John’s Gospel opens thus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” While perhaps not the first passage we think of for Christmas,1 John 1:1-14 is John’s nativity story, his declaration
I’ve read a fair few books on writing. Some books are really interesting theory; some books are really useful instruction on how writing mechanics work. Some are utter balderdash. This book takes another tack. While it has some really good
After last week, we know that we’re going somewhere; we even have a rough idea of where it is. Style requires that we know what we’re saying, that we not waste time in saying it, and that we make sure
Some authors get famous for their style, or at least get their fame attributed to style. Hemmingway, for instance; ask somebody why he’s famous ,and odds are that you’ll get something along the lines of ‘short sentences’. That’s not the
If you’ve ever trawled the waters of the internet for fiction prose, you know there are vast depths of it out there, most of it terribly written, much of it morally degrading filth. The filth can be thrown out, ignored;
Authors have Opinions on symbolism. Some of us hate it, call it useless frippery. Some of us love it, call it the lifeblood of the story, the path to true depth. Some of us think its nice but can’t figure
Tension has a mortal enemy: the answer. Tension abhors the answer. Unfortunately for us, readers sometimes learn the answer too early. There are all sorts of ways to learn. Genre savvy, for instance, could inform them that the story almost
Quiet! For the wind cries from the east; It speaks of suffering and of silencing shattering, It speaks of courts, in whose cants are death’s shade, It speaks of a gathering against His Anointed, That all like lambs may be
Tension is an essential element of most stories. Tension is an unanswered question, and the reader wants the answer to that question, wants to see not only the answer but how the answer comes about. The story, “Lily went to