G.K. Chesterton’s poem Lepanto opens thus: “White founts falling in the courts of the sun, And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run; There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared; It stirs
How do we get readers to engage with our stories? It’s a perpetual question in writing, because the plain truth is this: every minute a reader spends on your story is purest charity. He could abandon it after the first
Title by translator C. Potter. Before this sword a thousand men have died; Before these eyes a thousand thousands have found their end. Yet here I stand, and You are too mighty for me; Here I kneel, and You overcome
In metal trust, you sons of men, In weapons trust, warriors of blood, For what else lives that men can love? I’ve seen men kill and die like sheep, I trust no man- I’ve tasted their love. Savages who gnaw
The fine art of murdering one’s own story with a butcher’s knife is old and well-respected in the high halls of Hollywood. One of the recent trends in that direction has to do with rampant and all-infecting cynicism. Movies apologize
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