Recent content by SpiraSpira

Me either. I always died of dysentery.

Depends on how you want to write it. Is the POV going to be omniscient? If so you kind of have to be 3rd person. If you’re going to have POV characters it can be either 1st or 3rd. Generally speaking though, the more POVs you have the more likely you should use 3rd person. But then again...

It’s not that unusual but generally speaking equal time is not given to each “arc.” The most common way this happens is that there are overarching arcs while other ones are going on. For example, a character suddenly wakes up to discover he or she is now been sent to the past to when he or she...

I’ll add something I meant to say but forgot. I mentioned it briefly, but ultimately “science” and “magic” in a story is essentially the same thing. Since magic doesn’t really exist the only thing you have to worry about is being internally consistent. Nobody is going to say “What?! You...

There are plenty of fairly popular novels that tell the story of Arthur, I have read at least a dozen and I’m sure theres more than that. They’re all traditionally published novels, though, a previous poster mentioned Mists of Avalon, and then theres The Once and Future King and more and more...

You're quite right, except in the genre where specific numbers are used like the OP is discussing. For example, it is never really stated how much stronger Superman is in canon, so we can't even really get into whether or not his strength as exerted on the natural world is realistic. Honestly...

It is vastly important, in my opinion, that your "science" or magic (really the same thing in my opinion) be at minimum internally consistent. You don't need to know a lot about either subject but you do need to know a LITTLE about them. Let me share with you an example of not to do: I read a...

It's fundamentally not possible to have a joke be both scary and funny, in my opinion. At least not simutaneously. It is quite possible to write a joke that reads funny the first time someone reads it, but then they think about it, re-read the sentence and it seems scary or creepy though. This...

I got into watching anime by sending blank VHS tapes and $5 to strange men's addresses and then a couple of weeks later I would get subtitled Neon Genesis Evangelion or what have you.

Because it is a fundamental problem in physics and paying a little lip service to physics when describing supernatural phenomena in stories gives them a sense of verisimilitude even when dealing with ridiculous and superhuman abilities. In other words, the supernatural composition of a...

This isn't realistic because at high speeds the aerodynamics of drag becomes controlling. Usain Bolt isn't running in a vacuum and neither is your hypothetical 12 equivalent. Consider that a linear increase in power does not equate necessarily to a linear increase in performance. Take for...

I read a lot of psychology books. But that is just a personal interest of mine. Specifically I take a lot from Jungian archetypes both from the archetypical stories and as well as the archetypical figures, ie. hero, child, devil, god, wise old man/woman, great mother, father, trickster, etc...

The most important factor is that everything is internally consistent and logical.

Humiliation is an interesting emotion. Assuming we’re not discussing about the fetish of humiliation but ACTUAL humiliation — it is an incredibly valuable emotion. especially for character development. Consider, why do you feel humiliated? Mostly it is because you have just LEARNED something, or...

Sure. Fundamentally there are only three ways to get out of a blackmail bind. One is just to accept whatever “damage” the other party is capable of causing to you, your reputation or freedom that he is extorting you with. Two is to create a Mutually Assured Destruction scenario. Either you...