Eliot Ness and Al Capone. Seinfeld and Newman. Harvard and Yale. Achilles and Hector. Enemies is the wrong word for the phenomenon. It is not an enemy. It is a nemesis. There is a difference. Nemeses could have at one point been friends. They have similar qualities. The things that make one great reside in… Continue reading Nemesis
Tag: characters
The Beginning
With the release of Crown, the third book in The Manhunters trilogy, the story is told. It is time to wrap up the drama of Rayph and his crew facing off against the worst criminals of the world. The crew has taken its last job and the fate of the nation rests now in the… Continue reading The Beginning
Thoughts on Immortality
I am not defending my book. I have read a few reviews that disagree with my rendering of an old character. That character’s actions have been called into question with the idea that he is old, and so he should know better. I have done a lot of thinking about the nature of immortality and… Continue reading Thoughts on Immortality
Viva La Revolution: Character Motivation
I’m back to set fire to a few ideas and tip over a van or two. I want to break apart the things we as writers do to create characters, because we have been fed a line, told by teachers and mentors certain ways to make a character that are not working. Many of our… Continue reading Viva La Revolution: Character Motivation
Viva La Revolution: Character Archetype
Sir Ken Robinson said a curious thing about education. He said, and I’m paraphrasing, “What we need in education is not reform. What we need in education is revolution.” I have been thinking about characters in fiction, been thinking about the cardboard, one-dimensional characters we are seeing everywhere, and I have come to the conclusion… Continue reading Viva La Revolution: Character Archetype
The Arsonist’s Guide to Creative Writing
I have heard a lot of terms, heard even more descriptions, about how people write. I’m gonna run through a few of my favorites. Pantser: These are the writers that fly by the seat of their pants. They have no idea what they are going to write before it is on the page. The most… Continue reading The Arsonist’s Guide to Creative Writing
Haunted by the Nameless Boy
It’s all in the name. One name can propel a story for me. One fantastic name can make or break it all. I have gotten lucky and created a few great names. Saykobar Hesh, Volacha Brinchay, Kolaster Vagan, Tobin the Treefrog, Rayph Ivoryfist—all these names crafted the character for me. They all brought that character… Continue reading Haunted by the Nameless Boy
The Hope of the Nation
On October 5th my fifth book Song will be released. The cast is led by a wizard named Rayph Ivoryfist. Many and varied are the shades of his personality, and wild and rampant are his powers. He is scary to write for many reasons. How do I challenge a character this powerful? How do I… Continue reading The Hope of the Nation
Jesse Teller 