The Name Crafter

If you’ve ever spent time in a writing workshop or a critique group, you’ve likely had these three words thrown at you like a mantra: “Show, don’t tell.” It is perhaps the most famous piece of writing advice in history, famously attributed to the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov , who purportedly said: “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” But while the concept sounds simple, mastering it is what separates amateur prose from professi

We all know the classic story: a farm boy discovers a legendary sword, leaves his village, defeats a dark lord, and returns as a king. This is the Hero’s Journey , a narrative structure so deeply embedded in our DNA that we recognize its beats instinctively. But in recent years, a different kind of traveller has taken centre stage. They don’t have a shining sword, and their motives are… messy. They are the Anti-Hero . While they follow a similar road, their footsteps sound di

Creating a hero is only half the battle. To truly understand how "bright" your hero’s light is, you need to see it against a dark background, or perhaps a different shade of gray. This is where the Foil  comes in. In literature, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) to highlight particular qualities of that character. Think of it like this: you don’t know how tall a giant is until you see them standing next to a regular person. T