Withholding: The Secret To Comedy Writing
By Peter Derk
In:
Comedy, Literary Devices
Withholding gets a bad rap from lazy mysteries and lousy thrillers. But it's a great comedy writing tool.
Advice from a 19th Century Governess and How Writing About Writing Has Changed
Writers have always loved to give advice, even when it’s not solicited.
Storyville: How to Write a Massive, Multi-Pronged Hook
If you think the only hook to your story or novel is the first line, then boy do I have some news for you.
The Sound of Absence: Utilizing White Space in Poetry
This essay explores how white space can be used in poetry as a literary device that thrives on the power of absence.
Storyville: Body, Mind, and Soul—Adding Depth to Your Stories
Using the concept of body, mind, and soul, you can create a deeper experience with your stories.
Storyville: Foreshadowing in Fiction—How to Set the Stage
Tips on how to use foreshadowing to write layered stories with powerful emotion.
Storyville: Universal Truths Can Help Your Readers Relate
Examples of how to use universal truths in your fiction.
Storyville: Advanced Storytelling Techniques
Tips for how to execute some advanced storytelling techniques.
Clarity vs. Experimentation: A Letter To Myself
By Peter Derk
Does your work have a worthwhile story underneath the experiment? In other words, are you going to pay off the work a reader does to understand what’s going on?
Feedback Loop: Revisiting Autobiographical Fiction
In which Taylor revisits her 2012 article about autobiographical fiction and nearly twists herself into a knot trying to explain what the hell she actually meant, if anything...
How to Hide Exposition Through Action
"Show, don't tell," they say. But telling is necessary. It's just a matter of doing it right. Hide your exposition through action.
This Can't Be: Realism and Genre vs. Reality
How current trends in realism and genre have failed to prepare us for our disheartening reality.
The Leftovers Pilot: Television Turns Literary
The Leftovers pilot is packed with literary flourishes that carry throughout the entire series. Fred Venturini breaks down the techniques that power one of the best shows on television.
Elizabeth Bennet: The Original Manic Pixie Dream Girl?
By Leah Rhyne
Let's dig into the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope to see if, perhaps, Jane Austen created the original: Elizabeth Bennet of 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Jessica Jones vs. Sansa Stark: Rape Culture in Entertainment, and Why We Should Talk About It
By Leah Rhyne
In:
A Song of Ice and Fire, Character, Comics, game of thrones, Jessica Jones, Literary Devices, Marvel, Rape, Theme
Trigger warning: We are going to talk about rape, and our reactions to the loss of innocence vs. the thirst for revenge.
One Word Leads To The Next: Unconventional Conjunctive Devices
In:
Choruses, conjunctions, Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Literary Devices, rhymes, Vocabulary, Voice
An essay that explores unconventional conjunctive devices and how they can link a story together, making it more like a song or piece of music.
The Haunting: How To Conquer The Shame Of Being A Writer
An essay about why the vocation of writing can sometimes feel shameful, and how to own that shame and then eventually conquer it.
It's Made of SCIENCE: Cloning
Everything you need to know about cloning, genetic modification, and SCIENCE!
Seven Songs, Seven Literary Devices — Celebrating the Poetics of Songwriting
Songs are poems, too. Or, the article in which I mention Katy Perry, Yeezy, Ezra Pound, Dante, and Flight of the Concords.
Consider This: Undecidability
In:
Literary Devices, Narrator, Rosemary's Baby, The Great Gatsby, The Haunting of Hill House, unreliable narrator, Word Play
Chuck Palahniuk talks about the unresolved, and how undecidability is always more scary than simply being told the answer.
It's Made Of SCIENCE: Guns And Bullet Ballistics
Everything you need to know about firearms, the physics of bullets, and SCIENCE!
Consider This: Coping
In this first of a series of new craft essays, Chuck Palahniuk displays a method for helping your characters cope against dramatic situations. He also delves into the language of singing, mantras and the importance of a good scream.
