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“Gypsies” In Classic Children’s Literature
As always, the term Gypsy is a source of massive debate within the Romany community. Many Romani have reclaimed the term and use it to fight back against oppression. As is their right! Many Romani cannot stand the sight or sound of it, for valid reasons! Roma Unraveled What did Enid Blyton and E. Nesbit […]
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Homes and Symbolism In Film and Literature
Homes are an outworking of the characters who live inside. Sometimes, in fiction, the house even seems to come alive in its own right.
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The Role Of The Chimera In Storytelling
Before modern science took hold, when humans were still trying to classify everything we saw around us, people really did believe in the chimera. Take the example of the Scoter duck. No one could decide whether this bird was a bird or a fish. he Abbe of Vallemont even took it out of the bird category and put it in…
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Lesson Plan: Write Your Own Urban Legend
AIM: Students will create an original story as an homage to a classic urban legend.
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Why is the horror genre so popular?
We like to be scared. Rather, fear sends a rush of adrenaline, and we like that. Scratch that. Maybe it’s the relief we feel once the rush of adrenaline is over. For the same reason, social media can be addictive. That rush when we hear a reply coming back from a tweet? That rush is […]
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The Mechanical Behaviour Of Fussbudgets In Comedy
Fussbudgets, sticklers, officious types, whatever you want to call them — comedy gold. An essential component of the fussbudget is mechanical behaviour. We’ve all had run-ins with them, which makes the comedy aspect universal. MECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR ON SCREEN This gag plays out especially well visually, so you’ll see it in many films and TV shows. […]
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Dollhouse Symbolism In Storytelling
Dollhouses in stories fall into a number of main categories: Through the window, the benches are snowcapped, stippled with pigeon prints. Winter came early to New York. The apartments across the way glow shades of yellow. Figures move from room to room. They look like doll-people. I want to collect their love seats and kitchen […]
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Domestic Dramas In Children’s Literature
While adventure stories were originally written for boys, domestic dramas were written for girls. DOMESTIC DRAMAS AND PLOT SHAPES Adventure stories are linear. The hero starts the story by leaving. He often finds himself in a new home after completing his journey. This is a linear plot. In contrast, domestic dramas are circular. Domestic stories are home-away-home stories, with […]
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How Police Procedurals Are Different From Real Police Work
Police procedurals are the most popular subgenre of story worldwide. We have police procedurals such as The Wire, which has a dedicated and enthusiastic fanbase of those who like mimesis in their fiction, but the fact is, cinéma vérité is pretty hard to follow if you’re trying to just relax and enjoy. Of course the […]
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Broadchurch Pilot Episode TV Writing
Broadchurch is a TV murder mystery in which a village is a miniature for society. As one reviewer points out, “the death which happens at the beginning incites all sorts of unexpected human behaviour, with repercussions all around the town. Initially the show seems to be making the banal point that the residents of this […]
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Character Looks Into A Mirror Introduction
Before mirrors were invented, the earliest type of “mirror” used was nature – reflections in ponds, lakes and rivers when waters were calm enough to reveal a flat surface. But even then, we had never truly “seen” ourselves and, because of this, we had a very different concept of who we were. In his book Millennium: From Religion […]
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The Symbolism Of Altitude: Clifftops, Mountains and Roofs
Hills and valleys, cliffs, mountains — altitude in story is highly symbolic. When creating a story, remember to vary the altitude as much as you’d vary any other setting.
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Symbolic Names In Storytelling
Generally speaking, a lot of thought goes into choosing character names. Sometimes a name is chosen because it is appropriate to the age of the character, culture and era. Sometimes the name is aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes the name is symbolic.
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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Time travel! Romance! Japan! If you love the films out of Studio Ghibli you’ll love The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, too. ARC PHRASE An arc word/phrase is also known as a ‘leitwort’, which literally means ‘lead word’. In order to be an arc phrase and not just a catch phrase the phrase must help […]
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Transgression Comedy and The IT Crowd
Comedies have subcategories. One of those categories is the ‘transgression comedy’. The IT Crowd is a good example of a transgression comedy. About A Boy is another. Screenwriting experts usually give the example of Tootsie as the perfect example of this form, but I’m no particular fan of that film. It hasn’t aged well. It needs to be […]
