Category Archives: critical theory

Do you ever live in your story worlds?

Posted on June 7, 2013 by

Do you ever live in your story worlds so completely you sometimes have to pause to remember which world you are in?  I do. This behavior got its start when I was an aerospace engineer.  Usually (continue at full page … Continue reading →

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The Rising Tension Model of Story Writing

Posted on April 21, 2013 by

Story tellers invent and borrow many models of the story. Each is good if it stimulates our imagination. Each is bad if we let it shackle our imagination. One model is the rising tension idea which goes back as far … Continue reading →

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The real reason more adults are reading YA

Posted on October 4, 2012 by

I’m an aerospace engineer who for 40+ years worked at the edge of the state of the art in several areas.  I’m always interested in new technological innovations – after all, I’ve helped create some of them.  And continue to … Continue reading →

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Can you handle the long haul?

Posted on July 23, 2012 by

Quick success is very very rare.  In any field of endeavor. It DOES happen.  So beginners study those cases obsessively.  Hoping that they will find the secret ingredient, the magic method, the coming trend. Careful studies of those cases have … Continue reading →

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The “publish books in pieces” approach

Posted on July 8, 2012 by

Anyone taking a “publish books in pieces” approach needs to know at least vaguely what they want to get out of it. And what they will give to get it. Different goals will produce different approaches. Among them is that … Continue reading →

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Writing accurate female characters

Posted on April 17, 2012 by

What specifically do we need to do to write accurate female characters?  Here are some suggestions. Notice that I qualify most statements.  And you must intuit the existence of qualifications if I don’t make them explicit.  Generalities usually have lots … Continue reading →

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New Yorker fiction is for the Over-The-Hills

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

I’ve been sampling the famed New Yorker magazine for maybe a year now.  I’ve been impressed by their monthly short story.  Negatively impressed. They all seem to target continued here.

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Writers are Dodecahedrons

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

Often bios of writers mention all the many different kinds of jobs they’ve had: waiter, attorney, teacher, Peace Corps volunteer. So often the long list has become a cliché. There is a reason why it’s so often true, and it’s … Continue reading →

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Creativity & Criticism – False Enemies

Posted on March 11, 2011 by

People often assume different ways of acting are enemies, and sometimes they are. Not so creativity and criticism.  Each aids the other – if done right.

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“The Primal Story” added

Posted on November 15, 2010 by

How many basic stories are there? Some have said 36, 9, 22, 101, and several other numbers. In fact there is only one, with infinite variations. Continue reading →

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