As any psychologist will tell you, no matter how it is explained, motivation is key.
There is no behavior that lacks motivation- a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.
Even our most subconscious actions have motivations, from tics to small morning rituals.
The thing that ...
Motivation, Ideology, Action 1
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 9, 2019Gender Bending
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Oct. 12, 2019
So on occasion, there's a lot of controversy over gender bending characters- that is, to change the character's sex from male to female or vice versa.
I'm not going to talk about my take on this controversy. At least not in this article.
What I want to ...
Sticking the Landing
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 14, 2019
As it has been seen very painfully lately in TV, the best story, with the most excellent buildup and most powerful cast of characters will just collapse if the ending isn't good enough.
A technically happy ending that isn't good enough is not going to cut it- again ...
Handling Controversial Historical Characters
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, April 13, 2019
image by Ben Burgraff
When writing a historical fiction, it's very likely that you will need to include some actual historical personalities along with your historically-adept yet fictional cast.
Depicting a historical character is hard enough when there's a general consensus among historians and popular belief about who ...
On Reviving an Era
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, April 6, 2019
I had a meeting the other day with a director, who asked me “how do you approach a historical era to keep true to it?” and “how do you keep from being biased?”
I fear that I eclipsed the poor guy with my soap box lectures, but that aside, I ...
The Use of Nightmares
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 30, 2019
When they happen, nightmares can be anything from a terrible experience to a nuisance that can be settled with a warm cup of tea or chocolate. And while they harp on our peace of mind and our precious time asleep, the general consensus among psychologists is that, if it isn ...
Hate: Raising the Poison Tree
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 16, 2019
With Valentine's day just behind us and a lot of talk of love, I thought I'd take a look on the exact opposite of love and affection- how do we write and display hatred in characters? How do characters hate, and what's the difference from rage?
In ...
Writing Mental Illness: A Good Example (Part 3)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 9, 2019
Having discussed a general approach to writing characters with mental disorders (with a lot of thoughtful comments by you further enriching what I had to say!) it's only right that we wrap up this very quick analysis with an example of a story that properly portrays them.
I chose ...
The Dread Hiatus
Amelius at 9:57AM, Jan. 27, 2019
Have you ever noticed that among the dead webcomics, a preponderance of them have “Hiatus” on their tombstone? That tombstone being, of course, the final page posted years and years ago with a promise they will be “right back” after a “short break”. There are of course a number of ...
Writing Mental Illness (Part 2)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 19, 2019
How to Pick, Research and Implement Mental Disorder in a Character
So last time I talked in general about some basic concepts and principles about what constitutes mental illness, or, more accurately, mental disorder. The important thing to remember and keep from all of that is this set of truths ...