Theme & Style

  1. Horror Story Devices via Fritz Leiber

    First some links to several online articles about how to write horror: Notes on Writing Weird Fiction by H. P. Lovecraft Supernatural Horror in Literature by H. P. Lovecraft Learning to Write Horror From Edgar Allan Poe The ‘Uncanny’ by Sigmund Freud Click "Show More Pages" at the bottom to see parts II and III. How to Write a Horror Story: 7 Tips for Writing Horror @ Reedsy What Stephen King Can Teach You About Writing Great Horror Just to once again try to consolidatre many resources...
  2. LocalScriptMan videos

    I already posted several of his videos on the topic of Character Web, but he frequently puts out great videos I want to collect where I can quickly find them. So here's a place to do that, no particular topic. What if Character Sheets weren't awful? He says he used to talk about theme (he sure did, it was all over his character web videos), but now he's moving away from that. It seems like he's working up his concepts into some kind of grand overarching narrative, a sort of universal...
  3. Looking into the Creation of the MCU

    Don't be put off by the name of the channel (It Was a Sh*t Show)—this guy actually does a deep dive into the making of various movies, and he's extremely fair in his reporting. I think the name is mostly clickbait, though when you look deep enough, the making of most movies really is a shit show, even the ones that come out excellent. It's basically a miracle when Hollywood is able to make a good movie. He gives plenty of praise where it's due, and Marvel deserves a lot up to a certain...
  4. Examining the writing in Sail and The Man Who Liked Dogs

    These are my two favorite hardboiled stories I've run across so far, both of them in the same book—The Hard Boiled Omnibus, published in 1952 and edited by Joseph T Shaw. It's a collection of some of the best stories from Black Mask magazine. I've already linked to Sail twice, but I feel I should include links here for both stories: Sail by Lester Dent The Man Who Liked Dogs by Raymond Chandler I find the beginnings of both stories to be the strongest parts. With Sail the main body almost...
  5. World building

    I am continuing to go back through the "Wandering inn" Series by Pirateaba. This series is a fascinating case study in world building. Since the genre is fantasy, the author has multiple races to deal with. There is a detailed profile for each race, Drakes, Gnolls, Goblins, Antinium, Humans which are the main races on the main continent in the story. Each race is detailed in culture and politics. Things are gradually revealed using an ignorant character, learning about the world. The culture...
  6. Side stories in a novel.

    I have begun to take a closer look at an idea I encountered in "the Wandering inn" Series by Pirataba. The main story is on the theme of the fool triumphant, save the cat story type. But in addition to POV shifts between characters, the author also inserts side stories into the series, which have different characters are are shorts embedded within the novel. These shorts are related to the fantasy world of the story, but instead of distracting from the story, serve to flesh out the story...
  7. What can be learned from Buffy?

    When I first joined this message board, I had just finished watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the series, from beginning to end. I think it was the best show ever made, bar none. Despite some heavy contenders like Breaking Bad, or Jessica Jones—none of them have anything like the perfect mix of creativity, humor, and fun Buffy offers, along with intense drama, sometimes to the point of tragedy. I bought the entire series as a DVD box set, which included behind the scenes for some episodes,...
  8. The Inner Life (when characters come to life)

    I'm using this entry to collect together certain threads where I've expounded on my ideas about the inner life—of human beings and of characters. Here's the thread that sparked this: Whence the theme? But the underlying ideas connect up with my thoughts on characters having an inner life of their own, which I wrote about rather extensively in these threads: Downloading Characters Characters are not listening to me. Help. Do you feel a responsibility to your characters? ... And maybe a...
  9. On Virgins

    Subversion is always shallow. Thematic correctness doesn't change when a trope is subverted, it only changes in satire. Satire subverts the theme, not the tropes, because it needs the tropes in order to signal its identity. For example, the virgin or child saviour. She hasn't yet entered society fully, so she hasn't yet been fully corrupted by it. Her perspective is quite figuratively virginal: "But stabbing other people is wrong." The two men look up from their knife fight, understanding...
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  10. The experiment with POV (750 words). Feedback encouraged.

    Here are three of the PoV shifts, of a total of six for the chapter. I am trying to show both sides of the battle by doing this, and keep the events in Chronological order. Rather than repeat the events from the opposing POV in a second scene. Does this work, or is it just confusing to the reader? The intruders came charging into the temple. How dare they invade the sacred space like this! He would teach them some manners. With a gesture, his undead began moving toward the invaders....
  11. Current status

    Currently working on a fantasy trilogy, I think it will be a trilogy, but you never know an idea may hit that extends it beyond that. Book 1 has the MC and companions sucked into a prophecy, the MC doesn't believe in, and is basically forced into helping with. For the gamers out there it is a basic escort quest. The story uses an onion villain, though at this point we only really see the outer layer villains. This work has been through a few edits, and is currently out to beta readers....
  12. Angela Carter on the Tale vs the Story

    Getting back to my posts concerning different kinds of stories, here's something I've posted on the board that I'd like to be able to find, so I'm putting it here in my online notebook (the first part is by yours truly): Fairy tales are not like regular stories because they're archetypal. They're about types rather than individuals. Even if an individual has a name in a fairy tale, they represent a type. The names are often strange, like 'Horsehair went to wash himself in the creek as he...
  13. Character Web

    I didn't post this video because it's about The Walking Dead. I never really cared much for that show. Watched a few episodes, then lost interest pretty fast. Maybe because there's no identifiable theme? I don't know. I posted the video because it's about Character Web and how to go about creating one. Each character should have a particular stance on the main theme, or possibly a secondary theme for some of them. Otherwise they don't belong and are just along for the ride and weighing...
  14. What a Year!

    As 2022 comes to an end, most of us are reflecting back on the year and others mine as well be in 2023. getting those resolutions ready to be forgotten about by the second week of January if they're lucky to make it that long. I've tried that I don't know how many times and I never felt like I was actually changing. well until this year. The beginning of the year had all the magic; I thought 2022 was gonna be the year where everything just magically turned perfectly. Between trying to be a...
  15. Wild Woman – A message to women

    Wild Woman – A message to women You know her. She lives inside of you. She is your instinct and intuition. She is the experiences and lessons of your ancestors encoded in your DNA. If you trust her, and let her live, you can be your authentic self. Hell with dogma. If you let her come to the surface, you will realize all your original gifts. Folklore is rich in the psychology of women. For this reason, I encourage you to get a copy of and read Women Who Run With the Wolves, by Clarissa...
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