Nevermore's Writing Axioms

 

• Your hero is only as good as your villain. The stronger and more imposing the villain — and the more he evokes an emotional response in the reader — the more effective the hero will be as a character.

   

• No interesting villain does evil things for absolutely no reason. Always take the time to explain the character's motivations — it'll make it easier for the reader to relate to your antagonist.

   

• Rarely, if ever, does a well-written villain actually believe he's the villain. In the villain's eyes, he's doing something that's necessary, and it's the 'hero' who keeps screwing things up.

   

• No interesting hero does noble things for absolutely no reason. Always take the time to explain the character's motivations — it'll make it easier for the reader to relate to your protagonist.

   

• It's fun to put heroes into the position where they have to weigh the merits of doing the wrong thing for the right reason.

   

• Whether one is a hero or a villain depends largely on point of view. Just because the hero thinks of someone as a villain does not mean everyone will, and just because killing the villain makes the world a better place does not mean there will be no one who feels righteous anger at the villain's death.

   

• Mary Sues must die.

   

• No good deed goes unpunished.

   

• Plot twists only work when they make sense.

   

• It's generally a good idea to know how a story ends before you start writing.

   

• The Icy Mike Molson Rule: You can't tell a story properly if you don't understand the rules of the language in which you're writing.

   

• You can please all of the people some of the time, or some of the people all of the time; but you can never please all of the people all of the time. All you can do is write with your heart and have faith in your vision.

   

• Never disregard criticism or suggestions because you're convinced that you know better. You're human, and therefore fallible.

   

• Never concentrate over-much on a McGuffin. It should exist only to get your characters (and your real plot) to where you need them to go. (Cases in point — the robbery in Psycho or the rapist in Malice.)

   

• Take your time in writing a story. There's a reason the so-called "classics" aren't the length of comic books.

   

• Anything that doesn't kill you doesn't always make you stronger. It can also mess you up for a long, long time.

   

• There are worse things than death.

   

• Character death should never be taken lightly or entered into capriciously. That said, when written well, character death can be extremely fun.

   

• A good time for a character to be presented with the evil things he's done/caused is right after that character believes he's achieved some sort of redemption.

   

• Amusingly enough, the difference between honor and stupidity is much akin to the difference between pride and hubris.

   

• There's a reason that star-crossed lovers, unrequited love, and unresolved sexual tension have survived as story elements for so long. Use them whenever possible, but beware carelessness and overuse. For every Romeo and Juliet there are a bazillion worthless, derivitive 'romances' along the lines of the Anakin-Amidala drivel in Star Wars: Episode 2.

   

• The Lucas-Wachowski Rule: Suspension of disbelief does not mean that readers should accept discrepancies and contradictions because it's fiction — it only means that they need to accept the world as you've created it. Once the world's rules and parameters have been defined, it's your responsibility to make sure internal events and characters make sense according to the rules as they exist.