top of page

Rules for Writing the Outlaw

The Robin Hoods out there—this post is for you! Are you on the run from the literary law? Then this post if for you! Presenting…

Rules for Writing the Outlaw by Ava Murbarger

***

Five Steps to being the Outlaw

  1. You’re the rebel, who goes against and often changes society. You most likely are similar to the gambler type, and no risk is too high.

  2. You’re the way you are because you feel to different, and think you are oppressed. You seek change and either retribution or vengeance.

  3. A lot of the time you are highly controversial, overly arrogant, and unapologetic. What could you be doing wrong? You’re just making change.

  4. You fear being forced to silence, and you hate authority. If you feel powerless, you are in the lowest valley of your arc.

  5. You will be loved most if you are an underdog that ends up at the top in the end, whether in your mind or in reality. Almost everyone is rooting for you. BONUS- You are almost definitely orphaned. This is a huge part of your backstory as well as why everyone pities you. But you either hate or pretend to hate it when they pity you.

You are a much-loved trope, possibly overused, but loved. Way to go!

Ava Murbarger is an aspiring Christian author who enjoys writing in a range of genres- from fantasy, to sci-fi, to contemporary- and loves stories with themes that ring true, even if they aren’t played out in a real setting. She lives in southeastern Illinois, in a town doing its best to become a city. When she’s not thinking up new stories to tell or mapping out strange worlds, she enjoys reading, worshipping on her guitar, and going to camp each summer. You can contact her at murbargerava@gmail.com.

***

Definitely orphaned? All the outlaws I know of!

Who is your favorite fictional outlaw and why? Comment below!

4 views1 comment

Recent Posts

See All

Rules for Writing the Poet

To quote one of the contributors Kent Handfield to the Poems, Prose and Verse anthology The Life of a Writer, “I am a poet, I just didn’t know it.” Well, I’m a poet, and I know it. But I am not this t

bottom of page