This site provides writing advice and superhero comedy. If you're writing a superhero story, you will probably find our superhero-themed articles especially instructive.

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You probably want your superhero to look eye-catching.  But you don’t want him to look goofy.

Making a character look extraordinary and serious isn’t easy.  To pull the look off, I recommend turning to government uniforms for visual references.  Here are some samples…

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One common superhero archetype is the national paragon, a hero designed to represent a country, ethnic group or other group of people.  The most obvious example is Captain America, but the list is long.  For example, Hadji from Johnny Quest exists only to charm snakes and hack computers.  (Also, have I mentioned that “haji” is an ethnic slur?)

Here is a list of potential problems with using national paragons…

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Like The Fantasy Novelist’s Exam, we’ve written a list of questions to help you identify problems with your writing. Continue Reading »

Here are a few tips to help you write better origin stories for characters in superhero novels and comic books. Continue Reading »

Three questions, actually. Which is your favorite superhero and why? Finally, what are three things you associate with that hero?

Thanks a lot for your feedback; I’m writing an article on how to make superheroes loveable.

I have overhauled my review of Soon I Will Be Invincible. I cut its length by about a quarter (from 2750 to about 2000 words). It is now down to a hair over 2000 words (instead of ~2750) and Davis was kind enough to reformat it for me.

You can read part I of this chapter-by-chapter review of Soon I Will Be Invincible here.

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I’ve already written a standard SIWBI review. My main conclusion was that most of SIWBI is wasted space that fails to satisfy readers or advance the main plot. So what do these wasted chapters do? To answer that, I will summarize and analyze the content and writing of each chapter.

(Spoilers).

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This site allows you to rank some of your favorite types of colors and then it suggests possible color schemes. What really impressed me was how smoothly it integrated its free features with a gentle offer of (paid) web designing services.

Hi. B. Mac and Davis overhauled our Superhero Questionnaire today. I find the new version much easier to read and more mentally stimulating.

I’m in charge of the case-study, which should be ready after we accumulate a week or two of data. If you’re interested in the ‘before’ part of a before-and-after study, please keep reading.

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This article discusses why it is critical to think of your characters as distinct from you.

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Creating a Superhero Character

1. List of Superpowers
2. How to Write Effective Origin Stories
3. Superhero Creation Questionnaire
   
4. How to Name Superheroes
5. Modern Superhero Naming Conventions
6. Questionnaire for Nonhuman Characters (Transformed Humans, Aliens and Otherwise)

The Mechanics of Writing a Superhero Story

1. How to Write Superhero Fight Scenes
2. How to Pick Superpowers that Make Your Story Work
3. Common Problems with Superstrong Heroes
4. Common Problems with Psychic Superheroes
5. Common Problems with Powersuited Superheroes (like Iron Man)
   

Marketing and Visual Issues

1. Easy-to-Fix Visual Design Problems for Superhero Characters
2. How to Make Your Story Less “Weird” and More Novel
3. NEW: Superhero Visual References: Boots

Right now I’m working on a piece on character voice. What sort of character voices do you enjoy reading the most? What sort of character voice issues concern you the most when you are reading or writing? If you have any thoughts, please e-mail at superheronation… at…. gmail.com . (I’ll credit you unless you say otherwise).

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Writing a superhero story?  Try to keep your hero’s powers from committing these mistakes.

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This article will teach you how to get the girl and save the world in 400 words.

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Six tips about what works and what doesn’t when you’re naming your superheroes and villains. Find out why Mischief-Man is much worse than Mayhem.

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Are you writing a novel or comic book about a powersuited hero, like Iron Man or Steel? Powersuit stories often suffer from the following problems, many of which are easy-to-fix.

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Writing a novel or comic book about beat’em-up superheroes like the Hulk or Superman? Such stories often suffer from the following six problems, many of which are easy-to-fix.

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This article will help you design your superhero’s appearance for a comic book or novel cover-art. No matter what your style is, you can avoid these 9 mistakes that cause a superhero’s appearance to sink the story.

Common Flaws of Superhero Appearances

1. The character’s appearance lacks a distinct theme.
2. The character looks lifeless.
3. He looks unrelatable.
4. His appearance is inconsistent with his personality.
5. His appearance is inconsistent with the story’s mood.
6. His costume is too campy or demeaning.
7. His appearance makes his secret identity implausible.
8. The details of his appearance are inconsistent.
9. He has too many accessories.

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This superpower list will help you write a superhero story or design a superhero. At the end, I also have tips to help distinguish your superheroes from other heroes with similar powers.

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