The Legacy of the Rings
What I call Tolkein’s Legacy of the Rings doesn’t kick-start the fantasy genre. It originates in the roots of story […]
Writing
Posts on the craft of writing
In Medias Res
‘Starting the story in the middle’: that’s the Latin term in medias res. The Greek playwrights understood it well. Don’t
Seven Elements of Story Structure
Another way to think about plot is Joe Nassise’s Seven Elements of Story Structure. Last seen at [2022’s] Plot Forest
Drama Becomes Life Becomes Drama
It’s a human need: drama becomes life becomes drama. “People have been hearing fantastic stories since time began,” Kurt Vonnegut
How Many Characters in Chapter One?
Here’s a question: how many characters in chapter one? How many does a novel need to get the story going?
Kurt Vonnegut’s Eight Rules for Writing Fiction
Iconic author Kurt Vonnegut’s Eight Rules for Writing Fiction are practical, humourous and endearing; much like the man himself.
The Fault in our Scenes
When the story doesn’t work, you don’t know why, and it’s the fault in our scenes.
Pixar’s Twenty-two Rules of Storytelling
Storyboard artist Emma Coats compiled a list on Twitter of Pixar’s twenty-two rules of storytelling. It’s not a new list
Fantasy Genre Tropes We Love and Hate
I’ve been challenged to write an epic fantasy genre story, so I’m reading a lot of current fantasy fiction. It
How long is a paragraph?
A dense wall of text sends readers running; so how long is a paragraph? Online and digital make short paragraphs