Posts by wetcircuit
The blogger These Heterogenous Tasks has been writing his analysis on specific CYOA books, and general observations about their history, trends, and common structure. https://heterogenoustasks.word...
I am using Ink by Inkle Studios. It's writer-oriented and open source. They have a free editor/compiler that exports an elegant web version, and they have a Unity plugin. The syntax feels more soph...
This question is about genre and reader expectations. I'm not trying to change my story to fit a mainstream genre. I have already taken steps to broaden it's appeal, but it's too late to create an ...
It tells us nothing The phrase Gary Jules 'Mad Mad World' has no emotional resonance with me whatsoever. It is not shorthand for "a specific emotional state". Popular music is not a universal ex...
Inanna's Journey and "girly" heroes There are traditional "girly" heroes – often they take the pattern of Inanna's Journey. Rather than "leveling up" like a plucky male hero, Inanna's Journey is a...
You might want to present the in-story text as a parable which means the story has a teachable message, rather than words like "mythology" or "religion" which imply a spiritual calling. the rol...
Hero-always-wins is a trope I wouldn't call this a plot twist. A twist is a reveal. It changes how events earlier in the story are perceived. This is subverting a trope. The trope is an expected...
Allow me to introduce you to a game-changing author who at age 19 wrote a morally complicated "pot boiler" about a privileged jerk who plays god then abandons his responsibility. This novel has eve...
Yes. It's your main character, who is a bully, and wins. There is nothing ambiguous about this. 95% of people are already well aware of it. This is only a story to the children of wealthy people...
Some people need to like the MC, yes. And they don't seem to change their mind just because the writing is good or the situation is original. Me, I need consistent characters that have believable...
How best to keep these occasionally polarizing aims balanced without creating reader whiplash? This is character conflict and it's a good thing I think it's not about which character is "wi...
Do Songs and Paintings have the same rules and protections as Books and Film for copying (into written form). Songs and paintings are protected under copyright laws, but it might be helpful ...
An author website supposedly has a lot of functions, such as: Promoting one's latest book; Keeping one's audience engaged with weekly updates; Keeping track of events or convention...
Joe is insecure and craves approval Joe has a deperate need to be looked up to. It is more important to him than other people's feelings, or even his ability to read the room. Joe hangs out with ...
In my visual novel (an interactive, narrative-based video-game), I have a detective character who decides whether he believes interviewees controlled by the player. The detective doesn't explain ...
I have no advice about your mom. However, I notice that within the question you signal the story is not to your own taste, that beta readers held their noses but liked it ok, and that you are unsur...
Time travel is cheating. You are already cheating. Even if you come up with a worldbuild-y excuse how your cheat works or what limits it, you are already cheating, so just accept it. Plot holes ar...
All scenes have more than one thing going on. Scenes are never just a series of sequential facts, there are negotiations and compromises, misdirections and sacrifices – yes it's all scaled down to ...
It is such a wonderful idea, I am doing it right now. My story is 3 female protagonists who uncomfortably team up – frenemies. I made them all women because I wanted to see more women adventurers ...
Logistics and Blocking What you are describing is logistics and blocking: Colonel Mustard is in the Observatory with the Revolver. Adding the who-where-when details to a scene is no differe...
So should I use racism as one of the parts of my worldbuilding? Or write a story without racism as part of my worldbuilding? Yes, you should add racism to your worldbuilding. Wait – hear me ...
Have an "authority class" We have a society that tends to view a certain type of tall, blue-eyed, grey-haired male, in athletic shape for his age, as authority figures. If you've ever been in the ...
Give him a compassionate reason, even if it is wrong Like maybe mutants sometimes murder their friends in uncontrolled rages. Day believes (correctly, from one of your other questions) that these...
SHOW, DON'T TELL Avoid "prophesies" or "maid and butler dialog" about those almost-forgotten immortals that would telegraph what is coming. This is "telling, not showing". It should be a surprise ...
The story's tense is all about your narrative voice. It can't orient the reader to a larger timeline structure because no matter what tense is used the reader's now is where they are reading. The ...
