I have been thinking lately about how stories grow and also about how the fact that they do so in much the same manner as nature should come as no surprise since people frequently talk about the “kernels” from which their story grew: little bits of almost nothing that blossomed into something enormous, alive, andContinue reading “Story Kernels and Trinitarian Art”
Category Archives: Thoughts and Analyses
The Everlasting Trope: Battle Couple
When I was younger (a teen or so) and someone asked me what sort of things I find to be “romantic”, this was roughly my answer: “Sitting together, shoulder-to-shoulder before some great battle, drinking coffee next to a fire in the dark. Preparing for the danger to come, knowing what the other was thinking orContinue reading “The Everlasting Trope: Battle Couple”
Philosophy in Fantasy
Fantasy novels almost always come with some philosophy mixed in. Sometimes it’s just as light as two cloves of garlic in the dish, because that taste was never meant to be the star…sometimes it’s as pungent as thoum. Thoum is made of nothing but raw garlic, oil, lemon and salt. It will clear out yourContinue reading “Philosophy in Fantasy”
On Tropes and Subversions Thereof
In case it isn’t already obvious, I like to analyze tropes. Whether or not I do it effectively is another question altogether, but I am fascinated by what draws certain people to certain tropes. What makes one person roll their eyes, stirs deeply the heart of another. What makes me shrug, might make you swoon.Continue reading “On Tropes and Subversions Thereof”
Poetry Tripping up Prose
So it is a common thing to hear reviewers and book-lovers complain about ‘purple prose.’ Like most complaints, however, this is shorthand for something more complicated. At times we like highly poetic prose, even relish it. What most people mean when they say ‘purple prose’ isn’t simply “elegant or florid” but rather “overly-dramatic or painfully excessive.”Continue reading “Poetry Tripping up Prose”
The Everlasting Trope: Anti-Hero
Few things are more beloved and ubiquitous than the Anti-Hero. The term has come to encompass such a broad range of character types, from the simply less-that-sugary member of the good guy band, all the way to someone who only escapes utter, horrific villainhood by one or two actions, which are nevertheless significant actions. So,Continue reading “The Everlasting Trope: Anti-Hero”
The Red Herring Device
So in this recent blog post, I discussed a storytelling device that I really liked which was to be found in two wildly different stories–Till We Have Faces and The Emperor’s New Groove–and now I want to talk about a different device which also seems to have a similar sort of bait-and-switch quality. I’m sureContinue reading “The Red Herring Device”
The Tortoise and the Hare, Otherwise
I have learned recently, being of a tortoise nature when it comes to projects of all sorts, that slow and steady does not always win the race. Sometimes, yes. Often, even. But not always. The parable of the Tortoise and the Hare is deceptive because it assumes that sprinters never act wisely, and lumberers areContinue reading “The Tortoise and the Hare, Otherwise”
The Third Way
I just finished reading a collection of essays by C.S. Lewis, On Stories, and it was fascinating for addressing some of the same literary arguments we are still engaged in to this day. It’s important to say at the outset that no argument for or against a certain type of literature is new. We’ve beenContinue reading “The Third Way”
Lewis and a Llama
There is a narrative device that I dearly love, but of which I have only found two clear instances. (No doubt there are many others, but these are the only ones I know of.) I’m going to talk about C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces, which I have written about several times before, and The Emperor’sContinue reading “Lewis and a Llama”
J. L. Odom 