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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”

Currently Reading

I have a bad habit of starting three or four books at the same time. The variety part is good, but I think it fosters short attention span; one chapter of this, one chapter of that, then a little of something else. But I keep doing it, and I guess it’s not too dissimilar fromContinue reading “Currently Reading”

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”

Summerblood

I have summer in my blood, and it’s only April. This makes everything brighter, and I cherish this time when it happens each year. A good portion of my energy and enthusiasm seems to hibernate over the winter, and around this time each year, it wakes up with a jolt. Now I’ve read of whatContinue reading “Summerblood”

The Everlasting Trope: Bad Trope Edition

Even bad tropes, the ones we can all agree are pretty weak or even actively horrible, have an origin. Now, one might say, why bother discussing the reason behind a bad trope? They’re just bad! Because there’s a reason behind everything, and it is always worth questioning and investigating. We study history, the good and the bad,Continue reading “The Everlasting Trope: Bad Trope Edition”

Year in Review

It seems to be expected that one should complain and lament this entire last year. I have neither the desire nor the right to do so. If I were to complain–even about the legitimately discouraging events of the year–I would feel as though I were looking down on the truly good things that have happenedContinue reading “Year in Review”

Influential Books: Till We Have Faces

I’ve decided to occasionally write about what I’ll call ‘in-the-blood’ books: books that have had such an influence on me that I don’t think I could extract them from my writing, thought-process, or standard of excellence. See, I have book cravings (like food cravings) where I just HAVE to re-read such-and-such a book, and I’veContinue reading “Influential Books: Till We Have Faces”

The Olympics

I was going to write about dialect (still will) but decided that a few thoughts on the Olympics would be more timely. The Olympics are so weird and cool. If you just say “Oh, it’s an international athletics competition,” it doesn’t fully capture the compelling strangeness that is the Olympics. For decades, almost the entireContinue reading “The Olympics”

Refurbishment

I am trying to do nice things to this website, but I am not good at this at all. My idea had been that, once I reached a certain point in this whole submission/publishing process, I would maybe upgrade to a paid website and the I would pretty it all up and what-not. I haveContinue reading “Refurbishment”