Various Forms of Conflict, Part 3: Man vs. Man

Thus far we have discussed conflict’s meaning and how to use it in a tale, as well as two branches of conflict – Man vs. Society and Man vs. Self. We then took a brief intermission to discuss the importance of these two types of conflict, in part because I became tired and needed a…

Review – Rip the Falcon Returns!

You may remember that I reviewed a web series titled Rip the Falcon here previously, readers. A third episode was released and, because I was in a hurry, I only briefly mentioned it in the post available here. It is a short episode but enjoyable nonetheless – Rip takes on a giant! It tries to…

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…

Review: Rip the Falcon Comic and Animated Series

It is difficult to find anything worth watching these days, readers. Most of what is on air is mired in addressing everything save the story itself. Not only is it irritating, it is tiring. Viewers just want a little escape, something to unwind from a stressful day. Is that too much to ask? TIC Studios…

In rebus gustum, non potest esse disputandum de ad libros

With thanks to Foxfier’s guest post here for the inspiration for the title, which translates to: “In matters of taste, there can be no debate with regard to books.” Although I am not one to publish “listicles,” as Foxfier mentioned in her own post, certain lists have been making the rounds. These say that X…

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”…

Quotes from Louis L’Amour

A little while ago I happened upon some posts with quotes from Agatha Christie and her books. This and the desire to find a specific quote from Louis L’Amour sent me on a search into the accumulated selections from the man’s many works. The results are below, readers, and well worth the time. I have…

Writerly Sound Bites, Number 10: Character Progression – What About Characters Broken Beyond Repair?

Per the sixth installment in this series, we have seen that characters do not simply break due to an “earthshattering event.” The eighth installment, which had to be split into three separate articles, went into detail about how characters broken by other people can heal from this trauma. Some rightly ask, however, about the Character…

Look West

A reminder of where we came from – and hope for where we are headed: When Hollywood Rode Right: American Western Cinema as an Expression of Older Virtues [A shorter, slightly edited version of this essay appears in the December 2021 issue of Chronicles magazine.] Friends, Although Hollywood is now considered a monolithic bastion of…

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

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…