Thanks to Eragon, we know how to give our minions proper orders.
TweetPin5EmailShare Annoying children are unfortunately overly prevalent in literature and media. It’s not that writers deliberately create these characters to be annoying, but they end up that way when they... Read more »
There are problem coworkers in every office. Here's how to deal with a problem coworker—whether she's negative, doesn't do her work, or is passive-aggressive.
Understating how hormone levels fluctuate throughout a woman’s life can help you get on top of menopausal symptoms. It’s the time when your trusty estrogen levels decline, bringing about some unwanted metabolic changes. Menopausal hot flashes are probably the first symptom to be noticed by perimenopausal women, ushering in the start of a new chapter...
TweetPin1EmailShare It can be tough to write a character falling asleep. Falling asleep isn’t something that you can be very aware of as it is happening, so it can be... Read more »
All the things I wish I'd known before moving to Germany as an expat — with tips on how to make the process easier for others
TweetPin3EmailShare If you’ve created a fictional society, species, or even an entire world, then you’re probably looking for ways to make it seem more authentic. One of the ways to... Read more »
Bell ringers are warm-up activities that students complete at the beginning of class—when the bell rings—while teachers get ready for their day.
So, you landed your first client! Woo-hoo! All that pitching and negotiating finally paid off. You two settle on 2-3 articles a month and your first project is due in a week. It wasn’t until I had to write an article that I realized I had no clue how to write one. You think, no […]
TweetPin4EmailShare When writing about facial expressions, most writers are content to keep it simple. Why put more effort into describing a character’s expression when “he frowned angrily” gets the point... Read more »
From the Klingon language in the Star Trek universe to the Na'vi language from James Cameron's Avatar, fictional languages can go a long way towards making a work of fiction feel real. Making a fictional language can be an intense...
TweetPin2EmailShare Introducing a new character to your story can be difficult. There’s a lot that goes into it, and to make matters worse, you only have one chance to give... Read more »
Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.
TweetPin8EmailShare Writing about a character waking up can be a challenge, especially since waking up is something we do in a semiconscious state. It can be tough to pinpoint exactly... Read more »
TweetPin1EmailShare Once you have a really great backstory for your character, you’ll probably feel like drawing a lot of attention to it from the get-go. After all, you worked so... Read more »
In school it was easy. But knowing how to make friends as an adult is something nobody teaches us. Here's what research and experts say can help.
So you have this student. Let’s call her Brittany. And Brittany frustrates you to no end. Because despite holding her accountable, she continues to break the same rule over and over. Oh, she may hold off for a few days, a week perhaps, but ... Read more
Have you ever noticed that, in a lot of children's and YA fantasy/adventure/action/sci-fi novels, the main character is an orphan? This is so common that the orphan main character has become cliche. Maybe you're sick of it and really wish a biological parent would show up every now and then. However . . . have you ever considered why the orphan MC is so common? Photo not mine - found over here. I don't know who to credit. Think about it. All children's and YA protagonists are the same ages as their target audiences - under aged. They're not adults yet, and that means that they are subject to a legal authority. Parents. What do you think most parents' reactions to their teenager/child going off on a probably dangerous adventure would be? This sounds quite callous, but one of the easiest and most convenient ways to get rid of that authority which would otherwise prevent the children/teen MCs from going on their perilous adventures is to kill the parents before the book even starts. This leaves the main character in one of three positions: (1) he's on the streets, free to do whatever he wants including running into characters involved in the adventure (Mistborn trilogy); (2) he's in an orphan home which obviously will be very careless and not bother to go looking for the MC once he's gone, or will send him away with a man of dubious motives who will inevitably get the MC involved in the adventure in the first place (hello The Ascendance Trilogy and The Ranger's Apprentice); or living with his last remaining distant relatives who either don't care enough about him to bother if he dies - - or will soon die to provide the MC with a motive for his quest and conveniently free him of remaining parental authority at the same time. Obviously, this whole removal of authority thing is getting somewhat predictable. But, then again, I suppose that is sort of the point of cliches. Now the question is, what to do about it? If we leave the parents in the story, we're still going to have that irritating parental protectiveness to deal with, which means we won't be able to really torture the MC as much as we need to. Or does it? Here are ten ideas of ways to avoid the orphan protagonist cliche. Make the parent(s) part of the adventure. Mother gets kidnapped and the child has to set out on a quest to save her (Michael Vey). The dad is an adrenaline junkie and wouldn't pass up the excitement for anything. The mother goes along to try to mother-hen the protagonist on his journey, but believes in good enough to let her child be brave. Sorry. I couldn't resist throwing that in. The parent(s) are absent so much that it is easy for the protagonist to run away/get taken away and have some time before anyone notices he's gone. A more extreme version of this happened in Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, when the female protagonist was actually incapable of being remembered by her parents after she'd left. The parent(s) are part of the adventure before the protagonist is, on either the side of good or evil (Elemental trilogy by Antony John, The Compound by S.A. Bodeen). The protagonist is abducted away from his parents and forced into his adventure (Legend trilogy by Marie Lu, The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani, Girl, Stolen by April Henry). The protagonist has no idea who his parents are or if they're alive (this is beginning to be used more often, so be wary). Maybe he is reunited with one or both of them at some point in the plot, complicating things. The adventures happen at a boarding school or summer camp which the parents/parental figures sent the child to (Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, anyone?). The law interferes with parental authority over the children - this happened in the Black City trilogy by Elizabeth Richards because of Ash's half Darkling status. His father couldn't control all the events in Ash's life because the government was running control measures on Darklings. Other examples of lawful interference take place in Divergent, The Hunger Games, Uninvited, Half Bad, The Darkest Minds, and plenty of other dystopic novels. The parent/s (long shot if there are two parents) are mentally ill, and due to extenuating circumstances (like the end of the world and psychoactive medications) can't take authority over their child. Take a look at the Penryn and the End of Days trilogy by Susan Ee to see this very unique set up. The adventure does not require any long-distance travel, and so the MC manages to have his adventure right under his parents' noses. (V is for Villain by Peter Moore, Slated trilogy by Teri Terry). The age of majority (legal adulthood) is younger than it is in this world, so that the MC that we would consider a teen or child is actually considered an adult (Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown) There are a few ways to spice things up, but sometimes . . . there is no other option. Your plot requires the parents to be dead, and there's no way around it. Don't be scared that you're being cliche, if this is the case. Just make sure you didn't automatically make the MC an orphan because that was the first idea that came into your head. Think about other options. Family is a big deal, and sometimes, it is nice to see some familial relationships in a book. Or maybe you have to do the opposite. You've got the parents, but they're proving pesky. In that case: Kill those darlings. So what about you? Do you agree that the orphan protagonist is getting cliche? Have you ever used it, or one of the twists I listed? Want more posts on cliches and how to put a twist on them? Click here for all my posts on cliches, or click the label in the sidebar.
When students get bored their minds drift. And while some settle on daydreaming, tile-counting, and general inattentiveness, other students are drawn to more…ahem…destructive pursuits. For where there is boredom, there is misbehavior percolating just under the surface, ready to pounce. Although there is a ... Read more
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Jerry Quinn discusses proper forms of address and peerage among feudal nobility.
Internal monologue is a tricky skill to master, but when done correctly, it more than pays off.
TweetPin5EmailShare Annoying children are unfortunately overly prevalent in literature and media. It’s not that writers deliberately create these characters to be annoying, but they end up that way when they... Read more »
TweetPin1EmailShare This is it—the big moment! Your characters are about to meet the enemy that has been ruining their lives, they just have to walk down a long, imposing hallway... Read more »
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TweetPin2EmailShare Introducing a new character to your story can be difficult. There’s a lot that goes into it, and to make matters worse, you only have one chance to give... Read more »
TweetPin5EmailShare Creating a fictional culture is something that almost all fiction and fantasy writers will have to do at some point. Whether you need a culture for a society of... Read more »
New clients often ask "What questions can I ask the Akashic Records?" Here, I offer sample questions plus an insider's look into an Akashic Records reading.
Every story needs a good villain, right? Well, not so fast… Stories need conflict, certainly, but conflict doesn't have to come at the hands of a cackling, mustache-twirling supervillain. There's more than one way to shape your story's antagonist! In fact, there are four main types of antagonis
Meet, interact, and learn with native speakers and language learners from all over the world on italki!
Yes, it’s time for another World Builder article. Today’s post is all about Religion in your world. If you missed any of my earlier World Builder articles you can find them here – World Builder ser…
TweetPin2EmailShare When you’ve put a lot of time and care into crafting the perfect character for your story, it can be difficult to give them any trait that could be... Read more »
If you want to know how to deal with a narcissistic parent and recover from their criticism and unrealistic expecations, we're sharing 7 tips to help!
How do you define and show your character? We have included 3 must-have scenes that reveal character in this post.
