#literary techniques

[novlr]

[voidlingduck]

My current read is now The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and something interesting that is occurring to me as I am reading it on the heels of Assassin’s Apprentice is that both books have a similar conceit… A book within the book weaving into the main narrative and providing greater context to the world/story/themes/etc. Funny how such similarities can crop up!

I don’t know if such a technique suits my current project but it is very cool and definitely something worth squirreling away for a later date.

[enbycrip]

Too much academic reading makes it strangely difficult to go back to just reading shit for enjoyment. Even when it’s really fucking good.

I’m reading an excellent book called Perilous Times. It’s about Arthurian Knights, racism, nationalism and the climate crisis. I’m literally doing a bunch of underlining and saving the good bits because it’s letting me concentrate on reading both this book and the next Rivers of London book, which I preordered last year and appeared in my Kindle library, as things do.

I will probably end up sharing some of the excellent lines here because it is very very good.

I have a lot of ideas about why fantasy, and other literary techniques like modernist writing and magical realism, makes reading and writing about awful real world shit easier than reading straight realist fiction about them.

I think it’s to do with how they invite you to process it. Straight realism is the language of the news. It excludes the reader. It tells you the awful shit has already happened; it’s set in stone, and you could never have done anything about it anyway. The other techniques are inviting - actively inclusive. They invite you in to collaborate on the story with the writing itself. To bring your own ideas and your own experience of the awful things to the experience of reading.

This might be a very idiosyncratic, personal experience, btw - it might be about how my mind works. But I don’t think so?

I feel writing fantasy about the climate crisis, racism, transphobia, queerphobia, disableism and social change is activist in a way writing straight realist fiction about it isn’t. It’s inviting the reader into a world where we have power and things can change, without excluding or minimising the painful cost of the change.

It’s why I feel Pratchett keeps being so endlessly applicable - almost *terrifyingly* so - to things that have happened after his death.

[misterrogers22]

The Rat Analogy

"You'd think the dinosaurs would get an animal like that."

#JurassicPark #MichaelCrichton #podcast #DennisNedry #Nedry

When a rat crosses the road during Nedry's embryo heist ... what was Crichton doing?

[theversevoyager]

Once upon a time, where past and future danced, a hero rose against the clock. Through time's twisty maze, they sought the key, a gift from the past. As present whispers turned to shouts, they conquered fate with courage, love, and might. In one breath, the echoes of time sang triumphant hymns, as their tale became eternity's song.

[ancientroyalblood]

Mastering Dialogue: Breathing Life into Your Conversations

Dialogue is the heartbeat of any compelling story. It’s through the conversations between characters that emotions are conveyed, relationships unfold, and plots take shape. Mastering the art of writing engaging dialogue is crucial for writers who strive to create narratives that captivate readers. In this blog post, we’ll embark on a journey to explore the intricacies of crafting dynamic and…

[screamingatmyfandom]

Dang. I'm sad about Bertie but at the same time that's some solid Fantastic storytelling. It's literally following the hero's journey. Mentor appears and offers apprentice(s) knowledge or purpose, trains them, then dies, sparking a trauma-based quest to fulfill their dying wish/save the world/avenge them.

[rhythmicreverie]

In the vast expanse of space, A fateful choice was made with great grace. Two paths laid out before the brave and bright, Decisions weighed, as stars shone in the night. To venture forth into the unknown abyss, Or to remain secure, within a safe embrace. With heart pounding and fear in their hearts, They chose the path of adventure and daring parts. Into the void they soared, with courage untold, New worlds to conquer, in stories untold. Thus, the tale unfolds, of those who dared to roam, In search of the unknown, where no one had gone.

[blog-i-carry-your-heart-with-me]

The curtains aren't just blue, or, the importance of close reading

Close reading is a phrase used to describe the way we read things in English. Not English the language, but English the subject. Close reading is not simply casting your eyes over something, it is not even taking the time to read every word [although that is sometimes part of it], close reading is, rather, the act of taking in what you are reading, breaking it down into its composite parts, and…

[prosegalaxy]

In the land of dreams, where magic bloomed, A hero's journey began, so soon. Through enchanted forests, mystical mountains, And hidden realms, their spirit fountains. Their heart transformed, a new path found, As the skies, in colors unbound, Surrounded them with wondrous sights, Guiding their steps to new heights. In this realm of magic untold, A transformation so bold, A hero emerged, their soul ignited, And with courage they were aligned.

[novlr]

[kindnessisstillhere]

Wet

The weather mathed my mood

While completely not doing so.

It was an anxious day,

For worrying, stress, and trying not to,

A storm in a teacup,

But that was meant to be relief,

To be the hard part finishing,

But the weather was wet

And I tried to deny it impacted me,

Deny how worried that left me.

It was wet like all bad foreshadowing,

Like sad scenes in any film,

Like I needed encouragement to worry.

It was the opposite of helpful,

But it was what occurred.

[hsctextsupport]

Literary technique: polysyndeton

Before I even knew what polysyndeton was, this technique was one of my favourites, and since you’re on tumblr there’s a good chance it’s one of yours too.

Polysyndeton is a way of creating pacing in a sentence by repeating the same conjunction as you add on more words/phrases/clauses - most commonly ‘and’, although you can also try with others (but, or, nor, so, for, yet).

Consider political speeches, where the politician may want to create catchphrases, so they need short, snappy soundbites that the media will love, and that will catch in voters’ ears:

“We have served and slaved and broken ourselves for too long on the whims of the opposition.”

Or, imagine someone asks their lovesick friend what colour their crush’s eyes are, and the lovesick fool doesn’t know:

“They’re blue, and they’re green, and brown, and red, and the colour of the sun when you stare at it too long, and they’re the night sky when the clouds cover a full moon and you wait and wait and wait and wonder when you’ll see that glimpse of the heavens again behind the clouds and behind the beauty of the moon and you can’t - you just can’t - and, oh, what does it even matter what colour her eyes are when she won’t ever look at me?”

As the "and"s flow, you can feel the pace of the sentence pick up, tumbling over itself, then when the “and”s get further apart the rest of the dialogue stretches out with the weight of this particular item on the list which, for some reason, is worth more space than the others.

Used this way, it’s really easy to show someone gushing about something, where they have a lot of emotion in what they say - perfect for fanblogs or stories about weird things that happened to you.

A lot of us have been taught that repetition is bad, especially this kind that makes a sentence go on for so long. Maybe you should just put in a full-stop and let the sentence end? I say variety is the spice of life (and literature), so play with some polysyndeton and feel where the flow takes you.

[theversevoyager]

A distant echo of the past, they return with tales untold, of galaxies far and wide, of beings beyond our world, they bring change, like whispers in the wind, forever altering our destiny.

[ancientroyalblood]

The Power of Descriptive Writing: How it Brings Stories to Life

In the world of literature, words hold a special kind of magic. They have the power to transport us to new realms, evoke emotions, and ignite our imagination. One of the most potent tools in a writer’s arsenal is descriptive writing. Beyond mere sentences, descriptive writing paints a vivid picture that engages all our senses. In this blog post, we will journey into the realm of descriptive…

[coffeetank]

Tone V/S Mood

More often than not, writers find themselves confused between tone and mood. I was confused between both for a while too. After some research and more studying, I figured out how to differentiate between both. So let me help you out as much as I can!

To start with, let's first define both.

TONE

TONE: the author's point of view of a particular subject matter. It's not easy to understand, so let me explain it a little more. The tone of a story is specific to a particular scene, character, ambience, probability, dialogue, etc. Tones are particular to an instance taking place and are not constant throughout the book.

Example - Take a secluded house in the middle of the woods. A family of 3 stays in the house comprising a mother, a father and a child. Imagine the current scene being a birthday celebration for the kid. They have a cake, balloons and fun music. The tone in this case is enjoyable, lighthearted and joyful. Why? Because in that particular scene, the author is trying to convey the liveliness of the party.

Tones are conveyed using different sentence structures, punctuations, choice of words, and figurative language.

MOOD

MOOD: the atmosphere of the piece and the overall feeling that the reader feels. The mood of a story is almost always set in the first chapter of the book itself; if not, then the writer establishes it before the story picks up pace. Mood is constant throughout the book, even if tones fluctuate. In simpler words, you could say that the mood of a story depends heavily on the genre/plot of the book. If you pick up a crime novel, you would feel the suspense and mystery even though the current scene you're reading would be of a jostling, busy, upbeat crowd because you know what the story is about.

Example - Take the example above. Even though the tone of the scene is joyful, the mood of the story remains eerie. This is because of the setting. The house is secluded and within woods. This restricts movement within the area, sets the story as strange and uncanny. Despite of their being a celebration, the readers will feel a pit on their stomach, expecting something frightening to occur soon. Thanks to factors like setting, the mood of the story can be established as eerie and uncanny.

DIFFERENCE

The main difference between both is the subject matter. Tone is specific to a subject matter whereas mood is constant regardless of the subject matter.

With that, I end this post. If there's anything else regarding both that you'd like some help with, feel free to reach out!

-ashlee