Story Embers | Michael Capriola | Activity https://storyembers.org/members/phred-1/activity/ Activity feed for Michael Capriola. Fri, 07 Aug 2026 11:12:08 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v= en 30 hourly 2 13b2a4dc13558e88b0fd8b0b64e070a7 Michael Capriola posted a new activity comment https://storyembers.org/how-to-explain-technology-and-magic-in-speculative-fiction-without-dragging-the-story/comment-page-1/#comment-13801 Tue, 18 Jun 2024 11:52:56 -0400 Couple of thoughts:
First off, Gene Roddenberry once said, in regard to Star Trek’s phasers, Joe Friday doesn’t stop to explain how his .38 police revolver works. He just uses it, and the viewer sees the results.

In my current work, when time travelers answer questions about future technology to people from the Middle Ages, most of the…[Read more]

In reply to - Brandon Miller wrote a new post One of the biggest challenges with writing speculative fiction is clarifying how your story’s magic and/or technology works. Once you’ve accomplished the monumental task of dev […] ]]> 47f16ccf30e41d7bf26e195d38032a7c Michael Capriola posted a new activity comment https://storyembers.org/3-reasons-why-traditional-heroes-still-matter/comment-page-1/#comment-7707 Wed, 07 Jul 2021 20:20:26 -0400 I forget who it was that said, “We don’t tell children fairy tales to prove that dragons exist. Children already know that they exist. We tell them the stories to teach them that dragons can be slain.”

In reply to - Rose Sheffler wrote a new post For thousands of years, audiences have been enamored with stories of heroes going on quests to save the world. From Robin Hood to Luke Skywalker to Wonder Woman, the trope’s v […] ]]> 70a3b62c025e72d98ee7f81fb5a1d8d9 Michael Capriola posted a new activity comment https://storyembers.org/3-creative-ways-to-choose-the-theme-for-your-next-novel/comment-page-1/#comment-7324 Wed, 26 May 2021 21:18:18 -0400 Very valuable article. Thank you.

The subject of THEME reminds me of 2 anecdotes.

Isaac Asimov was once approached by a fan who explained to him what the story was all about. Asimov disagreed with the fan’s conclusions, to which the man retorted, “Just because you’re the author doesn’t mean you know what the story is about.”

Jack…[Read more]

In reply to - Lori Z. Scott wrote a new post Robert Wise, the American film director of The Sound of Music, states, “You can’t tell any kind of a story without having some kind of a theme, something to say between the lin […] ]]>