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.
Beautiful Void: The Importance of Implied Narrative
By BH Shepherd
Details are important, but so is what you leave out. A look at the subtle art of untold stories.
It's Made Of SCIENCE: Aliens
Everything you need to know about aliens, the biological definition of life, and SCIENCE!
Storyville: Dissecting "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates
In:
Character, Joyce Carol Oates, Literary Devices, Plot, POV, Research, Setting, Short Stories, Storyville, Structure
One of the most talked about, published and taught stories, I dissect "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates.
Symbolism: Storytelling and the Invisible Hand
Symbolism allows writers to get themselves off the page and lets their words do the talking.
It's Made Of SCIENCE: Multiple Personalities
What you need to know about the dissociative identity disorder, multiple personalities, and SCIENCE.
It's Made Of SCIENCE: The Speed Of Light
What you need to know about the speed of light, faster-than-light travel, and SCIENCE.
It's Made Of SCIENCE: Writing Characters That Are Smarter Than You
You might consider yourself intelligent, perhaps even enlightened, but nobody can know everything. How can you write characters that know more than you do?
Storyville: 15 Unconventional Story Methods
Here are 15 unconventional methods of telling a story. Why not stretch yourself?
Top 10 Storytelling Cliches Writers Need To Stop Using
By Rob Hart
There are certain storytelling clichés writers go back to again and again. And they shouldn't. Because they are terrible, and they need to be destroyed.
