Tag Archives: Northrop Frye

creating characters in epic fiction, part 2

Character creation is one of the most difficult and demanding tasks in the art of storytelling. Some people have a talent for it—I think Charles Dickens was one of these—while the rest of us have to stretch out a thinner … Continue reading

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creating characters in epic fiction, part 1

I’ve been writing for a long time, and I do it professionally, but nonetheless I regard myself as a student of the craft rather than some kind of master of it. So if you’re a writer, or perhaps a deep … Continue reading

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why do we do it?

According to the philosopher Mortimer J. Adler, there are two reasons to read a book: amusement learning According to the economist Ludwig von Mises, there are two kinds of writer: creative artists businessmen Are these dichotomies telling me anything? For … Continue reading

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on knowing what you’re doing

Even though I’m a writer and have always considered myself such, it’s only been in the last few years that I’ve taken any interest in literary criticism. My lack of interest was probably due to a number of perceptions I … Continue reading

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archetypes r us

Yesterday in my post reviewing Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss I said that I had much more to say on the topic. Maybe I’ll try to make a start now. Something I didn’t mention in my review was that for … Continue reading

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