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

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 …

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

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 …

“To Be Loved by the Audience”

While researching an anime series she has come to enjoy titled Kabaneri no Koutetsujou (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress), this author was introduced to an important interview with the show’s creator. Araki Tetsuro, who worked on landmark series such as Death Note, was interviewed by Sugoi Japan about his new series in 2017. He began …

Annoying Characters – Are They Villains, or Are They Heroes?

Catching sight of the above still shot and comment about Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man* film gave this author pause. This writer grew up watching the Amazing Spider-Man* animated series. The show faithfully re-presented J. Jonah Jameson as a blowhard, a cheapskate, and a loudmouth. Even without his obsessive hatred for Spider-Man, he was an annoying character …

Dragons, Superheroes, and Star Wars – Oh, My!

Have you ever imagined what your favorite characters from one fictional universe would look like and/or how they would behave in a different one? What if they were something other than human? Admittedly, that last one did not occur to this author at all. Human beings are much too interesting for her to want to …

In Memoriam.

Rest in peace, Mr. Lee.

Redemption – Should It Happen All at Once, or Should It Be Gradual?

In my article “Conflict,” I mentioned that there would be more posts with some focus on my favorite anime, Zoids: Chaotic Century, and what it has to teach future authors. One of these lessons is the way characters can and should be redeemed by “modern” authors. These days some current writers seem to think redeeming …