It’s not surprising that drama and romance are two popular genres when it comes to media. From TV to novels to comics, they draw the audience in with the simple question: “Who is going to end up with who?” Ships set sail, twists get turns and hearts get broken ...

There is a gripe that I have when it comes to romance. It might be the reason I don't really like reading romance as a genre, and while I am aware that not all works in the romance genre are like this, there are too many for me to ...

Usually when building a character, we go for their general personality in terms of traits, the routine/general behavior they would display, the routine/general things that would interest them and so on.

If you are writing a slice of life story, or a sitcom style series, or anything that ...

So we've talked often about how letting a character die in a story is something that should be used very frugally, because once death occurs, it should be permanent. In most settings, death shouldn't be something that is reversible. If not, it will lose its impact, and the ...

When a character the story's cast and audience identify and are familiar with dies, the effect is, or should be, monumental.

Not only because that effectively ends that character's journey (and arc), but also because as an event it has immediate ramifications for all the surviving characters.

First ...

I couldn't have been older than 11 when I read The Flaming Heart of Danko by Maxim Gorky. And boy, did it cut me with the finest of fine glass. Even now thinking about the short story hurts somewhere deep in my soul.

And yet, I love it so ...

What is real, really?

Can we trust our senses that what information they are giving us is objective? There are many thinkers and philosophers that posit we cannot. That as long as the messages get to our brains, it feels real even if it isn't.

If we can't ...

Unless they are an old-timey Disney villain or similarly classic cartoon villain, nobody wants to be evil or bad starting off. Nobody's ambition is to be the villain in their own story. (note I say ‘villain’ and not ‘antagonist’)

Everyone is out to be the hero.

So why aren ...

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Today we're talking about the idea that entertainment aimed at kids can only be enjoyed by kids and the reason that adults often don't like ...

There are many tropes and many archetypes that we use for character designs. I had a couple of years go (have I really been at it this long!?) done a series of articles on the standard character type/functionality archetypes.

I'm thinking it's high time to explore archetypes ...