Last week covered the foundations of symbolism (symmetry, sameness, and difference), as well as the levels of intentional present in narrative uses of symbolism. This week I promised to discuss…. Analogy Analogy is symbolic, though it is not symbolism proper.
Choosing details is a critical part of writing a narrative. They can make or break a scene, can build a character or destroy him, can draw the reader in or break his suspension of disbelief. This is true in all
Have you heard of Twilight? The financial success of the series cannot be doubted. Its writing? If it has a claim there, it rests in creating a successful blank-slate everyman protagonist (or everywoman). The same can be said for many
Last week we discussed two issues common in modern writing: failure to take it seriously and disregard for realism. Today we’re continuing the topic with another issue endemic to the failures of popular media, particularly films and TV shows. We
If you’ve followed popular culture over the past few years, even at a remove, you will likely have noticed a paucity of truly excellent stories on the television screen (actually your computer, but that’s neither here nor there), particularly of
Stories can have some wild, wild premises. When it comes to the beginning of the story, the catalyst if not the chronological beginning, we’ll accept a coincidence that would break the entire story if it were the hinge of the
In a deviation from my preferred modus operandi, I’ll be using the term ‘aesthetics’ under a definition I prefer not to. Whereas I’ve tended to define ‘aesthetic’ as ‘relating to beauty’ or ‘relating to coherence on all levels in reflection
Last week’s article was all about ‘n-dimensional spaces’ and literary analysis. We considered the options for ‘what are we counting as part of this story,’ levels of priority (how important each element is to us right now), and the comprehensivity
I consume a fair amount of media criticism, both contemporary and historical. I read about writing, about what’s written, and about writers. As a function of this, I have to give a lot of thought to how different critics critique.
In this second installment of the series, we’re still looking at G.K. Chesterton, because I’ve been continuing a read-through of his works. Today, though, we’re not looking at his fiction; no, we’re looking at what his literary criticism, at his