Social Justice
Storytelling
Many storytellers want their stories to say something meaningful, but fail to communicate that message successfully. This usually happens because the storyteller is futzing over the gift wrap while neglecting what’s in the box. Like anything else important, messaging has to be built right into … read more »
Commentary
As we’ve learned from numerous popular works, showing a basic romance is impossible. Kissing is too gauche for a general audience. The word “love,” especially preceded by “in,” doesn’t sound natural in dialogue. And if you look away for one second, a character dies senselessly. … read more »
Q&A
Dear Mythcreants, After getting frustrated by media stereotyping and belittling of female anger, I’m currently creating a female protagonist with anger as a deep motivating factor. Her arc centers on learning to harness her anger positively. The emphasis is very much on the management part … read more »
Commentary
American Dirt is the latest example of a big name work coming under fire for exploiting and appropriating the cultures it features. However, it’s not the first, and it won’t be the last. Each time, white storytellers are told that we need to stop using … read more »
Analysis
A few weeks ago, I discussed some helpful tips on successfully portraying an autistic character. In that article, I mentioned characters like Sheldon Cooper, who aren’t stated to be autistic but who are coded as such. Since there were some comments about this, in this … read more »
Q&A
So another question for Fay Onyx. With villainous characters like Darth Vader & the Joker it seems like the best thing for the disability community is to focus on a single flawed element of the villain rather then an entire condition. But what if the … read more »
Q&A
The attitude here is that writers should tread lightly with marginalised cultures that they don’t belong to: don’t try it if you’re not fully prepared to research heavily, to accept insider input, and to give credit where it’s due. I agree with all of that … read more »
Q&A
I think I have some pretty positive disability portrayals in the story. I have an old mage based on a wonderful person I used to know, who (just like his real-life inspiration) has a hunchback and a pronounced limp. He’s also missing much of one … read more »
Writing
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the sexist ways women are described in fiction. Given the normalization of the male gaze, this has left some men feeling unsure of how to write a positive description. And it’s not just men who describe women … read more »
Q&A
I saw an article you had about “bury your gays.” At first I thought that my story was exempt from that because multiple characters of different orientations die, but then I read the examples you gave and started doubting myself. You said “a big factor … read more »
