F.C. Tait

@theinconceivable1 Sorry it’s taken me a while to answer, life’s kinda busy right now and time management is… not my strong point.

Anyway, I think what you’re saying is that the only answer you’ll accept is a Bible verse that actually says negative character arcs are alright, or that can be interpreted to mean that. If I’m right, I’m afraid…[Read more]

4589 words. Only about 500 of that is on the story I’m meant to be working on and I have no clue where the other one is going, but hey, it’s all words 😛

Wait, why can’t I see anyone’s profile pictures anymore? Is this a deliberate change or is it just my computer?

@theinconceivable1 I don’t think I need to give you a Bible verse because the whole Bible answers the question. To read and think about the Bible means to read and think about sin, murder, rape, war, and eternal punishment to name a few. If you’re going to take that verse to mean you can’t think about evil, then the Bible says you can’t read the…[Read more]

@theinconveivable1 Honestly, I find “it makes the light brighter” an unconvincing argument, so I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is that negative arcs are a part of telling the truth and a valuable literary device.

It certainly doesn’t mean there’s no hope… unless you’re going to write about your character in hell at the end, but I’m…[Read more]

I have a lot of characters and so a lot of arcs, but I’ll stick with my MC this time. Suri starts off believing that she can avoid her fears by relying on other people to protect her. Over the course of the story, she learns to become emotionally independent and face her fears with courage and a reliance on her own skills. So it’s a positive arc.

@theinconceivable1 I wrote a negative arc in my most recent novel and it was extremely depressing, but I’d actually argue that as Christians it’s super important to write them. Books featuring negative arcs include stories such as Wuthering Heights and the manga series Deathnote, and they’re a really powerful way of exploring darker themes. They…[Read more]

Erm, I’ll try to get a few words down, but this isn’t a good time for me. College has got crazy busy, I’ve taken on too many commitments, and I just finished a project so I’m not working on anything in particular at the moment. I was planning to start rewriting a novella on Sunday, so hopefully that helps a bit. Sorry, guys. 🙁

Interesting! I definitely have at least four answers because I’ve tried to explore the question by having four different characters live their answers, so I should be able to come up with enough…

My theme is fear, and the focusing question is “how should we respond to our (real, legitimate) fears?”. Answers I’m exploring would be:

Find the…[Read more]

@jane-maree Oh, that’s great! I was worried I’d come across as argumentative and annoying.

I guess most topics vague enough to be used as a theme could be construed positively if you try hard enough 🙂

@jane-maree But can’t you create a positive message from a negative theme? For instance in A Wizard of Earthsea the theme is ambition, and that nicely leads to the focusing question “what happens when you use your talents for selfish ambition?” and the message that selfishly following your ambitions leads to self-destruction and potentially harms…[Read more]

@jane-maree Why would theme have to be a positive thing? Why would it have to be an ideal? I get that you’d want the moral of the story to be a good thing, but I’ve always heard that the theme is something the story explores. Negative ideas deserve exploring as well 🙂

I love figuring out story themes. Now I need to pick just one…

One of my favourite books, A Wizard of Earthsea, is about ambition. My WIP is about fear.

Second’s good! Well done guys! 🙂

I’m not going to be able to take part in this one. I’m sick and trying to get through college without dying haha, so I don’t think I’ll be writing much.

Good luck, though!

@jane-maree Story theory is the best! That’s super exciting.

I’m definitely better with prose than I used to be, though it’s hard to work out how much is down to the Guild since I’ve been studying it from other sources as well 😛 Some of your lessons were particularly helpful, though, like showing vs. telling and describing settings. Thanks!

10711! I’m actually quite pleased with that 🙂

@jane-maree Oh, I get it now. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I’ve made similar decisions with my stories before.

I’ve just seen a lot of things around lately where people try to argue that girls are basically incapable of fighting or doing any strenuous activity at all, so I’m quick to get defensive. It’s probably a counter to the strong female…[Read more]

Oddly, I identify with guys in fiction so much better than girls. I was thinking about this the other day, going through a list of my favourite MCs and the ones I connected to best (because that’s the kind of thing I do when I’m procrastinating), and I have literally 0 female MCs I both like and admire, as opposed to 4-5 male ones.

Maybe that’s…[Read more]