Author Archives: knlistman

What are Looks in a Story?

Posted on January 21, 2025 by knlistman

If I describe one of my protagonists as chubby with a large pyramid-shaped nose, fat eyelids and thin hair, I believe I’ve indicated she is not attractive. So, she is not deluding herself when she says she is ugly. However, … Continue reading →

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Allowing Ourselves to Grow

Posted on January 2, 2025 by knlistman

Imagine entering a store to buy some clothes for the upcoming year. In the athletic section there’s one style of outfit and it comes in four basic colors that all go together. The same is true for casuals clothes, business … Continue reading →

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Names and Xenophobia

Posted on December 5, 2024 by knlistman

Imagine a reviewer whose major complaint with a fantasy book manuscript was the number of times that words weren’t recognized by MS Word spell check. This person even provided me with the total–all names of people and places within the … Continue reading →

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A Stuck Character

Posted on November 21, 2024 by knlistman

The character that I’ve imagined is stuck. Literally. He’s in solitary confinement, or in a dungeon, or abandoned on an island, and I know how he’s going to escape. But, for now he’s stuck. Should I just jump ahead to … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Drama and movies, Ideas for writing, Literary devices, Literature, Novels, Story structure, Teaching writing skills, Trends in books | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

My Boring Little Life

Posted on November 7, 2024 by knlistman

What dark secrets can I dredge up to reveal that occured during hours of deliberating about the plot? If I promised to tell the audience the deepest secrets of my life and lived up to my promise, they would be … Continue reading →

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The Terrifying Part of Horror

Posted on October 24, 2024 by knlistman

The terrifying part of horror is often the nature of the threat. Perhaps only one lucky survivor remains alive through a traumatic adventure out of sheer luck. The terrifying part of reading horror is realizing how much of it is … Continue reading →

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Do You Know What Polyandry Means?

Posted on September 19, 2024 by knlistman

If you are familiar with Clint Eastwood’s first movie, a musical called Paint Your Wagon you’d realize that a woman having more than one husband is not a recent idea. If you recognize “polyandry” as an ancient Greek term for … Continue reading →

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The Happiness Requirement

Posted on September 9, 2024 by knlistman

“And they lived happily ever after” is not just a matter of fairy tales. A Happily Ever After (HEA) ending remains a favorite of many readers and has likely been one ever since stories were first told. In this age … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Ideas for writing, Literary devices, Literature, Mental health, Novels, Psychology, romance, Teaching writing skills, Trends in books | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Language of Empires

Posted on August 29, 2024 by knlistman

Have you ever wondered why we have two words–who and whom–both meaning the same thing. What is the difference? These two words are different cases of the same [pronoun, which are forms which provide clarity. Even people who don’t know … Continue reading →

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The Imitation Game

Posted on August 15, 2024 by knlistman

You haven’t heard of Herlock Sholmes? Let me tell you a bit about him. Maurice Leblanc created Arsene Lupin, a well intentioned gentleman thief who aided the bumbling police in finding perpetrators of more vicious crimes. In France, Lupin was … Continue reading →

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