Podcast
Everyone loves using their cultural heritage for spec fic inspiration, but what happens when Americans look to their own folklore for ideas? They find out that most American folklore is terrible, that’s what. But do not despair, for in among the bigoted mess, there are … read more »
Analysis
The term oppressed mages refers to any situation in which characters are systematically marginalized for their supernatural abilities, whether those powers come from spellbooks or mutant genes. When I first wrote about this trope, I mostly stuck to general points rather than going after specific … read more »
Storytelling
When we review a manuscript for content editing, we can usually tell what the writer is passionate about. Unfortunately, many manuscripts have a mismatch between what the writer loves and what the story needs. That creates serious problems in a creative work. We don’t tell … read more »
Comics: Once Upon a Trope
How to defeat every monster ever. Read more »
Q&A
Hello, I’m trying to write stories but I haven’t had much chance to interact with other writers, so I have a few questions about my writing. I always find myself writing on and off, often getting frustrated with work and either deleting it or leaving … read more »
Podcast
It’s a podcast topic so nice we recorded it twice! But seriously, there are so many of these sayings, we just had to extend it into a two-parter. Heck, we could probably have done a third episode, but that would be a little much. Listen … read more »
Analysis
Candy and spinach are two of our most important concepts here at Mythcreants. Candy is anything that makes a character look cool or otherwise glorifies them. Conversely, spinach is anything that humbles a character or takes them down a peg or two. The best characters … read more »
Storytelling
It can be tricky to take a protagonist from blissfully ignorant to embroiled in a tense conflict between secret factions. That’s probably why I’ve encountered many manuscripts where a mysterious kidnapping or murder takes place and then a mentor shows up and tells the hero … read more »
Story
Subject: Performance Report Follow-Up. From: Kareena Chaudhari ([email protected]). To: Jeff Klein ([email protected]). Message: Hi Jeff, I just wanted to check in and see if you’ve had the chance to generate that performance report we discussed. My presentation for the CTO is tomorrow, and I’ll need some time to look over the data and create appropriate graphics. I expect this presentation will be mentioned in my upcoming performance review, so I’d appreciate it if you could send me the data ASAP. Read more »
Q&A
In my story, the main antagonist is a being that feeds off of negative emotions. However, I don’t want to make it seem like everyone has to be happy at all times or that it is not okay to feel upset, angry, etc. I want … read more »
