characters

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motive

The Plot-Device Machine – Motive

A story is its people. We

A story is its people. We all know that, and that’s why Motive is different from the other Plot Device points. We’ve seen how

stakes

Worth Fighting For – choosing stakes for characters

When I’m first putt

When I'm first putting my sense of a story together, there's one question that can turn the different pieces into a whole, sometimes faster than any o

ideas

Zero to Heroes

On February 16, I’l

On February 16, I'll be at Orccon in Los Angeles giving another of my talks on writing. Here's what I'll be leading people through:


No Creatures Needed

(or, anything They can do

(or, anything They can do in, We can do in better) The darkened sky shifts as the breeze kicks up, switching dry leaves about the roots of

quiet park

Quiet Scene or Boring Scene? What can make the difference

We call them “chara

We call them "character moments" or "pacing breaks" when we write them, or "boring scenes" when somebody else tries and fails. We know the story isn't

human

Dialog, Plot, and a bit of Spock — Layers brought to life

Dialogue might be the mos

Dialogue might be the most powerful tool a writer has. It's absolutely the easiest one to lead in any direction you want, and yet… Just by keeping t


Everything I know about evil I learned from Thunderbolt Ross

What does a villain want,

What does a villain want, or what drives character conflict of different kinds? Actually, with so many ways human beings can make trouble, we writers

character

Character-Centered and Plot-Centered – Making Room

  “Do you write pl

  “Do you write plot-centered or character-centered stories?” is a favorite question between writers. But it’s usually asked just as a


Can A Villain Want To Be Evil? Case study: LaCroix

Maybe the first rule we h

Maybe the first rule we hear about writing villains is “No villain believes he’s a villain.” That is, in a story or in real life, even the peopl


Conflict – or How Many Sides to the Dark Side?

Did The Phantom Menace ha

Did The Phantom Menace have it right? —Yeah, a cheap shot, nodding some less-than-stellar Star Wars. But if the question is wha