Other Cool Blogs: io9 March 23, 2016

Buffy and Giles in the Library

Image acquired from the internet hive mind

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought I would share a little storytelling lesson I found on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Published March 23, 2016 by Charlie Jane Anders on io9, the posting is entitled “10 Vital Storytelling Lessons I Learned from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Sometimes stuff like this is little more than a walk down memory lane, and since Buffy isn’t a bad memory I decided to read through. My goodness! This is actually great stuff.

Lesson One: You can be scary, fun, AND sad. … How true and how difficult. Some episodes we laughed, jumped, and cried our eyes out. Most times when writing I managed one, and if I am lucky two. Ms. Anders is right on point saying to pull off this emotional roller-coaster, everything comes back to characters.

Lesson Two: Takeaway quote “it’s totally fine to have the apocalypse going on in the background, while instead focusing on a smaller, more personal struggle in the foreground.”

Ready for that link now? http://io9.gizmodo.com/10-vital-storytelling-lessons-i-learned-from-buffy-the-1766651082

WRITING EXERCISE: Think about an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Why has it stuck with you? What significant character activities appealed to you? Was it scary, fun, or sad? Write at least 100 words on the subject. … Now rewatch the episode if you can find it and take it apart based on characters, goals, and stakes. Be sure to include the villains, the Scooby Crew, and secondary characters who appear in more than one episode.

For those who did not watch Buffy, use Dexter, Supernatural, Twin Peaks, or other show you like and does scary, funny, and sad.