- TTLY…: Vintage posts.
Who is ‘You?’
Tag: david graeber
“The…” Fantasy, As Yet Untitled – Workshop #3: Characterisation
In twenty-seven minutes (or your money back), you will read:
- 0. Preramble: What characterisation (and character arcs) mean;
- 1. Characterisation as… Structural Analysis: Walking across to the anthropologists’ aisle, to see what we can learn;
- 1½. *I move away from the keyboard to let Future Me edit*: Applying structural analysis in the classroom;
- 2. Characterisation as… Discovery: Fuck planning and shit – characters are vibes, baby;
- 3. Characterisation as… Meaningful Choices: OK, but how are you gonna make them different from everyone else?
- 3.1 Dialogue and Its Functions: Dialogue reveals change;
- 3.2 Changing the Font?: Exploring a Pratchettism in Jingo;
- 3.3 Point of View and Narration: Narrators have more to do with characterisation than you think;
- 3.4 Body Language and Actions: “What can the body say that speech would otherwise diminish?”
- 3.5 Thoughts: Keep it to yourself;
- 3.6 Appearances: I said, keep it to yourself;
- 3.7 The Other and Schismogenesis: Why look for the Other in the exotic? What’s stopping you from starting closer to home?
Problem in Character, Not in Speech: When Terry Pratchett Missed
An 18-minute Zen on:
- Eye Dialect Reprise: Pratchett’s iconic character voices were made so through eye dialect;
- But.: And this is a big but;
- The Turtle Grows: “Cancelled” is just a euphemism for “I refuse accountability.”
Chessworld: An Annotated Bibliography of the Courier and Their World, ‘The Board’
When the Science in Your Storytelling is Sus
OoOoOoOoOo your genes determine that you will read to the end to learn about OoOoOoOoOo:
- Oh, it’s THIS guy again: Hey, I’ve seen this one… or so the Monomyth tells me.
- A Story of Science-telling: Criti-hyping evolutionary psychology (without the criticism) to explain storytelling;
- My God, Pure Paleoideology: What were we doing until 12,000 years ago? Was it all just evolution?
- On balance: Surprisingly, authors know what they’re doing. We should hear what they have to say.
The Pen Shall Make Ye Fret
If you read to the end, right now, within my lifetime, ‘cos I can’t be doing this for all eternity, you’ll get these three consternations for the price of one:
- Oh, hey, I might get to write for a living;
- Recognising my flaws as a storyteller, and what I can do about ’em;
- Things you can expect on this blog soon…
Liminal Time
What an excellent day to read to the end and find such contemplative thoughts as:
- Liminal spaces – and why they feel comforting, yet eerie;
- Liminality in anthropology – and how it can explain said comforting eeriness;
- Persona 3 Reload, once more – and how the observing of its many rites of passage culminates in the most beautiful ending to a game I’ve ever played.
- (CW: THAT MEANS MASSIVE PERSONA 3 SPOILERS AHEAD)
The Merdenomicon; (SSBU) Reveries of Grilling Time
Read on for fascinating meditations, such as:
- The Merdenomicon: COVID’s epistemic anxiety and finding answers through ‘manifesting;’
- On Journaling as Developing Critical Thinking: Or, “Why you should record your thoughts in a blog;”
- Reveries of Grilling Time: The time I spent playing Smash during COVID.
On Productivity
- I tried to read Getting Things Done. It’s a slog, but it does have one thing worth remembering;
- Productivity is about being more deliberate about what you do, not about doing more;
- Whenever we see a piece of productivity advice, we should ask – “Productivity to what kinds of political ends?”
- I’m writing a story. Maybe I’ll publish it one day…
Acronyms and Anthropology
- A quick overview of the recent edition of BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth;
- Acronyms: The apex of absurdity in our 21st century communications;
- Why don’t we have a little more anthropology in our lives?