The question I fielded about literary license in a Q&A in a Catholic Writers Conference I participated in as a non-Catholic guest, (I’m a Baha’i) led to this follow-up question about projecting the flaws of a religion. Q: How can you project the flaws, conflicts, or other “warts” of a religion (particularly your religion) without …
This is the second in a series built around Q&A sessions from an online Catholic Writers Conference I was invited to participate in as an honorary member from a different faith. I’m a Baha’i, and was actually the only participant who wasn’t from a Christian denomination. It was fun! Today’s question deals with literary license. …
WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Literary License vs Reality Read More »
I occasionally take part in conferences and conventions that feature extended Q&A sessions on a particular facet of writing speculative fiction. This series of articles features questions raised at an online Catholic Writers’ Conference. I am not, myself, Catholic, but the conference planners thought it would be beneficial to have writers of other faiths participate. …
WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Portraying Religion in Fiction Read More »
As I commented in the previous installment of this series, my first novel was also my first experience trying to create a fantasy world from the ground up. With Tolkien as my only model, I waded hip deep into Scottish history and Auld English linguistics to come up with character, clan, place and object names …
The Name of the Prose, Part 4: A Ghoti by Any Other Name is Still a Fish Read More »
A sense of place plays a critical role in determining whether a reader “gets into” a story or not. Place names can lend an aura of reality to even the most fantastical of places. Conversely, an obviously made up place name in a story that pretends at reality can make a location that seems perfectly …
Ah, but what if it hadn’t been “James Bond”? What if the name Ian Fleming gave his super spy had been “Crane, Ichabod Crane?” Clearly, a name that worked for the nebbish, nervous protagonist of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow would not work for the decisive, suave hero of Fleming’s tales of espionage and danger. …
The Name of the Prose, Part 2: The Name is Bond—James Bond Read More »
The Cursed Canvases The Ladies of Almack’s #4 by Marissa Doyle Art is NOT always for art’s sake…as the Ladies of Almack’s discover
Today, communication fans, I’d like to dismantle four sentence-like sequences of words that have something in common: muddled meanings caused by a poor (or possibly clever) choice of words. Who said them and with what intent is irrelevant to the discussion. I leave it to you, Dear Reader, to attach significance in the broader realm …
The Things People Say: Sentence-like Sequences of Words Read More »
Over the years, I’ve been called upon to move a story from one art form into another—to novelize a movie or play, to write a screenplay based on a story. I’ve based songs on stories and stories on songs or collections of songs. In fact, the very first attempt I made at a novel that …
The Mathematics of Writing: All Art Forms Are Not Created Equal Read More »
One of the hardest things for some writers to learn is what goes into building a world in enough detail to engage the reader’s willing suspension of disbelief. This is especially important when writing about places that no one alive has actually visited either because they’re obscured by the mists of time or invented. What …
