#narrative style

[gothicseverance]

The characteristic narrative mode of the Gothic is confessional first-person.

—Queer Gothic

[annafromuni]

Siobhan Harvey's Ghosts is Chilling, Powerful and Unforgettable

I am not a huge poetry reader, but Siobhan is very near and dear to my heart as she was my supervisor throughout my masters, as well as my undergrad lecturer from Creative Writing. A lot of what I know came from her, so to have a copy of her 2021 collection Ghosts to read and reflect on is a wonderful thing. I have only just read it, not wanting to feel disengaged or distant from the poetic form,…

[brechtian]

The way Ionesco writes stage directions is so interesting I’ve never read anything quite like it. He writes them as though they are notes or personal opinions he is letting the director in on. One second I’ll show some examples

[imthefailedartist]

Reading Garden of Shadows, the final Flowers in the Attic book.

It's such sweet sorrow. I've decided FITA isn't the end for me. I need more VC Andrews. I want to read another, but I want it to be just as crazy. So I'm trying to decide between the Twins or Angel. Whatever is craziest.

I might have to read Christopher's Diary (ugh), but I realized it's not from his POV. It's just occasional diary entries. I want to know how he felt about Bart and loving him through his hate.

Even though Cathy isn't here, the annoying, repetitive way she tells a story sure is. Get to the point, Olivia!

Also, stand up!

[howifeltabouthim]

Poor Burgo! He must now be made to end his career as far as these pages are concerned.

Anthony Trollope, from Can You Forgive Her?

[samisamisamisamisamisamisami]

[bloseroseone]

Narrative Structure: Definition, Examples, and Writing Tips

Have you ever been so engrossed in a book or movie that you couldn’t put it down or put it on hold? Its magic is frequently brought about by a skillfully written storyline. However, what is narrative structure precisely, and why is it so crucial?

What is Narrative Structure?

The framework that describes how a tale is arranged and delivered to the audience is known as the narrative structure. It covers the chronology, the plot’s development, and the narrative’s tempo.

Circular, non-linear, and linear story formats are common. Knowing narrative structure enables authors to create logical, captivating stories that hold readers’ attention from start to finish.

You may improve your storytelling abilities and produce narratives with greater impact by becoming an expert in narrative structure.

Importance of Narrative Structure

The use of narrative structure in storytelling is essential because it arranges the action in a way that draws readers in and maintains their interest.

A well-designed narrative framework guarantees that the story flows naturally and logically by having a distinct beginning, middle, and end. It contributes to the development of characters, the tension, and the gratifying ending.

It is imperative for authors to comprehend narrative structure in order to craft engrossing and cohesive stories that effectively connect with their readership....Continue reading

[mumblesplash]

part 2!!!! [read part one here]

transcript below the cut arranged into stanzas to help show where the rhymes are:

“that’s why they brought gem in? as a failsafe?” as a pawn. we were told to point her at whoever we need gone

“gem won’t hurt her allies. …yet.” the curse she carries will it’s had its eye on her since she lost the other eye she was specially selected for her hunting skill it’s quite the high honor. “wow. how generous.” we try

think about it: why does almost no one fight the curse? “given how fast scott killed skizz last season, i can guess.” [“any pain you spare your friends, you’ll have to suffer worse”?] it’s designed to shut down higher reasoning with stress

[wasabi-gumdrop]

(slips this under ur door) pls read dunmesh

[annafromuni]

Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows is Just Too Good

Right on the heels of Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora, we have my reread of Six of Crows, something that I has been on my rereads list for many years now. If you’re not sure why I’ve linked these two books together, you should check out my review of The Lies of Locke Lamora – you may even find your next read in doing so. Six of Crows is a YA heist novel that’s taken the world by storm, and…

[ancientannoyance]

finally finishes the colour wheel meme a whole year after everybody else

[mathysphere]

Blackwork Foxes by FlossyFoxShop

[mammalsofaction]

Something incredibly annoying when dealing with non-pnf stans when discussing with PnF is discussion of Candace being accidentally gaslit by her mother. In that they assume everyone is in on the fact to make Candace feel like she's crazy. NOBODY ELSE is doing that. In fact, nobody BUT Candace seems to understand the whole brunt of the situation.

The backyard gang are not "bullying" Candace or keeping her from telling her mom. In fact, they tell Linda about it themselves MULTIPLE TIMES. They talk about it off handedly a bunch of times too. Theyre just also 10, and Linda thinks it's part of the "games". She thinks theyre being imaginative. Theyre NOT. The backyard gang is NOT lying to her, and they are NOT perpetuating the assumption that Candace is crazy. Linda just doesnt believe them. The backyard gang doesn't KNOW this. THEY ALL THINK LINDA KNOWS.

LAWRENCE is not perpetuating the idea that Candace is crazy. He ALSO thinks Linda knows. HE HAS SEEN the backyard projects a bunch of times, and HE TELLS Linda about them TOO. However, and this is important, he only ever sees the cute, relaxed and sweet projects, and never the potentially dangerous or fatal ones, so he thinks Candace is being anxious and overprotective. Which she is, but that's a separate issue. LAWRENCE is not lying. HE thinks Linda knows.

JEREMY has seen the projects and parties. He talks about them at length, and how cool Phineas and Ferb are! He's never lied. He thinks Linda knows.

STACY has seen the projects and parties. She FREQUENTLY vouches for Candace. But shes Candace's best friend, so of course Linda doesnt believe her.

EVERYBODY EITHER THINKS LINDA ALREADY KNOWS, OR HAVE CLOSE ATTACHMENTS TO CANDACE SO LINDA DOESNT BELIEVE THEM ANYWAY.

Linda isnt doing it on purpose. NOBODY is lying.

DO i think Linda should believe her daughter now and then? And should Lawrence stick up for her more? Of course I do. But it's not malicious. Just....a bit neglectful. But Candace's assumption that everyone is against her is largely perpetuated in her own head and anxieties and miseries. She ISN'T alone. People ARE on her side, and she has more allies than she thinks. There are MULTIPLE episodes where Phineas and Ferb try to bust THEMSELVES (AKA attempt to show Linda their project with her own eyes) when she simply asks them to. A lot of people think she's really cool, and caring, and her brothers think shes unironically, absolutely AWESOME. Which has been the point of many episodes, AS WELL AS Candace against the Universe.

[sforzesco]

AKHENATEN

uhhh let's see. I combined some sketches I did of Nefertiti and Akhenaten and ended up somewhere here for an Akhenaten design. in my heart, it's for a comic but there's so much visual research I'd have to do before I could even think about approaching a comic. oof.

anyway moving on: Akhenaten was a childhood obsession! and then I moved onto other things, as one does, but then a couple months ago I decided to check out some books and now I have a headache.

Akhenaten, Ronald T. Ridley

[physalian]

How to Make Your Writing Less Stiff 8 | "to-be" and auxiliary verbs

Part 7

Part 6

Part 1

As I go through editing my latest manuscript, I'm faced with the dilemma of when to drop a to-be verb, but also when to keep it and how the differences between the two in any given situation can make just a little... a little *garnish* of a difference.

To-be verbs:

Am, is, are, was, were; a subset of auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs:

To do, to be, to have (simplified)

Auxiliary verbs tend to indicate tense, but we use them more often as crutch verbs, filler verbs, because you can just conjugate the verb itself to the proper tense without the need of the auxiliary verb.

The advice generally goes to remove these, as they count as filler words when followed up by a second verb. Versus the TBV or AXV and an adjective.

He does look / He looks She is cooking / She cooks They were standing / They stood I am fishing / I fish She does cry / She cries We have slept / We slept

vs

He is afraid / He fears She was sorry / She regrets They were happy / They cheered I was confused / I hesitated

The verb+adjective combo can't so easily drop the verb without changing either the tone, the flow, or the actions of the characters, because one is an act of doing, and one is a state of being (for the most part, 'fear' is one of those exceptions in English).

You would have to rearrange the sentence, e.g. "I was confused by this" to "This confused me," to elimiate the TBV. Which, most of the time, does help the narrator feel less passive in the story, but, again, we're here for flavor text, not an MLA formatting guide.

So, sometimes the inclusion of the TBV or AXV adds subtext to the action itself.

"He does look" has slightly more urgency and weight than simply "he looks" because the AXV emphasizes that this is an action the actor might not have taken otherwise, for better or for worse.

In the silence, she stands there huffing, voice wrecked from crying as he heads for the open door. “Don’t you walk away from me.” He turns, face impassive. “There’s nothing left to be said.” vs He does turn, face impassive. “There’s nothing left to be said.”

The latter indicates that this might be hesitation or regret on his part, as opposed to a decisive, quick action, or that this is an action that she, the narrator, didn't expect him to take.

It also helps convey the tone of voice (or at least the general direction of the level of emotion in a voice). This absolutely varies on a case-by-case basis and the context of the action and should not be abused.

One of the juicier verbs for subtext here is "try"

He tries to coach her through how to do it properly. vs He does try to coach her through how to do it properly.

The former is direct and simple. He is attempting (he attempts) to help but through the act of "trying" and not "doing" there's an indication that she isn't getting it.

The latter is a little more hopeless, where he and she both know that whatever she's attempting to learn, she won't succeed, but he's doing it anyway. Maybe because he cares or he feels bad, or, that he wasn't going to help her, but something changed his mind.

Deciding when to use these helps convey the inner thoughts of non-narrating characters without head-hopping, and also shows the biases of the narrator.

Hope this helps!