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GENRE 101 – Mystery
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles Do you ever dream of being the bad guy, vanishing people who annoy you, robbing their fortunes and forcing their decisions by imposing fear? Or would you rather be the good guy, the one to observe strange event, collect evidence and draw conclusions, a seeker of truth? How about you could be both? The Mystery genre is a relatively young contestant in the fight for the best position on the bestseller lists. It has proven enormously successful and versatile. Mystery stories come in all shapes and forms,…
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GENRE 101 – Horror
“My revenge has just begun! I spread it over centuries and time is on my side.” Bram Stoker, Dracula Imagine for a moment, how it must have impressed the prehistoric humans, after having mastered the ability to conjure and control fire, to realize that they were unable to carry a torch into the mountains. Despite making sure it was potent enough to last the way, the flame was still snuffed out if they went deep enough into the cave. They would be left disoriented, blind, confused, dizzy. Did they panic and faint, see strange visions and feel, as if someone or something was strangling them in the dark? They could…
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GENRE 101 – Historical Fiction
“I saw death come for you, and I had no philosophy.” Mary Renault, The Last Of The Wine Historical Fiction is one of the most represented genres on the bestseller shelves and it often manifests in combination with the other real world-genres such as Romance, Drama, Family Saga and Adventure. It is also particularly well liked in the Mystery sections for reasons I will discuss in the related chapter. It is a very popular genre to attach to a broader spectrum of interests and that is only one reason why it is sometimes hard to identify, even if it seems obvious. Contemporary or Historical Fiction? It may come as a…
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GENRE 101 – Family Saga
“We are all dying of life.” John Jakes, North and South There is a long lasting debate about the term Family Saga. Originally the term Saga referred to the old Icelandic family and hero chronicles that had a lot in common with the modern literary fiction genre, but were considered historical records. The first family novels were probably inspired by the genealogical structure of the old Icelandic Sagas until Family Saga became a genre of its own. The term is also great for advertising the quality and importance of the literary work. Not unlike the term epic which is becoming synonymous with exciting, the term has been adjusted in its…
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Adventure Workshop
The Adventure Workshop is the collection of my essays and ideas about the topic of and the issues with Creative Writing. Since I’ve been working on MIRATHATON mostly, I have been adding to this section irregularly but you might find something interesting here after all, if you are an avid reader or an aspiring writer. There are certain topics and views that I attach a lot of importance to: Character development and cast analysis, logic and structure as well as the importance of research, regular practice and the understanding of concepts and definitions. I am an advocate of the notion that writing is a craft and that becoming a decent…