From the category archives:

Writing

“Try to See It My Way” (Writers and Negative Capability)

October 13, 2010

Image by Getty Images via @daylife “The wise man questions the wisdom of others because he questions his own, the foolish man, because it is different from his own.” —Leo Stein, American art collector and critic In an 1817 letter to a friend, the poet John Keats describes one of the qualities that makes writers [...]

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Jane Eyre – The Tragic Romantic Heroine

October 4, 2010

Cover of Jane Eyre (Oxford World’s Classics) In my memory, Jane Eyre will forever be linked to chocolate ice crème.  I remember spending the better part of a weekend, aged 15 or 16, with the book in my lap and a bowl held up near my chin.  Complementary pleasures — one a fleeting sweetness, the [...]

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Who Is My Audience?

September 29, 2010

Image via Wikipedia Mark Twain claimed that, before he ever published a book, he would “always read the manuscript to a private group of friends, composed as follows: 1. Man and a woman with no sense of humor. 2. Man and a woman with a medium sense of humor. 3. Man and a woman with [...]

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The New Archetypes: Part 5

September 27, 2010

Image via Wikipedia Until now the archetypes I’ve talked about have been heroes.  Well technically some of them like the Rogue Cop and the Assassin are antiheroes but they’re all the protagonist.  So how about a little love for the villain?  In ancient myth the hero’s opponents are often pretty simple monsters, a dragon or [...]

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Elizabeth Bennet: Queen of the Regency Heroines

September 20, 2010

Image by elycefeliz via Flickr Jane Austen‘s life spanned two revolutions (the American and French) as well as Napoleon’s rise to power.  In the romance trade, this era was known as the Regency period.  It was a time of upheaval and uncertainty for the British Empire but when you read Austen’s work, it’s as though she was [...]

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