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To The Manor Born Storytelling Techniques
To The Manor Born is a British romantic comedy series written by Peter Spence which aired from 1979 to 1981. The actors reunited for a Christmas special in 2007. The writer is also known for Rosemary & Thyme and Not The Nine O’Clock News. Spence is educated in politics and American studies, which come across […]
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Story Structure: The Plan
In life we frequently fly by the seat of our pants. In fact, that may be the default. Plans are illusory. But precisely because life is so unstable and subject to change, characters in stories do need a plan. Even passive character types need to be actively passive. Initial plans will most likely change. There’s […]
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Story Structure: Character Desire
Kurt Vonnegut famously advised writers: Characters must want something, even if it’s just a glass of water.
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What are character flaws in fiction writing?
Most writers are well-aware that a main character needs a shortcoming. Christopher Vogler and other high profile story gurus often talk about a lack: It can be very effective to show that a hero is unable to perform some simple task at the beginning of the story. In Ordinary People the young hero Conrad is […]
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The Blood Bay by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
At around the same time Annie Proulx published “The Blood Bay”, an episode of Six Feet Under saw Claire in big trouble for stealing a severed foot from her family’s funeral business and taking it with her to school. That episode, like this story, was darkly funny and made use of someone’s severed foot. It […]
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Shirley The Medium Courage The Cowardly Dog
“Shirley The Medium” is an original recomposition of elements from diverse sources: Pandora’s Box, the Ancient Greek Myth A Christmas Carol, Dickens Modern TV psychics STORY STRUCTURE OF SHIRLEY THE MEDIUM SHORTCOMING Courage is unable to tell Eustace not to open the box. He is a dog and can’t speak English. Besides that, the adults don’t […]
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The Shadow Of Courage, Courage The Cowardly Dog
At first I wondered if the title “The Shadow Of Courage” were a riff on The Red Badge Of Courage but no — apart from the grammatical structure and perhaps some of the themes (of bravery vs cowardice) this plot line borrows little from the classic American novel. Shadows who disentangle themselves from their bodies […]
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More! by Peter Schossow Picture Book Analysis
Peter Schossow’s picture book More! is wordless in the same way Robert Redford’s All Is Lost is wordless: Both contain one spoken word, imbued with huge weight accordingly. Gecko Press brought this book from German to English in 2010, and have also translated another of Schossow’s works: My First Car Was Red. Even a ‘wordless’ picture […]
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Olivia And The Missing Toy by Ian Falconer (2003) Analysis
Olivia and the Missing Toy by Ian Falconer shows Olivia the Pig at her most bratty, and her parents at their most indulgent. There are several versions of the book cover of Olivia and the Missing Toy, and the dark one is the scarier of the two. The other is mostly white space, in keeping […]