Chris Winkle
Chris is the founder and editor-in-chief of Mythcreants. On the side she also designs, codes, and writes stories. When she manages to escape from chronic workaholism, she likes to drink tea, wear funny hats, pet kitties, and crush her enemies at the game table.
This week, we were exploring the wardrobe we keep in the studio for some reason, only to discover that it leads to a magical land full of talking animals, mythical creatures, and a lion who seems a little holier than thou if we’re being honest. … read more »
Commentary
Writers seeking feedback on their work are frequently afraid someone will steal it. This culture of fear is really unfortunate, because while plagiarism in fiction is quite real, people working on a manuscript have no reason to worry. Disclaimer: While this article contains some basic … read more »
Podcast
Who says our stories have to be dismal and bleak? Sometimes spec fic, especially science fiction, can make us feel great about the future. That’s optimistic spec fic, and it’s our topic for this week. Listen as we discuss what exactly goes into making optimistic … read more »
Storytelling
Writers often know where their stories start and end but draw a blank when it comes to all the stuff in between. And unfortunately, common plot structures like the hero’s journey aren’t as helpful as they seem. While they provide a rhythm of success and … read more »
Podcast
More than one in ten Americans is disabled, making it one of the largest marginalized groups in the country. Even so, storytellers often have a really difficult time portraying disabled characters. We want to change that, so this episode is all about the most problematic … read more »
Q&A
So I have a novel I want to write that takes place over the course of a year (and a day). The problem is that it’s a character-driven piece; while there are some specific events that occur and link up, the focus is more on … read more »
Podcast
Let’s face it: most of us really want to attend a special school where they teach you magic spells. The only problem is that these schools all seem to be incredibly dangerous. Sometimes they’re filled with monsters, other times there’s an evil teacher out to … read more »
Commentary
When we’re making recommendations about story content for social justice reasons, we often mention “normalization.” The basic idea is simple: something that’s depicted in a story is more likely to done by real people. However, there are some common misconceptions about what normalization is and … read more »
Podcast
Fiction has a long history of sacrificing marginalized characters to further the arcs of privileged characters, but these days we have a name for that: fridging. Most of us understand that fridging is bad, but why is it bad? And once we understand that, what … read more »
Analysis
Stranger Things 3 was quite a treat. After receiving criticism regarding the depiction of women in season two, the Duffer Brothers made a slew of positive changes. They returned to the plot structure that worked so well in season one, figured out how to keep … read more »
