Three Ways to Prevent a Story from Stagnating Three Ways to Prevent a Story from Stagnating By Megan Cutler | September 6, 2021 | Comments 2 comments It’s hard to let go of a story, especially a long one. You get attached to the characters and the world they live in. As a reader, putting down the final installment of a series feels like losing a friend. As a writer, it’s even harder since you eat, sleep and breathe the details of … Read More Read More
How Improper World Building Can Kill A Story How Improper World Building Can Kill A Story By Megan Cutler | April 20, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment World building is an important part of any story that doesn’t take place in the real world. Whether your setting spans an empire or the space of a single town, it’s important to know the rules that govern the space. We instinctively know how the real world works because we grow up in it and … Read More Read More
The Dark Side of Fandom The Dark Side of Fandom By Megan Cutler | August 6, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment This past weekend (as I write this) my husband and I saw Solo: A Star Wars Story. It was always a given we would go, even though the trailers didn’t catch my attention. But we were both shocked to find that only a week after opening, it had been shoved into the smallest theater in … Read More Read More
Stories Should Sometimes Make Us Uncomfortable Stories Should Sometimes Make Us Uncomfortable By Megan Cutler | May 7, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment Shortly after the release of Mad Max; Fury Road, a friend of mine posted a lengthy Facebook diatribe about why she disliked it. The fact that I loved it and she didn’t has never really bothered me (I don’t believe my friends need to have the same opinions I do). But her reasons for disliking … Read More Read More
Five Rules Movie Adaptations of Books Need to Follow Five Rules Movie Adaptations of Books Need to Follow By Megan Cutler | November 6, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment Every time they announce a new book to movie translation, we melt out of the wood work. The people who are cautiously optimistic in the rising sea of excitement. The people who have been burned before. The people who understand how difficult it is to take the deep nuance and vivid flavor of a the … Read More Read More
My Contrary Love Affair with Action Movies My Contrary Love Affair with Action Movies By Megan Cutler | May 29, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment Action movies are a dime a dozen; Hollywood pumps them out at an astonishing rate. Of all the movie genres, I find action movies to be the most formulaic. They often feature the same faces and rely on about a dozen or so plots, constantly redressed. The more explosions and gun fights you can pack … Read More Read More
Star Trek Beyond; a (Mostly) Spoiler Free Review Star Trek Beyond; a (Mostly) Spoiler Free Review By Megan Cutler | September 26, 2016 | Comments 0 Comment For a while now, I’ve wanted to write my thoughts about the latest Star Trek movie (and the new franchise as a whole). I hope by the time this goes up most people who really want to see it will have. I intend to avoid spoilers (aside from some details about the ‘scene’ involving Sulu … Read More Read More
4 Annoying Story Tropes I Want to Kill 4 Annoying Story Tropes I Want to Kill By Megan Cutler | April 18, 2016 | Comments 4 comments Our favorite pastimes are full of tropes and cliches. It’s inevitable. Stories fall into predicable patterns. Not all tropes are bad, but it takes skill to make them feel original. And since I’m a romantic sap at heart, there are plenty of tropes I’ll willingly follow. But there are a few that aren’t just eye-rolling, … Read More Read More
Why We Need a Higher Bar Why We Need a Higher Bar By Megan Cutler | February 15, 2016 | Comments 0 Comment Most advice for new writers includes references to the Bechdel test. Even veteran writers suggest new writers be familiar with and make certain their work passes the test. It isn’t bad advice, but I’m not sure it’s good advice either. The Bechdel test states simply that a story (no matter the media) should possess at … Read More Read More
Shiny and Chrome Shiny and Chrome By Megan Cutler | July 13, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment I’ve made my feelings about Mad Max; Fury Road loud and clear; I love it. I would put it on endless repeat, if I could. We went to see it twice, which is something my husband and I rarely do. But we loved the original Mad Max, and we loved Road Warrior even more (you … Read More Read More