The Ups and Downs of Characters
If we go back to mythology and folklore, the hero of a story can have superhuman qualities and is often semi-divine in origin - in...
Frodo's Motivation
In all the vast tapestry that is Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, one character clearly qualifies, amongst the array of masterfully drawn...
Two Poems in Different Keys
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker who is now considered to be a key figure...
'Hell Bent' on Story-telling
Steven Moffat’s finale to Series 9 of Doctor Who was possibly both a masterpiece and unintentionally revealing. There are a few unwritten...
The Master Authors' Secret Handbook
This was the first book I wrote about the apparently hidden laws and prnciples behind the world of fiction. When I wrote that 'You have...
C. S. Lewis’s ‘Voyage to Venus’ Opening Chapter -A Case Study
Voyage to Venus or Perelandra as it was originally called, provides in its opening chapter a perfect example of an author progressing...
How Narnia Became a Fully-Fledged World
In class at school, in 1971, I sat next to a girl I’d never spoken to and had no real intention of getting to know. During a reading...
Who is the Hero of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'?
The opening line of the novel is a telling one: When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow....