Literary Blog
HOW TO AND WHY YOU NEED TO GET IT RIGHT. As you have already learned through life experience, everything living is moved by the forces of cause and effect. We see this play out in nature when exposure to sunlight makes a seed grow or when birds mating results in a fertilized egg. A simplified… Continue reading PLOT CHAIN
Traditionally, an antagonist, aka villain, is the story's bad guy. Simply put, the villain has evil intentions and mostly works against the protagonist (the main character). While it's easy to come up with examples of traditional villains like Joker in Batman, Sauron in Lord of The Rings, Count Dracula in Dracula and Napoleon in Animal… Continue reading How to write a believable VILLAIN
It might seem like there is a big difference between a story being good and great. When really a great story is just a good one topped with a few magical ingredients. Needless to say, we all strive to create something great, but to become great, one must first start with good. I like to… Continue reading What makes a good story?
Although most of you probably already know what a nepo (nepotism) baby is, for those who are unsure, the term refers to a child of a successful professional. More specifically, it means that the nepo baby got a shortcut to fame or success due to their successful parents. It is the generally accepted opinion of… Continue reading Importance of Good Stories and character development -as shown by nepo babies
I dare say all writers have been told at least once to 'show not tell'. This advice means that one should write showing actions and sensory details to convey the feelings and emotions of the character. At first glance, this sounds like solid advice, but it doesn't hold any deeper examination. But lefts begin with… Continue reading ‘Show don’t tell’ is a LIE
Everyone knows that the first chapter (or first few pages in a screenplay) is one of the most important things to get right. We know this as readers ourselves but also because it has been hammered into our heads by pretty much everyone in the creative writing industry. There are countless articles about first-page mistakes… Continue reading Writing: 6 Ways to Improve Your First Chapter
In my last post, I talked about character-building basics when writing. Now I want to dig deeper and share one of the easiest ways to create a personality and backstory for your character. If you haven't heard about it, it's called the Enneagram method. Enneagram is a personality type system divided into nine basic personality types.
A character is at the centre of a plotline and responsible for making or breaking a story. Make the character too perfect, and they will be uninteresting and flat. Make them too imperfect, and the reader/audience will not be able to relate, nor will they empathize. What, then, is that fine line between perfect and imperfect character, and why should you even care? Let's jump right into it.