by Cole Salao
When you read or watch dramatic, highly emotional stories, there are often some comedic scenes peppered in to alleviate some of the tension. This is called comic relief. It’s an age-old plot device that has been used to let your audience “breathe” from the story....
by Cole Salao
Fantasy is one of the most enduring genres of fiction. Its broad spectrum captures anything that involves magic and the supernatural. However, the way these magical and supernatural elements interact with the world greatly varies from story to story. This has resulted...
by Cole Salao
Whether it’s a movie, a book, or a video game, a sympathetic villain is guaranteed to make a story much more engaging. There’s a conflict between wanting the hero to succeed and commiserating with the villain. It’s a complex feeling that’s hard to understand, much...
by Cole Salao
Have you ever typed a word into your laptop, looked at it, and thought it was spelled wrong? So you google it and see you actually wrote it right! This is wordnesia, a fun but infuriating brain glitch everyone seems to experience here and there. What is...
by Cole Salao
Existentialism is the philosophy of determining whether human existence has meaning, purpose, or value. Because in such a wide and complex universe, surely there’s an explanation for why we are here. The best existentialist novels explore these possibilities, along...
