Having just finished a read-through of Les Misérables, I've been struck by the writing. It's a long book at well over 600,000 words, so I definitely wouldn't recommend writing a modern novel of that length, but it's a classic nevertheless. It's been made into dozens of movie versions, beginning in 1897 and continuing onward, with the most … Continue reading Writing Lessons from Les Mis: Plotting and Subplotting
Tag: Classics
We've been exploring positive literary families, covering Fathers and Sons and Fathers and Daughters, and today, I wanted to start looking at the Mothering side of the equation. We've all read lots and lots of bad mothers, step-mothers, and dead mothers; most fairy tales have at least of these as the villain or story device … Continue reading Fictional Families: Mothers and Daughters
Description from Goodreads: When Arthur Clennam returns to England after many years abroad, he takes a kindly interest in Amy Dorrit, his mother's seamstress, and in the affairs of Amy's father, William Dorrit, a man of shabby grandeur, long imprisoned for debt in Marshalsea prison. As Arthur soon discovers, the dark shadow of the prison … Continue reading Book Review: Little Dorrit
A few weeks ago I came across a review on Goodreads mentioning Laurie Colwin and how, in that reader's opinion, she was one of the few recent authors who wrote about happiness. My curiosity piqued, I ordered one of her novels, Happy All the Time, through my local library, and I let myself entertain modest … Continue reading What Does It Mean to Write about Happiness?
The character of Pollyanna is best known for her "glad game" and overwhelming optimism, but she actually tried her hand at being an author in the sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up. I found it refreshing because, for once, a character struggled with the writing process and realized she wasn't a particularly good writer. Unlike Jo March … Continue reading Thoughts on Writing from Pollyanna
Yesterday, a new version of Fifty Shades of Grey was released, this one from the perspective of Christian instead of Ana. Apparently, fans of the series had long been clamoring for such a version, wanting to see the events from his point of view rather than hers (or, having seen hers, they wanted his to … Continue reading What’s become of First Person Narration?
I have no particular resolutions and no fixed reading lists, but here are some of my goals for the new year. In addition to becoming a better person (less complaining and more encouraging of others, especially in their writing endeavors), I want to... Read More Books On Writing—My local library has some more that I’m … Continue reading Goals for the New Year
Looking back is a particularly delightful task when one has a blog. There are always post to be paraded in neat columns of hyperlinks, directing the curious back to the long-forgotten articles from half a year ago. And it makes one’s life seem so full of purpose, so productive, so excellent and commendable in every … Continue reading The Year 2014, in Review
In the format of a non-traditional critique, Writing that Scene examines the fundamentals of what it takes to capably convey a scene to one’s readers. The opinion expressed is my own, and other readers’ opinions may and will differ. If you are interested in sharing a scene of your own for a future post, click … Continue reading Writing That Scene: A Christmas Carol
In the format of a non-traditional critique, Writing that Scene examines the fundamentals of what it takes to capably convey a scene to one’s readers. The opinion expressed is my own, and other readers’ opinions may and will differ. This week, we’ll finish looking at A House to Let, a short story project by Charles … Continue reading Writing That Scene: A House to Let, Part Four
Andrea Lundgren 