I’ve been playing a lot of 2016’s DOOM lately. It hearkens back to the shooters of my youth. There’s a lot of catharsis in blasting demons with cool weapons and punching them in the face. The levels are large and they reward exploration with opportunities to customize your preferred blasting methods and adorable figurines. Perhaps… Continue reading Ballad of the Doomguy
Tag: characters
Admiration for an Admiral
“No one is immune from failure. All have tasted the bitterness of defeat and disappointment. A warrior must not dwell on that failure, but must learn from it and continue on.” I’m trying to think of a villainous character that has affected me as thoroughly and deeply as Star Wars‘ Grand Admiral Mitth’raw’nuruodo. Writing villains… Continue reading Admiration for an Admiral
Characters And Choices
There are times when the simple route is an appealing one. Our protagonist characters make good decisions, and good things happen. We project ourselves into the lives of our heroes, orienting ourselves towards making brave, clear-cut decisions that yield beneficial results for everyone involved. It keeps the narrative straightforward and our protagonists squeaky clean. If… Continue reading Characters And Choices
From The Vault: Let Your Characters Speak
I’ve been completely off of my rhythm for the last few days. I’m trying to get back on track and focus up on the important tasks in front of me. While I do, here’s a piece on showing and not telling. “Because I say so.” How many times have we heard that phrase? Parents say… Continue reading From The Vault: Let Your Characters Speak
Concerning Clearly Communicating Characters
With the exception of nature documentaries, or very oddly esoteric works, narrative entertainment is driven by characters. Characters, more often than not, communicate with one another through dialog. Time and time again, especially in films, we see this dialog become murky, bogged down, or unnecessarily obtuse. Unless it is completely essential to your plot, or… Continue reading Concerning Clearly Communicating Characters
Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy
It really feels like Marvel Studios can do just about anything. Back when it was announced as a film, Guardians of the Galaxy felt like a risk, an out-of-the-blue change in direction. Most franchises prefer to play it safe, sticking with the recognized story and character beats known to work. But Marvel’s big idea dreamers… Continue reading Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy
Bring Out Your Dead
Writers are murderers. This is an established fact. But I would contend that only bad writers kill characters on a whim, “just because”. If you look at good writing, a character death is never accidental, never flippant. It’s a calculated move. And, if you’re attached to said character or characters, after the initial shock, if… Continue reading Bring Out Your Dead
Connect Your Characters
Good fiction, when you get down to it, is about people. I don’t just mean the characters. It’s true that, no matter how original or fascinating your premise, you need to have three-dimensional characters. If your characters are flat or uninteresting, or exists solely as ciphers for your own expectations or those of the reader,… Continue reading Connect Your Characters
Wired Up
I know I’m pretty late to this party. It’s only thanks to the advent of Amazon Instant Video and my Prime membership that I’m finally getting around to watching HBO’s inner city crime drama The Wire. But I still want to talk about it. Maybe ‘talk’ is too gentle a word; I want to sing… Continue reading Wired Up
Informing Through Action
I have many, many good things to say about Transistor. I’m processing my thoughts for a review that will go up tomorrow, but my immediate takeaway was that Supergiant Games have done it again. They’ve shown how coherently and completely a story can be told in the medium of video games, with a bare minimum… Continue reading Informing Through Action
