by Drew Ellenwood | Jun 25, 2014 | Out-Genre
A fantasy author discussing The Andy Griffith Show seems a bit odd, but this TV series is an out-genre masterpiece of characterizations, which a fantasy or science fiction author would do well to learn from. You’ll notice that my top ten are from the black and white...
by Drew Ellenwood | Mar 12, 2014 | Fantasy & Theology
When I think about what makes an engaging character in a book, I begin to think on what it means to be a person. What is ‘me’? In writing science fantasy, I’m not interested in simply ‘human’. Human is a species. I want to know what it means to be a person no...
by Drew Ellenwood | Jan 15, 2014 | Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fantasy & Theology
Invincibility is a story killer. The magic in fantasy or the technology in science fiction can be so awesome that nothing is able to stand against it. For storytelling, this is bad. Story needs conflict, a way to endure or overcome, a real chance of failure. If the...
by Drew Ellenwood | Dec 4, 2013 | Fantasy & Science Fiction
Time travel, ghosts, entities from another dimension. Now that’s great fantasy. But you mostly don’t think of Charles Dickens. More’s the pity. Fantasy A Christmas Carol is classic literature… and classic fantasy. The novel has what fantasy needs: Memorable...
by Drew Ellenwood | Nov 13, 2013 | Fantasy & Science Fiction
In reality and fantasy, individuals act out of differing motives and backgrounds. But all people have a core they are striving for, an inner itch they seek to scratch. Villains Our contemporary culture has given us some amazingly complex fictional villains, ones with...
