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Author Archives: knlistman
The Most Memorable Kind of Hero
Is this true that a memorable hero of incredible wisdom and strength can only show full worth when pitted against an incredibly powerful villain? The similarities between villains and heroes are often noted in fiction. So how does an author … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Creativity, Drama and movies, Literary devices, Writer's resource
Tagged hero, memorable, strength
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When Do the Ghosts Show Up?
According to my friends I read depressing books, such as Cry the Beloved Country and Crime and Punishment, and actually enjoy them. What kind of books do I avoid reading because I find them depressing while others seem to relish … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Creativity, Literature, Psychology, Trends in books, Writer's resource
Tagged edgar allen poe, fictional monsters, Henry James, horror
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The Sports Hero’s Journey
When advised to base stories on the hero’s journey, I realized that the “monomyth model” constructed plots based on a large sampling of Greek mythology. I’ve always had a suspicion that these myths were based on real people. The characters … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Drama and movies, Literary devices, Story structure, Writer's resource, Writing trends
Tagged monomyth
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Keeping the Unknown a Mystery
I was engrossed in a mystery that grabbed me from the beginning. Set in the mid nineteenth century it commenced with a spooky chase scene in the fog. The shadow-like suspect disappeared around the corner of a stately brownstone. Then, … Continue reading
Posted in Literary devices, Story structure, Style and voice, Writer's resource, Writing trends
Tagged mystery, suspense
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Dueling Detectives
When Edgar Allen Poe published Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841 the murder mystery was a relatively new genre. He wrote a few more of these increasingly popular detective stories. However, In 1849 he was found wandering injured and … Continue reading
Getting the Utopian Novel Right
H.G. Wells kept trying to get the utopian novel right. His novel A Modern Utopia has a fictional framework–the protagonist meets a man from a perfect society on a distant island. The book is really a philosophical essay describing the … Continue reading
Dystopian Entertainment
The plethora of dystopian novels that involve putting teens into deadly trials has begun to disturb me. Starting with Hunger Games, which was similar to a YA version of the Running Man, the stories read like athletic competitions run amok. … Continue reading
Fairy Tale or Dystopia?
The desire to be considered superior and above the crowd exists in most people. We try to ignore the fact that the majority of us are commoners. From time immemorial stories arise with the promise of reaching status by marrying … Continue reading
Emotionally intelligent characters?
Readers may seek out stories with a hero with greater than average athletic ability and high intelligence because they are drawn to the larger than life character who is strong or ingenious. However, when a reader asks for a character … Continue reading
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