A Ground-breaking Programme to Encourage Reading
The Hudson Expanded Adventure Reading Tournament (H.E.A.R.T.) is a groundbreaking programme for the extension and improvement of reading...
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...
Tolkien and the Sinfulness of Creativity Part 1
I wrote a thesis back in 1983, never published. In it I was exploring (amongst other Tolkieny things) the ambivalence that Tolkien had...
C. S. Lewis: 14 Biographical Facts
Here are 14 facts about C. S. Lewis that you may or may not have known: 1. Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland, on 29...
Gandalf the Procrastinator
As with many of Tolkien’s characters and ideas, Gandalf grows backwards and larger as the stories featuring him develop. Closely...
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...
'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 Master Authors' Secret Handbook
This was the first book I wrote about the apparently hidden laws and prnciples behind the world of fiction. When I wrote that 'You have...
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...
Clarity and Core Ideas
Here’s an underlying principle which applies no matter what you’re writing. If you’re having trouble making things clear, it’s probably...