Tag Archives: realism

Imperative Conflict In Fiction

Posted on December 8, 2018 by

Internal conflict arises when a character is subject to two or more imperatives that are incompatible. While this is a simple enough concept in theory, in the practical business of constructing a work of fiction care must be taken to … Continue reading →

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Slice Of Life Fantastic

Posted on November 13, 2018 by

This month I have been trying something new, a kind of a hybrid of NaNoWriMo and Inktober. Every day I open a new document and just write whatever comes out. The idea is to create something–a scene, a character, a … Continue reading →

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The Invisible Character

Posted on November 11, 2018 by

Recently two posts over on The Emporer’s Notepad, one on Deep POV and one on 1st Person Narrators, helped clarify some thoughts of my own. Fiction is a conversation between people who don’t exist. I’m not talking about quoted dialogue between … Continue reading →

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On The Uses Of The Fantastic

Posted on September 15, 2018 by

For purposes of this discussion I am defining “the Fantastic” as that which is understood by both artist and audience as being a purposefully introduced counterfactual element.  I am going to take a moment to unpack that before I proceed. … Continue reading →

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The City & The City

Posted on May 11, 2018 by

China Mieville’s 2009 novel The City & The City is a true masterpiece. It won a lot of awards, which I realize will turn some people against it, but even a blind hog finds a truffle now and then. Now, I … Continue reading →

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That is not dead which can eternal lie…

Posted on January 18, 2018 by

Perhaps it was the smoke on the horizon that turned the setting sun into a dropped blood orange, or perhaps it was the pus-slimed wound in the his side, but the King was coughing–quietly, almost apologetically, a diametric opposite from … Continue reading →

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You Won’t Understand A Word That’s In It But You’ll Write It All Again Before You Die

Posted on December 26, 2017 by

I’m going to rant here. Fantastic literature is not the “easy setting”. The particular spark that set me off today was an argument about The Last Jedi, but it’s an issue that has bothered me for a while now. Fiction … Continue reading →

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