Despite categorizing many of my posts as ‘educational content,’ I rarely set out to teach you something in a rigorous fashion; instead, I am usually attempting to explicate a specific concept or idea, without providing full context or progressing through an entire topic.
Weekly Writing Update
At last, chapter seven is finished. It took longer than I wanted, despite being a shorter chapter, but I think it turned out well.
Mysteries of the Middle Ages Review
After the study of people, of humanity, the field of history might be of the greatest importance for the study of the aspiring fantasy author, and especially of the period referred to as the ‘Middle Ages.’
A Not Unactive Post About George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language”
Orwell's essay on "Politics and the English Language" is among my most oft-cited pieces on language and writing, and its lessons and criticisms are as valid today as they were in 1946.
Weekly Writing Update
Kind of a slow writing week this week, so this will be a brief update. I spent a lot of the time that I should have spent on writing reading instead, so I didn't make nearly as much progress as I should have.
Dreadgod Review
Wight’s writing in Cradle is dynamic and rapid, matching his prodigious and aggressive release timeline. That is not a bad thing, and is a key feature of his style, but I do often find that I wish he would slow down and develop his stories and ideas further.
Automatic Stories
Today’s post is not so much about the details of the technology, or pondering whether we will one day live in some kind of post-scarcity utopia in which our machine-slaves can solve all of our problems, generate optimal art, and fulfill our every whim in addition to freeing us from manual labor and rote tasks, as it is about reflecting on the nature of creativity and the process that we are really going through when we attempt to ‘create.’
Weekly Writing Update
Maybe it's doing these weekly updates that causes the months to feel as if they are flying by, because I yet again find myself tempted to remark upon how we are already down to just a week and a half remaining in February. Regardless, here we are with another weekly writing update.
The Oresteia Review
The Oresteia merits a special entry because it survives in its entire trilogy form, which is apparently unique amongst the Greek tragedies which are preserved (although some scholars believe that these three-part tragedies were supposed to be completed by a fourth comedic part). The story is full of twists, turns, and, certainly, tragedy.
Reflections on the Performative Nature of Language
When we consider the organic and evolving nature of language, it becomes clear that the medium in which we as writers work is at once both a static means of information storage, and a dynamic, independent artform allowing the author to engage in a unique interaction with each reader.
