The Panoramic Method
The Panoramic Method is a narrative technique of summarizing through exposition rather than diving deep into specific scenes. Basically, it’s the manifestation of “Tell, don’t… Read More »The Panoramic Method
The Panoramic Method is a narrative technique of summarizing through exposition rather than diving deep into specific scenes. Basically, it’s the manifestation of “Tell, don’t… Read More »The Panoramic Method
The Scenic Method arose out of a dramatic tradition, championed to a great degree by Henry James, who wanted to write plays but wrote novels… Read More »The Scenic Method
In Third Person Point of View, both Reader and Narrator exist outside the boundaries of the Story. The Narrator uses third person pronouns to recount… Read More »Third Person Point of View
In First Person Point of View, the Narrator is a character who exists within the story world. They use first person personal pronouns to describe… Read More »First Person Point of View
The mystery genre requires careful threading of information from character to character, between narrator and reader, and from author to audience. And Agatha Christie, as… Read More »The Misdirection of Agatha Christie | Liar, Liar
Continuing in the Cooperative Principle and how to break it, we turn our attention to a literary example of rampant unintentional violations: Miss Bates from… Read More »Miss Bates of Emma: A Liar, Liar Case Study
If my most recent works haven’t been clue enough, I’ve been doing a lot of writerly experimentation with point of view and perspective. Hence the… Read More »Julian St. John Audley: A Character Defense
When it comes to dangerous artifacts in a fictional setting, every writer faces at least two dilemmas: Why does everyone want this thing? Why is… Read More »Dangerous Artifacts and the Characters Who Love Them
When it comes to Regency Romance, there is one name that stands out as the paragon of the genre, at whose altar all other Regency… Read More »Regency Romance: The Grandmother of Guilty Pleasures
(Did it work? Do I have your attention?)
Beowulf is one of those works of literature that, quite honestly, never interested me. Some beefy warrior kills a monster, and then he kills another one, and there’s a dragon in there somewhere, and at the end (spoiler alert!), he dies. I maintained a scornful disinterest for this epic over the course of a decade, until my conversion in my mid-twenties. Here’s how it went down.