I feel like Haven is one of those shows that I’m the only person who watched it. But I still find it fairly interesting and it definitely has some valuable storytelling lessons to glean. I’ve tried to limit spoilers so you can access the writing lessons without ruining the show. I binged two and a […]
Sometimes I can’t explain what I like about Reign. I can tell you all the things I don’t like easily enough. And a lot of those are the essential lessons in what not to do in our storytelling. And yet, even with its flaws there’s a lot I enjoy about it. I enjoy most of […]
Conflict is the life blood of drama. YA authors gleefully thrive on the tears and broken hearts of their readers. Readers wail and cry and tweet and then come back, hungry for more. But contrived conflict is another matter altogether. It destroys your reader’s trust and dare I even say it has the potential to […]
*Note this only covers the first six seasons, it doesn’t (necessarily) address the reboot in season 7 Once Upon a Time is a rather fascinating study. It is imminently appealing and incredibly flawed at the same time. Which means, in many ways, it’s the epitome of a show you love to hate. Or perhaps more […]
If you watch much tv, you hear these words all the time in almost every series. Some tv shows, you hear them every episode. Writers use them to create conflict. Not just conflict but high stakes. They use them to have a character act out of their nature; to pit allied characters against one another. […]
I have been abysmal at blogging this past year. Truly. I am making up for it gradually and it begins with a look back. Year of Jubilee. It hasn’t been celebrated since ancient times (around 720 BC) so there is no way of really knowing. Gen. George Allenby led Allied forces into Jerusalem in 1917. […]
I tried to write this post once before but couldn’t find the words. Because it isn’t about the facts. It isn’t about back to back concerts. It’s not really about the music, even though that’s the heart of everything. Getting lost in a world for even a little while, letting friends create a community, living […]
The tale of an epic quest through New Zealand. It began at 7 am on a Monday at, of all things, a rental car office. Though it was May, the air held a chill bearing the onset of fall and I had a video to watch. On driving on the left side of the road. […]
2016 is a bit odd to look back on because things have changed so much. It feels like years have passed between now and March and yet, oddly, things in December are beginning to look a little more like they did earlier in the year. I know, cryptic. It’ll all make sense once I get […]
‘Show Don’t Tell’ is one of the most common pieces of writing advice around (followed closely by ‘Kill Your Darlings’ which is daft but that’s another post). The problem with show don’t tell is that it’s unspecific. And also just kind of impossible. Let’s start with the impossible (and I’m going to be very literal […]