Versus: Common Debates in the Writing World

S21E9 – Villainy: Should Villains Be Evil?

There is indeed good and there is indeed evil, and both walk the earth…. Both good and evil vie for the passions of the heart. For love! – Ted Dekker

Every villain is a hero in his own mind. – Tom Hiddleston

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S21E8 – Point of View: Single or Multiple?

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. – George RR Martin

Find out what your hero or heroine wants, and when he or she wakes up in the morning, just follow him or her all day. – Ray Bradbury

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S21 Bonus – Story Building: Plot First or Character First?

Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. – Ray Bradbury

But how do you know if an ending is truly good for the characters unless you’ve traveled with them through every page? – Shannon Hale

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S21E7 – Stories: How Many Different Stories Exist?

There is nothing new, from Greek mythology to Shakespeare to every romcom ever made, we’re just reimagining the same 12 plots over and over again -so what makes people keep watching and listening? It’s all about the character. – Jeremy Renner

The inner story, though the same in essence for all, is always single and unique to each human being, never before lived and never to be repeated. – Helen M. Luke

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S21E6 – Point of View: Third- or First-Person?

I often will write a scene from three different points of view to find out which has the most tension and which way I’m able to conceal the information I’m trying to conceal. And that is, at the end of the day, what writing suspense is all about. – Dan Brown

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S21E5 – Romantic Subplots: Are They Necessary?

When I was young, I craved romance in books, but I didn’t want to read just romance. Love plays such a big part in our lives, it shouldn’t be cut out and restricted to its own fiction. – Rainbow Rowell

The thing about romance and romantic movies is that they can be somewhat melodramatic…. There’s a certain cringe factor that’s involved with that. – David Lyons

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S21E4 – Word Count: Push the Limits or Stay Reserved?

The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail. – Charles R Swindoll
The secret of being boring is to say everything. – Voltaire

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S21E3 – Word Choice: To Use Big Words or Not to Use Big Words

A new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion. – Ludwig Wittgenstein

Poor Faulkner. Does he really think that big emotions come from big words? – Earnest Hemingway

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S21E2 – Fanfiction: Is it Really Writing?

To be honest, I don’t really have much of an opinion on fanfiction. As long as people aren’t commercially exploiting characters I’ve created, and are doing it for each other, I don’t see that there’s any harm in it. Either way, it’s a good place to write while you’ve still got your training wheels on. – Neil Gaiman

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S21E1 – Writing Prompts: Helpful or Not?

Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on. – Louis L’Amour

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