Posts Tagged ‘style’
“There is no work of art without a subject,” said Ortega — and with him here I do not demur. Subject matter isn’t the only component of art, nor is it the most complicated, but it is the most fundamental. It is the component toward which all others are geared. Subject is what the artist presents. It […]
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“There is no work of art without a subject,” said Ortega — and with him here I do not demur. Subject-matter isn’t the only component of art — nor is it the most complicated — but it is the most fundamental. It is the component toward which all others are geared. This is true in […]
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There’s a common misconception — unfortunately growing — popular among so-called commercial-fiction coaches predominantly, though not exclusively, that stories and novels have one and only one real purpose: storytelling. Which is to say, plot. Which is to say, conflict. Anything, therefore, that slows the pace of the plot — or anything that disrupts the plot […]
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Actually, there are many reasons — many more than five — that I’ll keep reading your story, but there are also at least as many reasons I won’t. Like this seemingly infinite and jesting snore in the next room, which is most annoying to the insomniac that I am: (For example: He had nothing in […]
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It’s been said that a true artist doesn’t ever lose sight of reality: she stylizes it. It’s been also noted that a good painting often looks more real than reality itself. The reason both of these things are true is that art — which includes literature — is selectivity. Selectivity is the process of choosing […]
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“There is no work of art without a subject,” said Ortega — and with him here I do not demur. Subject-matter isn’t the only component of art — nor is it the most complicated — but it is the most fundamental. It is the component toward which all others are geared. Subject is what the […]
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There is a general structure (of sorts) to storytelling — though if ever you hear it explained in a way that even starts to sound specific or in some other way regimented, walk or run the other direction. This general structure, in turn, is sometimes known as a “formula.” Thus there’s a very general formula […]
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I once knew a girl named Poetry. Everyone called her Poe. Everyone except me. I called her Poetry. I asked Poetry one day if she knew the meaning of her name, and she said yes: “To make,” Poetry said, and Poetry was right. The word “poetry,” from the Greek poiein, means exactly that: “to create, […]
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Characterization is a presentation of the personality of the people who populate a story. Characterization is primarily a depiction of motivation and motive. The reader must understand what makes the characters act in the way that those characters do. It’s been said that one of the truest tests of good literature is when you can […]
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There are 32 ways to write a story, and I’ve used every one, but there’s only one plot: things are not what they seem. – Jim Thompson. Anthony Burgess was slightly less extreme than Jim Thompson in his calculation of possible plots: instead of one, Burgess put the number at about five. What distinguishes one […]
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(c)Ray Harvey 2011