Ever since metaphorical pen was first set to metaphorical paper, a debate has raged: which is better, the happy ending or the sad one? The sides are many and varied, each side disagreeing with itself about why it’s right and
Good stories do not use miracles to solve problems, the lore says, and they do not use miracles to solve problems because miracles, according to common wisdom, destroy a story’s stakes, rendering great thrillers into dramatic yawn-factories. Yet the great
Note: Sources and the article this is a response to are listed here, at the bottom of the post. Previously: (Part One) (Part Two) (Part Three) (Part Four) Introduction According to author R.E. Howard, “Civilized men are more discourteous than
Note: The fourth portion of the paper on baptismal symbolism. The full version is here at the end of the month. Sources and the article this is a response to are listed here, at the bottom of the post. Previously:
Note: The second portion of the paper on baptismal symbolism. Part Four will be here; the full version will be here at the end of the month. Sources and the article this is a response to are listed here, at
Note: The second portion of the paper on baptismal symbolism. Part Three will be here; the full version will be here at the end of the month. Sources and the article this is a response to are listed here, at
Note: This is a paper on baptismal symbolism written prior to this site’s genesis, and it’s long enough to require partition. Part Two will be here; the full version will be here at the end of the month. Sources and
So, last week I went over three categories of worldbuilding problems (irremediable, unremedied, and inherent) and four types of wounds they can inflict on a story (to the setting, the plot, the characters, or the theology). Today we’re going to
Worldbuilding, no matter how you cut it, is a difficult task, at least if you’re actually trying to do it right. Sometimes you feel like you have to become an expert in a hundred different fields at once; sometimes, you’re
UPDATE: I’ve revisited this topic in more detail and with more accuracy here. Go there instead, please. ‘Death of the author’ is a fairly grim name for a somewhat controversial approach to interpretation. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, it does not