Lessons The Shattered Protagonist 18 Oct 20214 Nov 2021 Arabian Mishaps) In the Disney animated film Aladdin, our protagonist is a lowly street thief who dreams of a better life. From the very beginning he speaks longingly of having…
Lessons Who Even Are You? 11 Oct 202110 Nov 2021 The Mysterious Man) The 1941 Alfred Hitchcock film Suspicion was a bit of a surprise to its audiences. Its main star, Cary Grant, was known for always playing a heroic…
Lessons Something Old, Something New 4 Oct 202110 Nov 2021 A New Voice) Romeo and Juliet has been a classic since its premier in 1597, and like many of Shakespeare's works it has been reimagined countless different times. What if…
Lessons Always Opposition 27 Sep 202110 Nov 2021 Sad Song) My parents grew up during the height of film musicals and so our video library was full of classics like The Sound of Music, Singin' in the Rain,…
Lessons Transition to Flashback 20 Sep 202110 Nov 2021 The First Recollections) 120 years ago, when film was still in its infancy, the first flashback sequence was conceived of, in the french film Histoire d'un Crime. Before the film…
Lessons Stories Within Stories 13 Sep 202110 Nov 2021 A Tale of Two Tales) I have previously mentioned the idea of a story being bookended by another. This would be like the Grandfather reading a story to his sick…
Lessons Inspiration and Perspiration 6 Sep 202110 Nov 2021 A Strange Place) On Monday I started my latest short story, which is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. There is an outpost of survivors, perched at the edge of a…
Lessons The Love of Magic 30 Aug 202131 Dec 2021 Obsessed With the Unreal) Why are stories so full of magic and surrealism? Why do fantasy and sci-fi novels dominate the industry? Even stories based in the real world push…
Lessons Write What You Know . . . Then Surpass It 23 Aug 202131 Dec 2021 Places I Know) Last Wednesday I posted the first half of my new story, Secrets in the Mountain, and it was a very easy piece for me to write. In…
Give Me Pen and Paper 