On page 15 of Story Alchemy, I make the case for the author having a personal affinity for the story s/he is going to write. Here’s what I say: What is crucial in all this is that the idea must be … Continue reading
David Sheppard
[The following is a comment I made to the NY Times article titled, “On Not Writing,” by Bill Hayes.] Thank you for this. It’s a great article. I’ve been writing for 43 years, and I’ve only had one time that … Continue reading
Now, just to prove how oblique I really can be, I want to present a little story that appears in Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. Someone one named Lauchlan told the story during one of Natalie’s evening story circles in … Continue reading
Okay, this is one of my favorite questions: Where is the conflict if the story is really about solving a puzzle? I’ve written a lot about what story is and isn’t, and I’ve always said that the story doesn’t really start … Continue reading
Yes, we’ve all heard of the Terminator and the Governator. Some writers who’ve actually studied craft (and read Novelsmithing) have even heard of the Thematic Character, which might be termed the Thematinator. Now I want to introduce a new character … Continue reading
If you look up the word “theme” in the Oxford Dictionary of English, it is defined as: “an idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art or literature: love and honour are the pivotal themes of the Hornblower … Continue reading
This little essay is about the term used by practically all story theorists, which they call “The Hook.” God in Heaven! I hate that term. And the reason I hate it is that not only is it misleading, but it … Continue reading
You might wonder why so many people love to tell stories. Yes, some of it is to become famous in Hollywood or to be the next Stephen King, but potential authors with motivations disconnected from the writing process itself will … Continue reading
Once we have a story going, we can SEE into it, visualize what is happening, but in the beginning, we can have difficulty imagining a character, a setting, or even a specific event. One of the more effective methods of … Continue reading
Interesting article in the New York Times concerning the Memory Palace technique for improving memory. I left the comment below, and it was selected by their monitors as the only “NYTimes Pick” among all the comments. Just after leaving the … Continue reading