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The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier Novel Study
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier was not written with a young adult audience in mind, but class sets of the book found their way into English departments all over the world. Though this is not my favourite Cormier novel, it remains his best known. Heavy in symbolism and discussable themes, The Chocolate War also makes for […]
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Parts of Prose
There are various ways of thinking about prose. Paragraphs, sentences, words, letters, morphemes. Useful in linguistics; not especially helpful when editing fiction. Acts, scenes, beats. Useful for screenwriters, maybe. (Not everyone thinks in terms of acts, ie. three act structure. Every screenwriting guru carves universal structure differently, usually between 5 and 8 compulsory steps.) What […]
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Matchless by Gregory Maguire Fairy Tale Analysis
Matchless is a fractured fairytale by Gregory Maguire based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl. Matchless makes for an interesting case study in storytelling. First, the brief would have been to create a story for ‘all ages’ — for regular NPR listeners to enjoy with their kids. This ain’t easy. How is it done? Second, […]
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I Kill Giants As Perfect Example Of Being-toward-death
I Kill Giants is a film and comic book for an upper middle grade audience which functions as a perfect example of Heidegger’s Being-toward-death.
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Cameras In Storytelling
The invention of cameras was a boon for storytellers. Writers and film directors have this new narrative tool — in the shape of a camera — which allows them to play around with perspective, to use as a metaphor and as a way to explore death. (No kidding. Read on!)
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What is a fractured fairytale?
A fractured fairy tale is a story which makes use of a traditional fairy tale but restructures and reimagines.
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Lamb To The Slaughter by Roald Dahl Analysis
“Lamb to the Slaughter” is one of Roald Dahl’s most widely read short stories, studied in high school English classes around the English speaking world. In this post I take a close look at the structure from a writing point of view. Why has this story found such wide love? What appeals?
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Bullying In Children’s Literature
Aggressiveness is culturally induced: where it is not valued, it is not strong. Marilyn French “Middle school wasn’t much fun for me. We had some bullying going on, and the best thing to do was to stay out of their way.” Jeff Kinney, author of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid WHAT IS BULLYING? Bullying is […]
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Humour Study: Overly Literal Characters
Humorous stories about characters who find themselves in strife after taking instructions too literally are old stock comedy fodder. One of the earliest recorded in Europe is the fairytale Clever Hans — an ironic title, because Hans is a fool. Hans does something stupid, his mother tells him to do it differently next time. But […]
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Illness and Disability in Children’s Literature
The United States has always been a terrible place to be sick and disabled. Ableism is baked into our myths of bootstrapping and self-reliance, in which health is virtue and illness is degeneracy. Madeline Miller Illness, disability and disfigurement has a problematic history in children’s literature. What are the main problems, today and in the […]
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Joy Story Short Film Storytelling Technique
Joy Story is the perfect short film to teach kids story structure, focusing on character empathy and anagnorisis. This story is also interesting in the way it handles gender. Story Structure Of Joy Story SHORTCOMING This story has a clear main character — the dog. I guess the dog’s name is Joy. Which in the […]
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Digital Art Software I Have Tried
Earlier this week I compared two similar digital art programs, Artrage 5 and Rebelle 3. Rebelle 3 has just been released. Those are my top picks for illustrators who don’t want to fork out the big (ongoing) bucks for Adobe products or for Corel Paint (which I didn’t like anyway, last time I used it). Here […]
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Artrage 5 or Rebelle 3? Software Review
Artrage by Ambient Design, and Rebelle, by Escape Motions, are in some ways similar. They are both excellent, lower-priced digital art software which replicate real-world media and painting techniques. With both, you can pick up your pen and start drawing right away. If you have to choose, which should you buy? In my case, would […]
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Great Gifts For Young Artists
I have a nine-year-old daughter who loves stationery. As a kid I loved stationery too, and now I am an illustrator. These days, if I’m buying for a young artist I give great gifts. (A #lessersuperpower?) I love buying art supplies almost as much as I love using them. Reason for this post: Stationery is […]
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Introvert and Extravert Writers
Here’s the kind of introvert/extravert stuff you find in your feed and dismiss as oversimplified “research” clickbait: If you like sci-fi movies, hate pool parties and watch “The Walking Dead” then chances are you’re an introvert, according to new research. New York Post I’m not the world’s biggest fan of personality dualities. That aside, these […]