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
Last week’s look at the unique virtues of story covered its ability to invest the world with meaning and its power to teach what I termed an ‘aesthetic conscience’, an instinct towards beauty in all parts of life. Today we’ll
Where does story excel not-story? Why should you read a story instead of a work of philosophy or science or theology? Fun is an answer, but not a complete one. We still want a better reason, something we can tell
Nowadays, lamenting that everybody else seems to live in a separate reality is a not unknown pastime of the sane (assuming I do not presume too much by lumping myself into that sum). Whoever you are, you’ve probably run across
As last week laid out, Henty has a standard protagonist, and that standard protagonist seems a bit Mary-Sue-ish. He’s not got much vice, he’s really good at what he does, and he sits at the right hand of so many
Fantasy and sci-fi are legendary for exposition dumps. See, worldbuilding and its ilk is often quite important to the story, even to the point of being a part of the pitch to get the reader interested, but too often it