Intermission: Blending Interior and Exterior Storytelling

You may have noticed that the prior two posts on conflict focused on plots which deal primarily with the inner battles fought by the protagonists. There are several reasons for this, the first and foremost being that even the story which focuses primarily on physical action will require inner strength from your hero or protagonist.…

Personal Tics – It’s the Little Things that Make a Character

Someone very kindly shared this picture with me. I admit, I hadn’t noticed the above similarity before, though I did notice Steve would hold his belt in an interesting manner on occasion. Having it pointed out that this is something Bucky would do and that Steve is imitating him, however, does make sense. Why? It…

Forms of Conflict, Part 1: Man vs. Society

Previously, we discussed conflict – its definition and how to build it in a story. This article and the following ones will delve into types of conflict, an idea that was prompted by a discussion I had with Foxfier in the comments here. It brought to mind the idea that the kinds of conflict which…

Further Thoughts on Sacrifice and Service

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” ― G.K. Chesterton Sacrifice and service tend to intertwine quite a bit. It is easy to forget, however, that they did not always meet in the manner we think of them today, as…

Love Among Characters – A Reflection

“Considering it, he realized that somehow he never worried about Miriam, and that was wrong. He did not worry about her because she seemed so self-sufficient, so strong. She was like their mother had been, only more so, much more so. But he felt it was wrong to think of a girl that way…It was…

Big Boys Don’t Cry! – A Look at Male Vulnerability in Fiction

There is a trend – perhaps seen frequently now, perhaps still moving about “on little cat feet,” as the poet says of the fog – that praises how men are crying more in films and TV shows. It may include books as well, but if so, I have yet to see those mentioned. A great…

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 9: Character Progression – When Does “Interesting” and “Realistic” Belie Contempt for an Established Archetype and Personality?

Hermes, messenger of the gods As I mentioned in this Superversive Livestream here, archetypes are the frameworks or skeletons on which one builds a character. They are not the entire character, as Living Anachronism ably explains here, but they give writers the broad design and understanding of the character’s place within a narrative and the…

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 8: Character Progression – How Characters Broken by Trauma Recover and Rebuild, Part 2

Part one of this mini-series within the Writerly Sound Bites series focused on characters who suffered abuse in childhood that affected them in a variety of ways. But that meant the topic was limited to the most vulnerable among us: children. Children are incapable of defending themselves and are thus dependent almost entirely on adults…