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john-pyle.blogspot.com

Sideways-in: Folktale Humor and "The Reluctant Dragon"

http://john-pyle.blogspot.com/2012/09/folktale-humor-and-reluctant-dragon.html

Writing my way to clarity. Saturday, September 15, 2012. Folktale Humor and "The Reluctant Dragon". Image credit: www.wrensnestonline.com. Here’s a common kind of folktale: the humorous tale. Take Grimm's “The Gallant Tailor.” One thing I notice right away is its use of metaphors- not a given in the Grimm collection. Here are some examples:. And his heart quivered with joy, like a lamb’s tail. 8220;This is too much! They fled away as if they had been wild hares and none would venture to attack him. Contr...

john-pyle.blogspot.com

Sideways-in: December 2014

http://john-pyle.blogspot.com/2014_12_01_archive.html

Writing my way to clarity. Sunday, December 7, 2014. Full Moon at Midnight. It's a full moon, and my dog is restless. She keeps looking at me with an expectant expression. More than once she has growled, or just stared, as she does when she needs to go out. But these have been thinly veiled excuses, even for a dog. Her piddling seems hardly urgent. She just wants to go out. So if you hear me howling at the moon, in an hour or so, you'll know why. Just roll on over and go back to sleep. Unless you...John ...

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Sideways-in: The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit

http://john-pyle.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-enchanted-castle-by-e-nesbit.html

Writing my way to clarity. Friday, January 18, 2013. The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit. There is a curtain, thin as gossamer, clear as glass, strong as iron, that hangs forever between the world of magic and the world that seems to us to be real. And when once people have found one of the little weak spots. In that curtain which are marked by magic rings, and amulets, and the like, almost anything may happen. The third Oz book) came out. I happened to be reading them both at the same time;. In fact, I&#8...

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Sideways-in: A Writing Year in Review

http://john-pyle.blogspot.com/2015/02/a-writing-year-in-review.html

Writing my way to clarity. Saturday, February 14, 2015. A Writing Year in Review. Nothing like filing taxes to get you thinking about last year. It wasn't a great year for my writing, but I did log my first story sale (actual money for something I wrote). I won't disclose figures, but it was enough to buy a twelve pack. I also wrote (it looks like) four short stories. Like I said, not a great writing year. On the up side: three of those rejections came with compliments, what I could call "near misses&#46...

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Sideways-in: "The Fairy Way of Writing" - Joseph Addison

http://john-pyle.blogspot.com/2012/03/fairy-way-of-writing-joseph-addison.html

Writing my way to clarity. Saturday, March 31, 2012. The Fairy Way of Writing" - Joseph Addison. In 1712, a British critic named Joseph Addison discussed what we would call “fantastic” or “fairy stories” as an identifiable literary form. This is, he says, “The Fairy Way of Writing”:. Addison seems to admit this a little later in the essay:. Besides possessing “a particular cast of fancy, and an imagination naturally fruitful and superstitious”, the author “ought to be very well versed i...In effect, fant...

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Sideways-in: September 2014

http://john-pyle.blogspot.com/2014_09_01_archive.html

Writing my way to clarity. Tuesday, September 30, 2014. The Origins of Mythology: "Comparison and Theory". This is an old-school weblog series, tracking my progress through. The Origins of the World's Mythologies , by Michael Witzel, a thick monograph published by Oxford University Press in 2012. My initial impressions about this chapter. The question that drives this chapter is this: "Why do we find the same myths all over the world, even in cultures that don't have any recent connection to each other?

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Sideways-in: Thoughts on The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

http://john-pyle.blogspot.com/2013/04/thoughts-on-handmaids-tale-by-margaret.html

Writing my way to clarity. Sunday, April 28, 2013. Thoughts on The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. I can't prove it, because after reading several interviews and descriptions, she hasn't told me, but I suspect Margaret Atwood followed a kind of intuitive approach in writing The Handmaid's Tale. Here are my reasons for thinking Atwood tackled The Handmaid's Tale. This, in my view, would not mean there would be no persons, situations, or even characters arising in the unfolding of the story that the c...

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Sideways-in: Forget need: write from joy

http://john-pyle.blogspot.com/2014/10/forget-need-write-from-joy.html

Writing my way to clarity. Monday, October 27, 2014. Forget need: write from joy. I'm going to talk to myself out loud for a few paragraphs. You're welcome to listen in. I've heard the advice that you should only write that story that grips you and won't let you go. You should write because you have to. You should write out of some kind of dire necessity. And I do believe there's truth in that. A lot of truth, and maybe even most of the truth. The same could be said about painting. It doesn't exist o...

john-pyle.blogspot.com

Sideways-in: October 2014

http://john-pyle.blogspot.com/2014_10_01_archive.html

Writing my way to clarity. Monday, October 27, 2014. Forget need: write from joy. I'm going to talk to myself out loud for a few paragraphs. You're welcome to listen in. I've heard the advice that you should only write that story that grips you and won't let you go. You should write because you have to. You should write out of some kind of dire necessity. And I do believe there's truth in that. A lot of truth, and maybe even most of the truth. The same could be said about painting. It doesn't exist o...