Category Archives: Drama and movies

Collaborating with Other Authors

Posted on February 23, 2023 by knlistman

How do multiple writers work together to produce a work superior to their individual abilities?  With a great deal of struggling. Despite the idea that synergy, or combining abilities of people in groups, to produce better ideas than individuals most … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Drama and movies, Group psychology, Novels, Writer's resource, Writing trends | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Woman on a Tightrope

Posted on October 6, 2022 by knlistman

Recently the movie Not Okay hit a nerve by using “Unlikeable female protagonist” as one of the content warnings for its rating. What did the likability of the main character have to do with identifying the appropriate audience for this … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Drama and movies, Laughter and humor, Optimism and Pessimism, Self confidence, Writer's resource | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Star Words

Posted on September 8, 2022 by knlistman

Creating a good plot is one of the most difficult parts of writing. A perfectly plotted story is going to be snatched up by readers, but so far we seem to have only produced one of these plots that most … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Drama and movies, Story structure, Teaching writing skills, Writing trends | Leave a comment

The Most Memorable Kind of Hero

Posted on August 4, 2022 by knlistman

Is this true that a memorable hero of incredible wisdom and strength can only show full worth when pitted against an incredibly powerful villain? The similarities between villains and heroes are often noted in fiction. So how does an author … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Creativity, Drama and movies, Literary devices, Writer's resource | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Sports Hero’s Journey

Posted on July 21, 2022 by knlistman

When advised to base stories on the hero’s journey, I realized that the “monomyth model” constructed plots based on a large sampling of Greek mythology. I’ve always had a suspicion that these myths were based on real people. The characters … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Drama and movies, Literary devices, Story structure, Writer's resource, Writing trends | Tagged | Leave a comment

Sports Lit

Posted on July 14, 2022 by knlistman

While watching a recent bone crunching pro-football game on TV, I saw a player dive into a fracas and come up with the fumbled football. He took off for his goal, running for the sidelines to avoid being pummeled by … Continue reading →

Posted in Drama and movies, Nonfiction, Trends in books, Writer's resource, Writing trends | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dystopian Entertainment

Posted on June 16, 2022 by knlistman

The plethora of dystopian novels that involve putting teens into deadly trials has begun to disturb me. Starting with Hunger Games, which was similar to a YA version of the Running Man, the stories read like athletic competitions run amok. … Continue reading →

Posted in Censorship, Creativity, Drama and movies, Literary devices, Literature, Millennials, Trends in books, Writer's resource, Zoomers | Leave a comment

Please make me think

Posted on August 5, 2019 by knlistman

Science fiction in films was once an outlet to comment on society, often with a critical view, such as Fahrenheit 451 and Silent Running. As recently as ten years ago I was intrigued by the British Science Fiction film, Moon, … Continue reading →

Posted in Drama and movies, Literature, Story structure, Trends in books, Writer's resource | 1 Comment