Deus ex Machina

Deus ex machina. It’s a device we’ve all heard about from Ancient Greek theatre where a god was delivered by a machine, sometimes quite literally, to solve the problems of the players on stage. The famous example is when Medea needed to escape, the sun god Helios sends a chariot to save her. It wasn’t part of a subplot. It wasn’t something that grew out of lack of ideas. It was a device to bring a conclusion t a difficult position of the characters… and the playwright.

Even thousands of years ago, it wasn’t without its detractors.

J KennyAugust 15, 2025writing process, writing coach, writing advice, writing a book, finishing your book

Adaptation For The Page

When talking about adapting a book, the term usually concerns whether a book can be adapted to the screen. The concept is broader. Essentially, all writing is adapting.

J KennyAugust 4, 2020writing a book, adapting a book, ghostwriter, finishing your book, book structure, screenplay structure