The Dispatches From The Creative Journey newsletter is for writers working on any creative manuscript – novel, memoir, creative non-fiction project, screenplay.
The newsletter provides ideas on the creative process, techniques from writers, friendly encouragement. They’re not published anywhere else – but other blog posts can be seen below.
If you’d like to talk about your book or manuscript, send me a message.
Stories are about risk.
The world shifts. Something is changed – for good or bad. The character reacts to this to either try to make things go back to how they were, or to make things better.
Steve Albini – ““When I talk about recording an acoustic instrument, what I really mean is recreating the sense memory of having heard an acoustic instrument. I say that because acoustic instruments have an extremely long tradition. Every part of the world uses some form of acoustic stringed instruments, and we all have engrained in us personal and cultural memory of these instruments. So when I say I’m trying to make an accurate recording of an acoustic instrument, what I mean is I’m trying to evoke the sensation of having heard that instrument in life.””
Aristotle opens Poetics by describing poetry as a species of imitation. There are different ways to do that, different mediums and different ways. Painting, too, is imitation, Aristotle points out.
In our stories, that’s what we do. We imitate to recreate sense memory.
The ending of Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) is an amazing demonstration of rising emotion in film, and character shown through choice.
In the harsh conditions of Rome after WW2, Antonio finally lands a job. But he needs a bike and he already pawned his.
