Monthly Archives: December 2013

Sometimes it’s nice to drift away from serious subjects, like writing and teaching and intergalactic problem solving, and well… just goof off. It may be shocking to some, but I’m really not always the studious, furrow-browed, creative genius that I … Continue reading →

Short answer: yep, pretty much. At least in the context of my Villains, Virgins and Vigilantes thesis which holds that these three character types are the primary staples of popular fiction. There are two other categories I’ll also discuss — … Continue reading →

In the last installment we took a brief look at victims (our thematic “virgins”) and what made them interesting. The primary element seemed to be sympathy — if a reader could sympathize with a character’s situation, they were more likely … Continue reading →