

Writing and Other Arts
'The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the...


Why Protagonists Get Thinner
As you can read much more about in How Stories Really Work , protagonists are meant to be interesting. In fact, being interesting is both...


The Attributes of Antagonists
Antagonists don’t often get the attention that they deserve. Or rather, that they feel they deserve. And that’s the root of their...


Characters and Commitment
Being a writer is about all kinds of rules -rules about subject/verb agreement, punctuation, grammar, spelling- which you did actually...


Two Poems in Different Keys
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker who is now considered to be a key figure...


The Secrets of Creativity
I have been approached repeatedly about the so-called ‘secrets’ of creativity for as long as I can remember. The subject of creativity is...


'War and Peace': A Few Comments about the Novel
I imagine that if a British author were to sit down today and write a comprehensive epic novel about Britain’s battle against fascism in...


The Inner Consistency of Reality
Famous fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth is unquestionably one of the most fully imagined worlds in all of literature, and...



