, “The Villain Is the Hero of His Own Story”

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 2: Chasing the Unicorn of “Relatability”

~ Caroline Furlong ~ 7 Comments

Remember the post on writing advice, readers? The one that discussed “sound bites” as a means of offering guidance to aspiring writers? As someone who has had more difficulty cutting through and understanding such “sound bites” than she cares to recall, this author decided to provide future writers with some insights to help ease them … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 2: Chasing the Unicorn of “Relatability”

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 1: On Characters, Flaws, and What Really Makes a Flawed Hero Heroic

~ Caroline Furlong ~ 15 Comments

Something I have discovered over the years is that advice from those in the field of storytelling – or from those who teach creative writing – tends to fall into two categories. The first consists of long descriptions which can almost be considered stories in themselves. Reading through these dissertations and parsing them out can … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 1: On Characters, Flaws, and What Really Makes a Flawed Hero Heroic