Mythmaking
“I love playing with myths. A lot of it has to do with that they’re the basic places stories come from. They’re the clay that you make the bricks out of.” – Neil Gaiman Role of Mythmaking Mythmaking bears witness to the human spirit’s quest for knowledge. From the dawn of intelligence, humanity sought to…Read More
World Building
“World building has two parts. One is the actual creation. The other is bringing the world into your story. Everything you create should not be in your story.” – Patrick Rothfuss In my blog post about the suspension of disbelief, I describe how writers of speculative fiction must persuade readers to let go of reality…Read More
Imagery in Story Dialogue
“The original quality in any man of imagination is imagery.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton Evolution of Imagery Storytelling began with visual stories such as rock art and cave paintings. Later, oral and written traditions emerged with the progress of language. Today, language plays a vital role in storytelling. It can be plain and succinct,…Read More
Liminal Characters
“Then I shan’t be exactly a human?” Peter asked. “No.” “Nor exactly a bird?” “No.” “What shall I be?” “You will be a Betwixt-and-Between,” Solomon said. — J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens Betwixt-and-between It’s December, the season of midwinter. Christmas is just round the corner, and soon we will stand on the…Read More
Orphan Heroes in Fiction
An orphaned calf licks its own back – Kenyan Proverb When I began plotting my Grail-quest novel, Graëlfire, my main protagonist, Lena Dubois, was a young university student whose parents worked overseas. This was fine for the character arc I’d invented, but as I progressed with my plotting, I gave Lena a secret identity unknown…Read More
Holy Grail Fiction
“The journey is the treasure.” – Lloyd Alexander Myths have been recurring elements in storytelling down the ages, and none more so than the Holy Grail. It has fascinated writers for centuries and is a popular theme in TV series and movies. You only have to look at the success of films the Grail…Read More
Life’s Big Questions
“Good science fiction is intelligent. It asks big questions that are on people’s minds.” – Nicholas Cage The Search for Truth Thinkers have always sought answers to big questions in life. What is God? What is consciousness? Do we have a soul? What does it mean to be human? Matters beyond the realm of science…Read More
Why We Tell Stories
“Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.” — John W. Gardner Make No Mistake Nobody wants to make mistakes. But at least when we draw, we have erasers to undo them. Sadly, life isn’t like that. Our choices and actions are fixed in time. We can express remorse. We can make amends. But…Read More
Beyond Flashbacks: Dual Story Timelines
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts…” – William Shakespeare Everyone has a history. But when it comes to fiction, how much of a character’s past is relevant to their story? The answer…Read More
What Every Villain Needs
“Res non Verba” I described in “Archetypes and Stereotypes” how character archetypes perform functions in stories. Be it hero or villain, trickster or mentor — each brings something unique to the plot. But what matters is not their individual contribution. It’s how they work collectively to tell the story. Plots need conflict as well as…Read More
