Tag Archives: realism

He Came Home From The War With A Party In His Head

Posted on May 11, 2019 by

This is a follow up to my earlier post, If I Exorcise My Devils Then My Angels Will Leave Too.  In that post I talked about the concept of personal growth as a story arc and why I think it’s … Continue reading →

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If I Exorcise My Devils Then My Angels Will Leave Too

Posted on May 11, 2019 by

Recently I gave up on three books in rapid succession, and all for the same reason. Unlikeable protagonists. More than that–protagonists who were introduced in such a way as to showcase their negative characteristics. And I see these books–and quite … Continue reading →

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A Dragon Among Dragons: The Decay Of Fantasy

Posted on May 6, 2019 by

“The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he is normal. But in the modern psychological novel the hero is abnormal; the centre is not central. … Continue reading →

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Superscience, the Uncanny, and the Miraculous

Posted on April 4, 2019 by

This post has grown out of a discussion regarding my earlier post on the subject of magic in fiction and a comment that was made regarding Clarke’s Law. Clarke’s Law states that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.  … Continue reading →

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Leaving the town in the keeping of the man who is sweeping up the ghosts of Saturday night

Posted on March 24, 2019 by

This is in reply, more or less, to posts made by some writers I know. First Alexander Hellene talks about the Mythic in fiction,  then Xavier Lastra discusses magic use as a plot element in genre fiction, and then Rawle … Continue reading →

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Joe’s Sandwich II: When Mayo Holds

Posted on February 23, 2019 by

A while back I wrote a post in which I first introduced the concept of Joe’s Sandwich. I’ve been working a lot in the short story format and I find myself returning to the idea, and also to some ideas … Continue reading →

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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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