Category: 2019

Crafting Compelling Character Arcs—Iron Man

This article was originally published in The Writer’s Everything, Issue #008.

In Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark utters the now-iconic words that first opened the door eleven years earlier to the flood of record-breaking content that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

What were they? “I am Iron Man.”

If you’ve seen the movie, you know exactly what moment I’m speaking of, as well as what a profound and moving moment it truly is.

If we look at it from a thematic standpoint, however, we find that it is more than just an emotional and heart-wrenching end to a three-hour-and-two-minute action extravaganza. It was the conclusion to a deep, meaningful, well-crafted character arc.

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Developing Your Character

This article was originally published in The Writer’s Everything, Issue #008.

What is the condition of the inside of his home?

The condition of the inside of a character’s home can reveal deep aspects of a character’s personality. Perhaps he’s organized and likes to have everything in its place. Perhaps he’s obsessive, freaking out if a single item is knocked out of line. Or perhaps he is lazy, having little to no desire to clean and maintain his home. In The Big Bang Theory, Leonard and Sheldon live in a state of organized chaos, while Penny’s apartment is nothing short of pure, messy disorganization. In the Iron Man series, Tony Stark is very obsessive about having everything in his house organized just right, even going as far as to make a big deal over the location of a giant stuffed rabbit.

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Writing Definitions

This article was originally published in The Writer’s Everything, Issue #008.

Like any career or hobby, there’s a whole world built around writing that you may just be beginning to scratch the surface of. And let’s face it, we’re not born knowing how to respond if someone on Twitter asks if the MC in your WIP finds the McGuffin, or if it was just a red herring all along. 

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The One-Week Author

This article was originally published in The Writer’s Everything, Issue #008.

Books, magazines, pamphlets, scrolls, clay tablets; the written word is a distinctly human invention. With it, we can share our thoughts, feelings, desires, and emotions across time and space. We can transfer our knowledge and wisdom directly to our readers’ minds, achieving a level of intimate understanding that is unique to our species.

It’s no wonder that millions of individuals around the world aspire to be authors. Unfortunately, however, this is a near-insurmountable goal for the vast majority of them. The ideas are there, as are the feelings and emotions they want to elicit in the hearts of their readers. But writing a book is an enormous undertaking which requires at least a moderate understanding of the art of storytelling.

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Crafting Compelling Character Arcs—Black Widow

This article was originally published in The Writer’s Everything, Issue #007.

In Avengers: Endgame, Scarlett Johansson’s character, Black Widow, chose to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save the universe. Her selflessness won the day, providing the rest of the team with the tool they needed to restore billions of people back to life. While Black Widow’s death scene was a tragic moment in the fourth Avengers film, if we look at it from a thematic viewpoint, we’d see that it was the only possible conclusion for her character’s arc.

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Developing Your Character

This article was originally published in The Writer’s Everything, Issue #007.

Does his location affect the way others see him? If so, why?

Deep prejudices can develop based on where a person or group may live. Characters may begin to feel, and influence others into feeling, that a person’s location is representative of his social standing, his intelligence, or his capacity to succeed in a given venture. In Snowpiercer, an extreme class division develops between the various train cars and the individuals living within them. In Total Recall (2012), The United Federation of Britain looks down on the citizens of the Colony, considering them to be inferior, and using them as little more than slave labor for their own ventures.

Continue reading “Developing Your Character” →

Writing Definitions

This article was originally published in The Writer’s Everything, Issue #007.

Like any career or hobby, there’s a whole world built around writing that you may just be beginning to scratch the surface of. And let’s face it, we’re not born knowing how to respond if someone on Twitter asks if the MC in your WIP finds the McGuffin, or if it was just a red herring all along. 

Continue reading “Writing Definitions” →