Nice Guys Finish Last? Depends on One’s Definition of “Nice”

We have discussed Nice Girls, but what about Nice Guys? The standard response to that is: “Yeah, well, you know where Nice Guys finish – last.” Depending on the definition of “nice” in use, this can be quite true. But as with Nice Girls, Nice Guys do not all follow the perceived pattern of “nice” …

What No One Sees…

Everyone remembers that moment in Avengers: Infinity War when Drax thinks that by moving slowly, he can remain unseen. That is, actually, a tactic that can be used to avoid being remembered or noticed by people who are distracted. It is hardly a hundred percent effective in every situation and place, but it can and …

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

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 …

A Study in Black – Thoughts on Marvel’s Black Widow and the MCU in General

©Disney I did not intend to give any regard to the MCU following my viewing of Avengers: Endgame, readers. That film was a fine swan song, though I will be the first to admit that I think it could have been done differently and better. Following this film, there was no reason for yours truly …

A Review of the Heroine Archetype

It is almost impossible these days to avoid discussing the presentation of heroines in modern fiction. Many common misunderstandings of this archetype populate present stories, giving aspiring writers headaches as they try to figure out what they should do with the female characters in their tales. Should their heroine be better than the man in …

God and Superheroes…?

This post was too good to pass up. If you have not seen Avengers: Endgame, then it would probably be best to come back and click this link later. Whether or not you do that, though, this is definitely a piece that is worth reading and remembering: Agent Romanoff and the Furious Love of God Posted …

In Memoriam.

Rest in peace, Mr. Lee.

The Three Types of Heroine: A Closer Study of What Makes a Strong Female Protagonist, Part 1

This article is the first in a three part series dealing with the three types of female heroines available to writers. Readers, you may remember that in the comments below my article “How Do You Create Strong Female Leads,” I promised to revisit the premise of that post in the future. This was due to …