Finding Self, Forgetting Self–Post 5 of 5
At the end of my last entry about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lord Rhoop had been rescued from his solipsistic nightmare and was settling down to his first […]
Finding Self, Forgetting Self — Part 4 of 5
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a book about the blessings of self-forgetfulness. Part 3 of this series dealt with Lucy’s surprising moment of self-will in Coriakin’s house. Part […]
Finding Self, Forgetting Self — Part 3 of 5
We’re just a couple of days from the release of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader Movie. I’ve been reproducing the VDT chapter from my 2005 book, The World According […]
A Charlatan’s Review of The Charlatan’s Boy
The CSFF Blog Tour is featuring The Charlatan’s Boy this week. The long-come-short: a loose confederation of book bloggers read the same book and review it the same week as […]
How Sally Apokedak Rescued The Charlatan’s Boy
The Charlatan’s Boy was an exceedingly difficult book for me to write. Before writing this book, I had never experienced writer’s block. I didn’t, in fact, believe it existed. “Writer’s […]
Desire, Choice, Consequence: Building Character Through Stories
At writing seminars everywhere, writing teachers are giving stuck story-writers the same advice: “Ask yourself, ‘What is it that my character wants?’”
Why? Because once you know what a character wants, you know what choices he or she is likely to make. Once your character starts making choices, consequences follow. And then a story begins to take shape.
Desire. Choice. Consequence. That’s what a story is made of.
When we speak of the other kind of character—an individual’s character or integrity—we’re usually talking about the choices that person makes. A person of character chooses the good over the bad, the better over the good, the best over the better, whatever the circumstances. And why does a person make such choices? Because he or she wants what is good or better or best.
Audience Participation Friday: Your Least Favorite Narnia Book
Earlier this week I mentioned that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is my least favorite of the seven Narnia books. I clarified that I love all the Narnia books; […]
Book Note: THE RISE AND FALL OF MOUNT MAJESTIC
It’s release day for a book I’ve been looking forward to for a while: Jennifer Trafton’s The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic. I’ve read the first chapter or two, […]
Finding Self, Forgetting Self–Part 2
This is the second of a several-part series reproducing the chapter on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader from my 2005 book, The World According to Narnia. Here’s hoping it […]
Finding Self, Forgetting Self – Part 1
In the fall of 2005–shortly before the movie of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe came out, I published a book called The World According to Narnia. That book, […]