be the story

Here’s Why Rushing the Ending Would Save Gilmore Girls

As one fan put it to me recently, “I thought you would like to hear of the extremes that people love this show.” She then went on to describe a tattoo she was getting in honor of Gilmore Girls. And I thought I was a fanatic. But I believe it. Fans get involved in the lives of the Gilmore Girls characters. When the characters hurt, we hurt. When they are happy, we are happy. And right now Lorelai and Luke are on the outs, but they both love each other. And deep down, they both know it. (Read more…)

My Interview at The Writing Show

Paula B. at The Writing Show a couple weeks ago interviewed me about storytelling in video games. Here’s the podcast audio, and please check out the other fascinating interviews she has over at her site. The Writing Show is one of my favorite podcasts, and one of the few I listen to regularly.

-TimK

Setting the Mood With Conflict

In a story, starting a fight is an easy way to make the mood tense. But conflict can do more than just make a story feel tense, suspenseful. Conflict engages the audience. It makes us sympathize with the characters and root for them. And it heightens other emotions in the story.

(Read more…)

So Much Time And So Little To Do!

No wait— Reverse that.

Pamela Slim at Escape from Cubicle Nation understands what it’s like to have too much to do and too little time.

I still have not completed my ezine for April. And today is … May 1! Egads! I have babysitting 2 1/2 days a week, then the rest of my work gets done in the evenings… articles… “life management” stuff… paying bills… paperwork… my gigantic “Successful Manager’s Handbook”…

By the way, Escape from Cubicle Nation is a must-read blog. Pam Slim’s articles are interesting and fun to read.

-TimK

Spotlight: The Notebook (the movie) (Review)

Review of The Notebook, directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks.

An elderly woman (Gena Rowlands) stands, looking out of the nursing home window. An elderly man (James Garner) visits her. She doesn’t know him, but he clearly considers her an old friend. He reads to her a story from a small notebook, a story about young Noah (Ryan Gosling) and his one true love Allie (Rachel McAdams). They fell madly in love one summer. But she comes from a rich family, and her mother doesn’t want her marrying below her class. Allie gets not even one of Noah’s letters. She falls in love with and gets engaged to a handsome busnessman, with her parents’ full support.

(Read more…)

Setting the Mood With Milieu

This is the second part of a series, after Setting the Mood With Expectations.

Another mood-generating device authors use is milieu.

(Read more…)

Setting the Mood With Expectations

How do you write moody stories? How do you imbue your prose with overwhelming emotion? It’s all about manipulating the feelings of the audience. Over the next couple of weeks, I want to look at different ways to set the mood. This week, using expectations to set the mood.

(Read more…)

Spotlight: Holly Lisle’s Website

Do you love good writing? Do you want to learn to write? Check out fantasy author Holly Lisle’s website.

(Read more…)

The Storyteller and the Wordsmith

This week, something a little different, a dichotomy Kate Wilhelm mentioned in her book Storyteller. It has been mentioned on at least one other podcast. It’s not so much a dichotomy as two story dimensions. As Kate Wilhelm points out, both are important. I want to explore both, and I want to take this lesson and apply it to other story forms.

(Read more…)

Spotlight: Smilla’s Sense of Snow (the movie) (Review)

A review of Smilla’s Sense of Snow, the movie.

I first encountered this underappreciated sci-fi mystery flick when Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave it two thumbs up in 1997. Smilla’s Sense of Snow stars Julia Ormond and Gabriel Byrne and is based on the novel by Peter Høeg of the same name. And of course, now we can see it on DVD.

(Read more…)