Some stories seem to lend themselves to lots of clones, others not so much. These are the clones examples I've noticed in the books I've read lately. 1. James Patterson's Hope to Die In Hope to Die, where protagonist Alex Cross is trying to rescue his kidnapped family, Patterson uses clones for stakes purposes. Every … Continue reading Clones: How the Masters Use Them
Tag: controlling idea
Premise: Let’s see what you’ve got!
So, last week we sussed out possible themes of our working one-liners and concepts. Let's see if we can expand those themes into rough, working premises... 1. Our human-rights-attorney story: When the money runs out before the case against his transgender partner is over, a human rights lawyer joins a prestigious and wealthy law firm not knowing that the … Continue reading Premise: Let’s see what you’ve got!
Premise: How the masters do it
So, we're filling out the Master Premise Tool we developed on Monday: [Vice] leads to [defeat] but [Virtue] leads to [success] Again, I'll add more examples as I read more books with an eye for theme, but this will get us started... 1. James Patterson's Hope to Die As we looked at last week, the … Continue reading Premise: How the masters do it
Thematic Premise: What is it?
Theme. Theme Statement. Moral Premise. Controlling Idea. Armature. There are lots of names for the tool we’re looking at today. And you should probably brace yourselves because the masters have a lot to say about it. What is a thematic premise? Christopher Vogler says, "a premise is a more developed articulation of ... theme, turning … Continue reading Thematic Premise: What is it?
Theme: Show us what you’ve got!
So, let's see if we can suss out the themes of our working one-liners and concepts. 1. Our human-rights-attorney story: When the money runs out before the case against his transgender partner is over, a human rights lawyer joins a prestigious and wealthy law firm not knowing that the managing partner is the devil behind … Continue reading Theme: Show us what you’ve got!
Theme: What the masters write about
So, what themes, what one-word topics do the masters write about? Here are a few to start us off. (I'll add more as I read more.) 1. James Patterson’s Hope to Die The one-word theme for Hope to Die is probably hope. Despite being shown emotionally irrefutable evidence that his wife and son were brutally … Continue reading Theme: What the masters write about
Theme: What is it?
While studying theme (something like thirty masters' worth of info), I saw that the masters have a number of ways of defining theme, with the definitions ranging from one all-encompassing word to whole formulas that describe a story in a sort of theme-premise continuum. Originally I thought I'd combine all of these definitions into one master theme, … Continue reading Theme: What is it?
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