tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146616682024-03-13T13:03:15.041-07:00Sympathy for the MoonDavid Thorpe's musings on writing and current affairs.DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.comBlogger234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-61210501497113549742020-04-04T06:46:00.003-07:002020-04-04T06:46:56.290-07:00This blog has moved!I'm no longer going to post here. Instead I'm using the blog on my website, here:<br />
<a href="https://davidthorpe.info/blog/">https://davidthorpe.info/blog/</a><br />
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Please follow me there!DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-80959012695995029792019-09-25T01:20:00.000-07:002019-09-25T01:20:59.735-07:00"The only graphic novel about Chernobyl. An absolutely FANTASTIC work of art."<h3>
"Why is this fantastic book prohibited? Are you people insane?"</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u0ys4_-vlCA/XYsiHuZpAiI/AAAAAAAAI50/3QzHcnCC8BUGWb-sVTZIM6PxU8Dya-4YQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Doc-Chaos-original-cover-front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Doc Chaos: the Chernobyl Effect original cover" border="0" data-original-height="1413" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u0ys4_-vlCA/XYsiHuZpAiI/AAAAAAAAI50/3QzHcnCC8BUGWb-sVTZIM6PxU8Dya-4YQCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Doc-Chaos-original-cover-front.jpg" title="" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doc Chaos: the Chernobyl Effect original cover</td></tr>
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This is an email sent to me from Ray der Chrome in Amsterdam, containing a review of my book <i>Doc Chaos: The Chernobyl Effect</i><br />
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It's also an amazing story.</div>
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... A long, long, long time ago, back when I was in high school during the Reagan years, a nuclear power plant exploded in what is now Ukraine, Chernobyl. It was a massive, life changing event. </div>
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Canned goods, parents putting their kids on iodine pills, cattle had to stay indoors. The nuclear fallout, the actual cloud containing the radioactive toxins, spread all over North-Western Europe, including Amsterdam, the Netherlands where I lived. </div>
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I was 16 then. I recall my mom sending me to the store to go out and 'buy some fresh cauliflower'. I remember standing there in the store, staring at all the crops of cauliflower and opting for canned goods instead. My mom wasn't too pleased. </div>
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I used to frequent a store in Amsterdam called: "The American Book Center" (ABC). They'd have cheap English language books and as a student/schoolkid I'd get a 10% discount. The store was quite popular (also for tourists) so they also had a coffee bar and a "comic section" where you could find "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight Returns" in gorgeous high-quality hardcover English copies.<i> [note: I edited these books in the UK)</i></div>
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They imported their own books from the US and UK. A couple of years after the Chernobyl disaster I was browsing the comic section and that's where I found... Doc Chaos.</div>
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<h3>
Doc Chaos is an absolutely FANTASTIC work of art. An instant cult classic. </h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doc Chaos: the Chernobyl Effect artwork by Dave McKean</td></tr>
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It's a novel with artwork thrown in, sort of a graphic novel-lite if you will. Doc Chaos is a fictional character. He represents "science" run amok. He IS 'science', he is living radioactivity. He just wants to be set free. </div>
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Thankfully the engineers at Chernobyl did just that. The book takes us through the disaster in Ukraine in 1986 in a unique way. The style of writing is like a William Burroughs-esque living nightmare of this beast that wants to be set free, wants to contaminate our world, this beast we simply cannot control.</div>
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I was so impressed with the book that I added it to my reading list. As I was graduating high-school (w/ Latin and Greek, the highest level), we were obligated to deliver (for our all our language courses, German, French, Spanish, Dutch and English) a reading list consisting of 10-12 books. In total we had to gather 20 "points". </div>
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The point system left something to be desired since it was based on number of pages. So a 300 page dumb book, will get you 3 points. A 200 page dumb book will get you 2 points. And a very clever, creative and unique book like "Doc Chaos" will get you a mere 1 point, since it's under 200 pages :( </div>
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Teachers have to "approve" your reading list. "Doc Chaos" was refused. Needless to say I objected. </div>
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Why is this fantastic book prohibited? Are you people insane? </div>
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My English teachers were quite clear:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The book contains pictures, artwork, so its a comic book, not a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>real</b> book.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>I was quite offended and took my case to the principal and board of the school. They held a formal hearing and everything. </div>
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The<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>entire<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>English faculty was there. "It's under 200 pages, it contains pictures, so no, not allowed". I calmly listened to their nonsense for a bit and then asked:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Has anybody actually read this book?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>Turns out.... nobody did :)</div>
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The principal and board then asked the English faculty:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Why didn't you read this book?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(Now this is before Internet, 1988-1989, so...)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>"Well we do not know where he got it and we never heard of it".<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></div>
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I explained where I got the book, but alas, after numerous phonecalls with the American Book Center, no copies were available, they'd have to import more copies but those would arrive too late for my final (diploma) oral English exams. </div>
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I then offered to loan my copy to the school who used a regular copy-machine to make several copies of the book. (And yes, that's technically "piracy"). English staff then read the book and quite quickly came to the following conclusion:</div>
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<i>Doc Chaos is an intellectual and creative tour-de-force. We're quite pleased that this student has taken a liking to such challenging material.</i></div>
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Not only was the book allowed on my reading list... I got 3 points for it, even though it was well under 300 pages.</div>
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As far as I am aware... after so many years,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Doc Chaos<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>is still the only graphic novel / artwork that deals with the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear accident in human history.</div>
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Now some 30 yrs later, this rare and obscure little book has become a true cult classic.</div>
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I encourage everybody to read it. I give it 5 stars.</div>
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... And 3 points :)</div>
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Feel free to use this review anywhere you like and yes you can add my name: Ray van Chrome.</div>
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The book contains 12 illustrations by prominent stars of the comics art world: <em> Simon Bisley<span class="i"></span> ~ Brian Bolland ~ Brett Ewins ~ Duncan Fegredo ~ Rian Hughes ~ Lin Jammett ~ Pete Mastin ~ Dave McKean<span class="i"></span> ~ Savage Pencil ~ Ed Pinsent ~ Bryan Talbot</em>.
</div>
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You can buy the book here: <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/#DC">http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/#DC</a></div>
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Read about it here: <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/the-chernobyl-effect/">http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/the-chernobyl-effect/</a></div>
DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-32791599580557504032019-04-17T05:54:00.002-07:002019-04-17T05:54:44.352-07:00What do you think of Netflix' Special series about cerebral palsy?<div>
In case you haven't seen it, <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2019/04/11/netflix-special-new-kind-disability-story-tv/3422178002/" target="_blank">Special is a new Netflix series </a>where the main character has cerebral palsy.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://img.thedailybeast.com/image/upload/c_crop,d_placeholder_euli9k,h_1687,w_3000,x_0,y_0/dpr_1.5/c_limit,w_1044/fl_lossy,q_auto/v1555025683/190411-Fallon-Obsessed-tease_nvw2gk" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://img.thedailybeast.com/image/upload/c_crop,d_placeholder_euli9k,h_1687,w_3000,x_0,y_0/dpr_1.5/c_limit,w_1044/fl_lossy,q_auto/v1555025683/190411-Fallon-Obsessed-tease_nvw2gk" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It opens with the main character falling over. Rather like me sometimes. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is a comedy. At the same time, on the plus side, it is educating the public about CP.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I
don't want to give any spoilers away. But for me, it's great that
Netflix have commissioned this series. A thing like this is long
overdue.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, it should be just the beginning.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mostly the only famous people with CP are comedians. Is that the best we can do? Laugh at ourselves?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It
does remind me of the days 100 years ago when the only way black person
could become a celebrity was to become a singer or a comedian, laughing
at themselves.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Am I being unfair?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I would like to see actors with CP and other disabilities playing regular parts in regular dramas.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'd like to see actors with CP playing lead parts, heroes and heroines, looking cool, and being great role models.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Then
we will know we've really arrived and not just being treated with a
little corner of broadcasting time to "educate" the public with a
laugh-sugared pill.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-44995651251099489472019-03-11T09:01:00.002-07:002019-03-19T04:40:01.352-07:00A step-by-step guide to successful novel and script writingMaking readers care is now <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Readers-Psychology-Structure-Step-ebook/dp/B07PJTN9BK/" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Readers-Psychology-Structure-Step-ebook/dp/B07PJTN9BK/">available exclusively on Amazon</a> as a print and e-book.<br />
<br />
Some of you may recall the presentation I gave in Cardiff last year on making compelling characters, or been on one of courses or other workshops.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51m5IMNL3mL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="353" height="320" src="https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51m5IMNL3mL.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Well, you can now read the book!<br />
<br />
At the Society of Authors' Jo McCrum's clever suggestion I've now published the book of my writing course.<br />
<br />
<i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Readers-Psychology-Structure-Step-ebook/dp/B07PJTN9BK/" target="_blank">Making Readers Care with Psychology and Structure: The Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Totally Gripping Novels, Film and TV Scripts</a></i> is about how to write a 'page-turner' – a compelling narrative with in-depth characters that ‘jump off the page’.<br />
<br />
I came to it by considering deeply how to think about the reader and what they want, and how to make them care about what you're writing so that they ‘can’t put it down’. I guess that's its unique selling point.<br />
<br />
Packed with practical exercises, I hope this book will help you get the best from your story, whatever genre, novel or script it is, to uncover inside it the seed of the perfect narrative that's waiting to be found.<br />
<br />
I evolved the method using techniques from teaching hundreds of hours of creative and script-writing workshops, working with my students as they went through drafts.<br />
<br />
It includes the <b>10 Steps To A First Draft</b> system. This is the quickest way to arrive at a first draft, from the initial idea to thinking of every scene as a series of dramatic beats. It saves time and frees authors to write fewer drafts while concentrating on style – the exact words used.<br />
<br />
Topics include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>using psychology to create flawed characters</li>
<li>the four story types</li>
<li>the four endings</li>
<li>the 'but' equation</li>
<li>the storyline</li>
<li>the hero's journey</li>
<li>character development</li>
<li>on dialogue</li>
<li>honesty and writing</li>
<li>planning a scene</li>
<li>beats and how to use them</li>
<li>suspense</li>
<li>pacing</li>
<li>humour</li>
<li>editing</li>
<li>openings</li>
<li>submitting your work</li>
<li>...and much more.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
You can get it here: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PJTN9BK">https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PJTN9BK</a><br />
<br />
If it’s useful, please consider leaving a review - you know how Amazon works! Thank you.DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-21706108204745790972019-01-24T09:00:00.002-08:002019-01-24T09:00:23.971-08:00Making Readers Care with Psychology and Structure: The Complete Guide To Writing Totally Gripping Novels, Film & TV Scripts My new book will be published towards the end of February as an e-book, price £4.50. Watch this space!
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://davidthorpe.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Making-Readers-Care-cover.png"><img alt="Cover of Making Readers Care with Psychology and Structure: The Complete Guide To Writing Totally Gripping Novels, Film & TV Scripts by David Thorpe" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-673" height="300" src="https://davidthorpe.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Making-Readers-Care-cover-212x300.png" width="212" /></a>
</div>
It is for anyone who wants to write a ‘page-turner’ – a compelling narrative that readers ‘can’t put down’ with characters that ‘jump off the page’. These phrases in inverted commas are frequently used by editors, producers and agents to describe what they are looking for.<br />
<br />
The way to achieve this result is by making readers care what happens to your characters, regardless of whether they are likeable or not.
<br />
My aim is simply to help you get the best from your own story, whatever it is; to uncover inside it the seed of the perfect narrative just waiting to be discovered and guide you in making it as gripping as possible.<br />
<br />
I have taught many hundreds of hours of scriptwriting and creative writing classes, during which its content has been developed and refined from feedback with students.
<br />
<br />
It concentrates especially on two things: human psychology and structure. It provides a methodology.
<br />
<br />
Many readers, and many beginner writers, think writing is just about inspiration. Of course inspiration plays a part. But discipline and method, ruthlessness and determination contribute the rest.
<br />
<br />
Film, TV, publishing: they are highly competitive industries. Millions of dollars are at stake. To succeed you need to be working at a top professional standard.
<br />
<br />
This book contains the secrets of success for writers in these industries. The only other things you will need are your time and hard work.
<br />
<br />
<b>Contents:</b>
<br />
Introduction 13
<br />
The nature of storytelling 13
<br />
How to use this book ... 14
<br />
10 steps to a first draft! ... 14
<br />
<br />
SECTION A: PREPARATION
<br />
1. Choosing the right idea ... 17
<br />
Research the market 17
<br />
Exercise 1: Finalise the idea 17
<br />
2. The four basic plot types ... 19
<br />
How to decide your story’s plot type 19
<br />
1. Conquering the Monster ... 19
<br />
2. Rags to Riches ... 19
<br />
3. Voyage and Return ... 19
<br />
4. Rebirth ... 20
<br />
Exercise 2.1: What's the plot type? ... 20
<br />
So are there really only four plots? ... 20
<br />
Exercise 2.2: Practice the plot type ... 21
<br />
Exercise 2.3: Your plot type ... 21
<br />
3. The challenge of creating compelling characters ... 22
<br />
Be honest 22
<br />
Exercise 3.2: Know your characters ... 23
<br />
Exercise 3.3: Practising honesty 23
<br />
Issue-based characters ... 23
<br />
4. How to create characters that jump off the page 24
<br />
Exercise 4.1: Make a basic character sheet ... 24
<br />
Hear their voices ... 24
<br />
Complexity ... 24
<br />
Exercise 4.2: Creating complexity ... 24
<br />
Inner conflict 25
<br />
Ways of creating inner conflict 25
<br />
Exercise 4.3: Life scripts and inner conflicts 27
<br />
5. The ‘but’ equation ... 28
<br />
Upping the stakes ... 28
<br />
Exercise 5.1: Write a 'but' equation ... 28
<br />
What’s at stake? ... 28
<br />
Exercise 5.2: What's at stake? ... 29
<br />
How do conflicted characters behave? 29
<br />
Exercise 5.3: Plot goals ... 29
<br />
Make mistakes ... 29
<br />
6. The really interesting thing about superheroes ... 31
<br />
7. The story writing map ... 32
<br />
8. The four story endings ... 33
<br />
Exercise 8.1: How does it end? ... 33
<br />
Story arcs ... 33
<br />
Exercise 8.2: Check the ends ... 33
<br />
9. The three act structure and the sentence summary 34
<br />
The three act structure ... 34
<br />
The three sentence summary ... 35
<br />
Exercise 9.1: Analyse a story ... 36
<br />
Exercise 9.2: Write your three sentence summary ... 36
<br />
10. Loglines ... 37
<br />
How to write a logline ... 37
<br />
Exercise 10.1: Write a logline for another story ... 38
<br />
Exercise 10.2: Write a logline for your story ... 38
<br />
11. Research 39
<br />
How to do research ... 39
<br />
How to use the research ... 39
<br />
12. Themes and subplots ... 40
<br />
The use of subplots ... 40
<br />
More than one theme ... 41
<br />
Exercises 12: ... 41
<br />
13. The Hero’s Journey ... 42
<br />
Too formulaic? ... 43
<br />
Exercise 13.1: Look out for the plot points ... 44
<br />
Exercise 13.2: Map your hero's journey 45
<br />
14. Fleshing out the story ... 46
<br />
15. Character development ... 47
<br />
You are what other people think of you ... 47
<br />
Making an attitude table ... 47
<br />
Exercise 15.1: Make an attitude table ... 48
<br />
Stakes ... 48
<br />
Exercise 15.2: Sharpen the stakes 49
<br />
16. More on psychology and dramatic storytelling ... 50
<br />
The shadow self ... 50
<br />
Exercises 16.1: What is the shadow self? 50
<br />
Life scripts ... 50
<br />
Exercises 16.2: What are the life scripts? 51
<br />
People have ‘parts’ ... 51
<br />
Triggers 52
<br />
Exercises 16.3: What are the triggers? ... 53
<br />
17. The Storyline ... 54
<br />
Weaving yarns ... 54
<br />
The Storyline ... 54
<br />
Exercise 17.1: Make a storyline 55
<br />
Things to look for: ... 55
<br />
Exercise 17.2: Plant the plants ... 56
<br />
Exercise 17.3: Plant the props ... 56
<br />
Exercise 17.4: Perfect the storyline ... 56
<br />
18. The scene cards system ... 57
<br />
The scene cards ... 57
<br />
Exercise 18: Make your scene cards ... 59
<br />
19. The synopsis ... 60
<br />
Exercise 19: Check for plot holes ... 61
<br />
20. What is suspense? ... 62
<br />
Three ingredients of suspense 62
<br />
Levels of suspense ... 62
<br />
Ways to increase and vary suspense: ... 62
<br />
The payoff ... 62
<br />
Timescales ... 63
<br />
Layer your anticipations ... 63
<br />
Be aware of pacing ... 63
<br />
Relation to story structure: ... 63
<br />
Exercise 20: Monitor the suspense ... 63
<br />
21. Flashbacks and framing devices ... 65
<br />
Framing devices ... 65
<br />
22. Interlude: Imagination, inspiration and in-betweens ... 66
<br />
Empathy and imagination 66
<br />
Courting the unexpected ... 66
<br />
Breathing space ... 67
<br />
Exercise 22: Tap your subconscious ... 67
<br />
<br />
SECTION B: WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT
<br />
23. Writing the first draft ... 69
<br />
A suggested work pattern 69
<br />
How many drafts should you write? ... 69
<br />
How long should your novel be? ... 69
<br />
Assemble your tools 69
<br />
24. Honesty and writing ... 71
<br />
25. Choosing the point of view ... 72
<br />
Exercise 25: ... 72
<br />
26. Present or past tense? ... 73
<br />
Exercise 26: Play with tense ... 73
<br />
27. On Dialogue 74
<br />
Exercise 27.1: Plan a scene ... 74
<br />
Exercise 27.2: Dialogue vs. silence ... 75
<br />
28. More on dialogue ... 76
<br />
1. Intention ... 76
<br />
2. Pauses and attributions ... 76
<br />
3. Multiple topics in a conversation 77
<br />
4. Long speeches ... 77
<br />
5. Grammar ... 77
<br />
6. Phonetic spellings 77
<br />
7. Don’t use characters’ names too often 78
<br />
8. Don’t have long stretches of dialogue only ... 78
<br />
9. Reported speech ... 78
<br />
Exercise 28.3: Showing not telling ... 78
<br />
29. How to plan a scene (1) ... 79
<br />
The definition of a scene ... 79
<br />
Exercise 29: Prepare to write a scene ... 79
<br />
30. Transactional analysis of a relationship ... 80
<br />
31. How to plan a scene (2) ... 82
<br />
Exercise 31: Make the scene grip the reader ... 82
<br />
32. Suspense and structure ... 84
<br />
Exercise 32: ... 84
<br />
33. 20 tips on scene writing ... 85
<br />
34. Beats and how they work ... 86
<br />
Exercise 34.1: List the beats ... 86
<br />
Exercise 34.2: Check the beats ... 86
<br />
The relationship with adjacent scenes ... 87
<br />
Exercise 34.3: Check the scene ... 87
<br />
35. How to keep it simple and fast-paced ... 88
<br />
Tense and sentence structure ... 88
<br />
Exercise 35.1: Active-passive ... 88
<br />
Word choice ... 88
<br />
Use short chapters or segments ... 88
<br />
Cliffhangers ... 88
<br />
Jump cuts ... 89
<br />
The secret of good storytelling 89
<br />
Exercise 35.2: Cliffhangers 89
<br />
36. Pacing ... 90
<br />
What is pacing? ... 90
<br />
When to slow down ... 90
<br />
When to speed up ... 90
<br />
Exercise 36.1: Speed check ... 90
<br />
Exercise 36.2: Overwriting check ... 90
<br />
Action scenes ... 90
<br />
Cliffhangers and pacing ... 91
<br />
Summaries ... 91
<br />
Extending the dramatic scenes 91
<br />
Jump cuts ... 91
<br />
Short chapters ... 91
<br />
Word choice and sentence structure ... 91
<br />
Exercise 36.3: Read it out ... 92
<br />
37. Set-pieces ... 93
<br />
Exercises 37: ... 93
<br />
38. Show, don’t tell ... 94
<br />
Exercise 38.1: Noticing 'telling' ... 94
<br />
Exercise 38.2: Read and critique ... 94
<br />
39. Scene setting and the reliability of the narrator ... 96
<br />
Exercise 39: ... 96
<br />
40. Everything is particular: the art of writing descriptive prose ... 97
<br />
Exercise 40: ... 98
<br />
41. The extended metaphor ... 99
<br />
Cold Comfort Farm ... 99
<br />
Exercise 41: ... 100
<br />
42. Using humour ... 101
<br />
Types of humour ... 101
<br />
Types of humour in relation to character type or to genre ... 101
<br />
Narrative forms and humour ... 102
<br />
Types of verbal humour ... 103
<br />
Sample list of humorous books with types of humour ... 104
<br />
Other notes ... 104
<br />
Exercises 42: 104
<br />
<br />
SECTION C: EDITING
<br />
43. Editing your work ... 106
<br />
Seeing it afresh ... 106
<br />
Exercise 43.1: Overview ... 106
<br />
Exercise 43.2: Settings check ... 106
<br />
Exercise 43.3: Style check 107
<br />
Exercise 43.4: Chapter or scene level checks ... 107
<br />
This is about making the reader care 108
<br />
Show don’t tell ... 108
<br />
Transitions ... 108
<br />
Making it flow ... 108
<br />
Exercise 43.5: Copy-editing ... 109
<br />
Exercise 43.6: Proofreading ... 109
<br />
44. Openings ... 110
<br />
Things that a beginning needs to do ... 110
<br />
How to do this ... 110
<br />
Exercise 44: ... 111
<br />
45. Notes on formatting ... 112
<br />
For the manuscript ... 112
<br />
46. Jokes for editors and writers 113
<br />
Explanations for the jokes ... 113
<br />
<br />
SECTION D: SUBMITTING
<br />
47. Agents and editors ... 118
<br />
48. What to send ... 119
<br />
Cover letters when submitting to agents/editors ... 119
<br />
Synopses ... 119
<br />
49. How to grab the attention of an editor or agent ... 120
<br />
50. How to deal with rejection and feedback 121
<br />
How to respond to feedback ... 121
<br />
51. To self publish or not? ... 122
<br />
Self-publishing and publishers’ services ... 122
<br />
Acknowledgements ... 123
DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-41160222015981671292018-07-15T02:08:00.002-07:002018-07-15T02:08:36.379-07:00Mentoring writers and the Society of AuthorsSome of you will know that I teach creative writing and mentor writers.<br />
<br />
Last week I was privileged to give a keynote one hour workshop at the first Society of Authors event to be held in Wales for many years.<br />
<br />
It was held in Cornerstones, Cardiff on a too-hot day. I gave a presentation on using psychology to create convincing characters that captivate readers and leap off the page – this approach also helps to overcome writers' block.<br />
<br />
Thanks to Society of Authors coordinator Jo McCrum for giving me the chance to do this! And all the writers who gave me such great feedback afterwards.<br />
<br />
Jo suggested I turn my notes into an e-book. When I've finished my current non-fiction book on creating sustainable 'one planet' cities, I will definitely do this will all my material for my writing course.<br />
<br />
The next Welsh SoA event will be held in Swansea in September and be a simple get-together run with the help of children's writer <a href="http://www.helendocherty.com/" target="_blank">Helen Docherty</a> who's based in the town.<br />
<br />
Right now I have an interesting job working with six PhD students of sustainable placemaking. They want to turn their ideas about living well into short stories for children.<br />
<br />
Being academics writing fiction does not come easily for many of them but they're doing really well! They're now well into their first drafts and we hope to have an e-book out in the autumn! More later.<br />
<br />
If anyone here wants to know more, do get in touch and look at<a href="http://davidthorpe.info/online-writing-course/" target="_blank"> the page on my website about the writing course</a>.DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-3833445834141734222018-02-25T08:35:00.001-08:002018-02-25T08:35:15.350-08:00Come on a weekend retreat to experiment with writing about climate change<b>Incredible as it may seem it's still possible for children to go through school and come out the other end and hardly be aware of the existence of climate change, because it is barely touched upon in the curriculum.</b><br />
<br />
It seems like a pretty vital topic, then, for writers to choose to include in their stories – to bring the reality of this topic into a children's imaginations!<br />
<br />
That's why, this March, I'm running a <a href="http://www.tynewydd.wales/course/writing-climate-change/" target="_blank">weekend retreat for writers</a> at the Welsh writing centre Ty Newydd, set in the stunningly beautiful Lleyn Peninsula.<br />
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Helping me to do this will be the poet, dramatist, climate change campaigner and performer <a href="http://emily-hinshelwood.co.uk/" target="_blank">Emily Hinshelwood</a>.<br />
<br />
We will be challenging writers to think about ways to expose and write about the often hidden connection between our profligate use of fossil fuels and the loss of habitat, life and lifestyle – that many in the world are already experiencing.<br />
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In our everyday lives we often don't have the opportunity or space to consider the emotions that arise in us as a response to such a nebulous and all encompassing threat as catastrophic climate change.<br />
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This threat seems both remote and near, far away in time, and yet touching the every day weather and the behaviour of plants and wildlife around us even now – as if they are early warning sensors.<br />
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We don't know how to interpret these portents and the very uncertainty around climate change and the sheer size of the fact makes us feel powerless and afraid.<br />
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Some of us go into denial, some of us are paralysed with shock and some of us are galvanised into action.<br />
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In writing for children, they mustn't be made to feel frightened or scared into shock and powerlessness, they must be helped to feel that the future does contain hope and that it is possible to do something. But there is so much to know. Where can writers start?<br />
<br />
There is already <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/apr/23/sarah-holdings-top-10-cli-fi-books" target="_blank">no shortage of novels for children with the theme of climate change</a>. Three years ago I took part in a <a href="http://sympathyftm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/when-ya-books-tackle-heavy-stuff.html" target="_blank">session at the Hay-on-Wye Literature Festival</a> where, with the author of the Carbon Diaries, <a href="http://www.sacilloyd.com/" target="_blank">Saci Lloyd</a>, we touched on some of them.<br />
<br />
For our pains we were <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/11624736/Climate-activists-targeting-children-with-range-of-cli-fi-novels.html" target="_blank">accused of poisoning children's minds </a>by the right-wing press and online trolls!<br />
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I've written something about the history of writing and climate change <a href="https://climatecultures.net/speculative-worlds/rise-climate-fiction-1-beyond-dystopia-utopia/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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In another project I've been involved with, <a href="https://www.cambriabooks.co.uk/portfolio/weatherfronts/" target="_blank">Weatherfronts</a>, an anthology of writing about climate change, some writers have addressed the question with a story set at a domestic scale rather than apocalyptic science-fiction.<br />
<br />
Darragh Martin wrote a hilarious story for young children about fighting off a nasty polluter called <a href="https://cdn.freewordcentre.com/uploads/2017/02/Realistic-Utopias-Writing-for-Change.-Thumbelina-Jellyfizz-and-the-Elephant-in-the-Bathroom.pdf" target="_blank">'Thumbelina Jellyfizz and the Elephant in the Bathroom'.</a><br />
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<br />
And what about picturing a bright future where we have solved the problems of climate change but maybe we have other problems instead?<br />
<br />
To build a bright future we first have to envision it. Children, with their unfettered imaginations, unconstrained by preconceptions, are well able to contribute their own ideas. Writers can stimulate them to do this.<br />
<br />
So our weekend course will discuss the many facets of climate change and the ways in which its impact is felt both by participants on the course and people throughout the world.<br />
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We will experiment with a variety of different approaches and investigate ways of tapping our emotional reactions, of using research, imagining possible scenarios, and generating meaningful stories.<br />
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We will also be using the <a href="https://www.recover-from-grief.com/" target="_blank">cycle of recovery from shock and grief</a> because we think it is directly relevant here.<br />
<br />
We have seen people move through these psychological stages:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>shock & denial </b>when they first hear about climate change; </li>
<li><b>pain & guilt </b>about the suffering that humanity has caused and is causing by the use of fossil fuels; </li>
<li><b>anger and blame-laying</b>; </li>
<li><b>depression, powerlessness, reflection</b>; </li>
<li><b>an upward turn</b> as one realises that life could still continue; </li>
<li><b>reconstruction</b> of one's life in a new way that is more sustainable, perhaps making connections with like-minded people; </li>
<li>and finally <b>acceptance and hope</b> as they learn to deal with the new situation.</li>
</ol>
<br />
This almost sounds like a '<a href="https://thewritepractice.com/voyage-and-return/" target="_blank">voyage and return</a>' scenario or perhaps a '<a href="https://thewritepractice.com/7-plots/" target="_blank">conquering the monster'</a> type of story, doesn't it?<br />
<br />
It's going to be exciting to see what people come up with. Emily and I can't wait to see you there!<br />
<br />
Find out more here: <a href="http://www.tynewydd.wales/course/writing-climate-change/">http://www.tynewydd.wales/course/writing-climate-change/</a><br />
<br />
[I am the writer of Marvel's <i>Captain Britain</i>, the sci-fi YA novels <i><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/hybrids/" >Hybrids</a>, <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/#DC" >Doc Chaos: The Chernobyl Effect</a></i> and the cli-fi fantasy <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/stormteller/"><i>Stormteller</i></a>. I also run a <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/online-writing-course/" target="_blank">regular writing course, called 'Making Readers Care' that can be taken online</a>. <a href="mailto:hello@davidthorpe.info" >Contact me</a> if interested.]<br />
DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-4749283759610630772017-10-03T07:43:00.002-07:002017-10-03T07:43:57.974-07:00Will the real Robin Hood please stand up?<i>Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen...</i><br />
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Robin Hood has a personal appeal to me, since I'm from Nottingham and my childhood was spent visiting Sherwood Forest, the Major Oak, the castle, and admiring the statue of Robin in front of its walls, while enjoying one of the tv series that happened to be aired at the time.<br />
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It's a simple, romantic, adventurous legend, and one enveloped in a love of nature.<br />
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The forest is emblematic of a haven. It represents freedom from oppressive authority, rather than terror (as in northern European folk stories where forests are populated by wolves, giants, elves and evil stepmothers), and it is a source of sustenance – both food and riches to be plundered from rich barons haplessly passing through.<br />
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Robin is popular amongst his peers, and will typically be protected by the peasantry to whom he donates such riches. There are no consequences to their having received stolen goods!<br />
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The legend of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood" target="_blank">Robin Hood</a> – around 800 years old – continues to excite both children and adults around the world.<br />
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Yet another <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4532826/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2" target="_blank">movie</a> is coming out next year, and there have been at least three<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_and_television_series_featuring_Robin_Hood" target="_blank"> tv series</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070608/" target="_blank">Disney</a> brought out what's probably the worst ever version for children in 1973 where, bizarrely, Robin is anthropomorphised as a fox:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YKrKfma4Ahk/WawnM5FVwTI/AAAAAAAAEUU/jMXgJqJoLIsaQPtnGY4nEt2KLBv652DWwCLcBGAs/s1600/Robin_Hood_Disney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="895" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YKrKfma4Ahk/WawnM5FVwTI/AAAAAAAAEUU/jMXgJqJoLIsaQPtnGY4nEt2KLBv652DWwCLcBGAs/s320/Robin_Hood_Disney.jpg" width="314" /></a></div>
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The most appealing aspect of the legend nowadays is that of social justice (perhaps it was always so): hence his name is given to a proposed<a href="https://www.robinhoodtax.org.uk/how-it-works" target="_blank"> tax on banking transactions</a>, and he is a hero of the Occupy movement, while the myth has inspired a fictional character in a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20702518-sherwood-nation" target="_blank">modern setting seeking justice</a> in the novel<i> Sherwood Nation</i>.<br />
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For a while now I've been working on a reinvention of the legend which has involved some interesting research, and this month I returned to the forest, which has its own educational <a href="http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/planning-and-environment/country-parks/sherwood-forest" target="_blank">visitor centre</a>, exploring the myth and catering for the half a million visitors it gets every year.<br />
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Chief exhibit is the Major Oak, where Robin and his merrie men were supposed to have hidden from the Sheriff's men:<br />
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First celebrated in 1803, it is now supported and protected by a team of specialists, and is both stupendously huge and fulsomely thriving.<br />
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It's estimated to be around 800 years old, although it's impossible to be sure without cutting it down and counting the rings, which would be like killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. If it is that old, it couldn't possibly have hidden the outlaws in its copious hollow – it might have been an acorn twinkling in its parent's metaphorical eye.<br />
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When I was a kid, the public could still enter the hollow of the oak. It smelt rather unromantically of urine. Perhaps it was really Robin Hood's toilet.<br />
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The forest is chiefly birch and oak and quite beautiful. Nowadays there are no wolves, boar or deer to keep the brambles and bracken down. There's a good case to be made for rewilding at least parts of Sherwood Forest.<br />
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Encountering a wild boar would add to the atmosphere – and sense of adventure!<br />
<br />
But you can still think yourself back to the old days, if you wander off the beaten track and sit alone for a while, quietly, just listening and looking.<br />
<br />
I've also visited the caves. Nottingham is riddled with them, like a giant piece of Gorgonzola, the town being built mostly on a seam of (getting geological here) Bunter Sandstone, which is soft and easy to carve out.<br />
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In Brythonic times it was known as the Place of Caves, and, since before records began, it's said that the caves were populated. Many buildings in the old town are built into the rock, with back rooms or cellars that are caves.<br />
<br />
Most famous of these is what is probably the oldest Inn in the world, the <a href="http://www.triptojerusalem.com/" target="_blank">Trip to Jerusalem</a> (first port of call on a Chaucerian type pilgrimage), built into the foot of the castle rock. This is the best picture I could get looking from the upper bar up the old chimney that wound its way to the top, where the old castle was:<br />
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The passage is blocked off now, but I remember when it wasn't.<br />
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The caves that I explored (with permission from the council) are situated behind a cemetery close to my old school. There's evidence they are still lived in – nowadays by the otherwise homeless.<br />
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There are several succinct cave networks, and some of them still haven't been fully explored. There's a <a href="http://m.experiencenottinghamshire.com/discover/city-of-caves-p354851?__utma=1.229916541.1504457756.1504457756.1504457756.1&__utmb=1.2.10.1504457756&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1504457756.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=(not%20provided)&__utmv=-&__utmk=212200212" target="_blank">visitor centre for the caves </a>too.<br />
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At risk that this post is beginning to sound like it's sponsored by Nottingham Council's tourism department (it isn't, but donations gratefully received), let's move on to a little bit of other history, namely, what was it like to be a child in 1190?<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Children were free until the age of 7 or 8, when
they would begin schooling. This lasted until the age of 11 or 12. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After that boys had to either work or be
apprenticed to a trade, and non-peasant girls would begin learning etiquette and the skills
to be a noble wife. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The sons of nobleman had to learn how to be vicious in combat
in order to be successful knights. I mean REALLY vicious. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">If a boy could not afford to be a knight (it cost a lot to buy chain mail, armour, swords and horses), then they lost their right to land.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Many of these boys had no choice but to live in the forest amongst the other
outlaws, stealing and butchering to survive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">For the most part the common people were
otherwise left to fend for themselves, as long as they gave their tithes to the manor and respected the church and Norman law. Otherwise they were steeped in beliefs in magic, the Green
Man and fayries...</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">A tough life – but you knew your place. 27 generations ago. I quite like to think one of my ancestors might have been an outlaw and lived with Robin Hood. A bit of him or her lives on in me....</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>David's <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/online-writing-course/" target="_blank"> writing course can be found here</a>. He is the author of<i> Hybrids, Stormteller</i> and Marvel's <i>Captain Britain </i>amongst others. His new short story imagining a future Britain – <i>For The Greater Good – </i>is featured in this free ebook: <a href="http://www.cambriabooks.co.uk/portfolio/weatherfronts/" target="_blank">Weatherfronts: The Stories We Tell</a>. <i>Hybrids</i> and <i>Stormteller</i> can be found and bought <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/" target="_blank">here</a>.</b></span></div>
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<br />DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-9974461240551397912017-09-04T13:57:00.000-07:002017-09-05T01:24:01.732-07:00The beauty of scepticism: a review of Murmurs of Doubt by Rebecca Fox<b>A review of Murmurs of Doubt by Rebecca Fox (Graphic novel, Ockham Publishing, 178pp, £11.99) See:<a href="http://doubtcomic.com/" target="_blank"> http://doubtcomic.com/</a>.</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52c98363e4b090304a13c1dd/t/59147d3ecd0f683d90a0b2bb/1494515024687/?format=750w" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="561" height="320" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52c98363e4b090304a13c1dd/t/59147d3ecd0f683d90a0b2bb/1494515024687/?format=750w" width="224" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Today I read that according to a new survey <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-people-atheist-no-religion-uk-christianity-islam-sikism-judaism-jewish-muslims-a7928896.html" target="_blank">over half the people in the UK don't subscribe to a religio</a>n. I don't know what they do believe. I can only speak for myself. After being brought up Church of England, briefly flirting with evangelicism, I became an atheist– or rather a nihilist – by the time I left school.<br />
<br />
This didn't fill the religion-shaped hole in my conditioning, however, and I spent half a lifetime looking at other, particularly Eastern religions. I've flirted with chaos magic and the I-Ching, practised meditation, been on a Zen retreat, practised tai ch'i, loved the idea of animism (but only as a metaphor), rejected astrology and homeopathy and most new age thinking.<br />
<br />
And for most of my adult life I've subscribed to the New Scientist.<br />
<br />
The point is, I've wanted to believe, but only in something that can be supported by evidence. Science relies on doubt, especially of its own findings, in pursuit of further and deeper truths.<br />
<br />
Religion makes you feel as though you belong to something bigger than yourself. So does contemplating the universe.<br />
<br />
Organised religion gives you a social group. But so does any shared interest group.<br />
<br />
Religion can provide redemption: but so does counselling or therapy.<br />
<br />
Religion can provide peace of mind: so does meditation (which I still practice).<br />
<br />
For everything religion does, something else can do it less harmfully.<br />
<br />
At university I studied (besides art) philosophy, including the philosophies of mind and religion. Amongst the tools of this discipline is Occam's Razor, which says that the simplest solution to a problem is usually the best.<br />
<br />
Religion is a very complex solution to any of the above problems, and the alternatives, believe me, are much simpler.<br />
<br />
And more likely to be true.<br />
<br />
Rebecca Fox's beautifully drawn graphic story collection is an account of her own similar journey, and that of others, through the mists of doubt. The twelve tales it contains are set in many cultures: Western, African, Chinese, Indian and more.<br />
<br />
They illustrate the many facets of belief, and of the value of questioning received 'wisdoms'.<br />
<br />
Anyone who has ever felt the limitations of handed-down customs and conditioning will appreciate the examples given by these tales.<br />
<br />
As the character in 'Pillow Talk' – a lesbian justifying her position to her partner – says: "I'm not an athiest because I'm angry. I'm an athiest AND I'm angry . I'm furious because this bullshit hurts people".<br />
<br />
Having just re-watched <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Hated_Family_in_America" target="_blank">Louis Theroux' documentaries on the Westboro' Baptist Church</a>, I'm in total agreement.<br />
<br />
We live in times where religious belief has been afforded too much respect. It has over-reached itself in some quarters. Freedom of speech should be respected but only to the extent that it does not permit to speak those who would remove others' freedom to speak.<br />
<br />
If you're confused over where this line should be drawn, then this is the book for you.<br />
<br />
The first story is about a Tibetan Buddhist monk who rejects the dogma of reincarnation. Of course it is possible to believe that meditation has a value without believing in Buddhist precepts. That value is based on your experience. So I will agree with the monk's assertion that "I want to experience this world through eyes unclouded by doctrine and superstition".<br />
<br />
Fox follows each story with a page of discussion and references. She very much views the book as a learning tool. She is anxious to explain everything. She has many reasons to be justified in this. Amongst them is the motivation for the story 'Mayfly'.<br />
<br />
In 'Mayfly', a young Indian girl's curiosity is a reason to be afraid, because in her culture, if she chooses the path of knowledge then her family will see it as a rejection of them and their culture. To us in a liberal country it might not seem so much of a big deal, but in some communities it is reason enough for violence to occur.<br />
<br />
I left out a motivation for religious belief above. The prospect of the end of our lives is the biggest fear we can face. The ideal of an afterlife in which there is reward or punishment for our deeds is the engine behind many belief systems.<br />
<br />
But if you don't believe in an afterlife, then the prospect of death is absolute finality. It is this prospect that's addressed in the story 'Dying in the Light'.<br />
<br />
The final tale, 'Unreal City', addresses the paradox felt by most philosophers who have questioned everything. A nurse, commuting on the London Underground, meets a fox – the embodiment of the author – and confronts the value of her life-saving skills, asking: what, in truth, can I take for granted? If it is nothing, then I am totally alone. But I don't want to be alone.<br />
<br />
Doubt must end somewhere. For each of us it will be in a different place.<br />
<br />
Wheeling starlings decorate the cover of this beautiful book and its accompanying website. They are, for Fox, a metaphor for the illusion of our desire to see patterns where none exist. But it's a beautiful illusion that some may prefer.<br />
<br />
If I have a reservation about this ambitious and unique book, it is this: the stories have the feel of parables, one told for each apostle of Jesus; or perhaps all of them for doubting Thomas. I feel as though I am being given a sermon, just as I did as a child sitting in a pew when forced to go to church.<br />
<br />
All the characters unfold their narratives in monologues or dialogues with very similar voices. They don't seem to have differentiated existences independent of Fox. I like to be shown drama in a story, not be told about it.<br />
<br />
Instead of dialogues between two characters with differing viewpoints I would prefer to see them dramatised. High drama, with plenty at stake, forcing protagonists to make life or death choices, which compel me to ask and decide (rather than be told): what would I do in their position?<br />
<br />
Possessing the luxury of doubt means being given the space to do so.<br />
<br />
Find out more <a href="http://rebeccaonpaper.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-23982964216059297392017-09-01T09:03:00.001-07:002017-09-01T09:03:09.037-07:00New creative writing courses starting on Wed. 13 Sept.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lFZLmXRUqWw/WamCUauYiSI/AAAAAAAAEUA/tsZtR-nwJ4Ine-VeNhEjy05fkIEpOFA0QCLcBGAs/s1600/writing-course-poster-English.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1261" data-original-width="922" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lFZLmXRUqWw/WamCUauYiSI/AAAAAAAAEUA/tsZtR-nwJ4Ine-VeNhEjy05fkIEpOFA0QCLcBGAs/s320/writing-course-poster-English.png" width="233" /></a></div>
<b>I'm looking forward to the new classes starting soon!</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><u>Last years' evening course </u>will continue at 7pm for advanced writers
and those wishing to continue from last year. New members are welcome
to join that too, but will have to catch up a bit faster with the
modules!</li>
<li><u>Less confident writers</u> thinking of beginning a new work might prefer the afternoon session, from 2-4pm.
Both are held in the YMCA on Market Square, Llandovery, SA20 0AB, on the first floor in the youth club room.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b style="text-decoration: underline;">What to expect:</b><br />
The course is designed to create a safe space for writers to learn about aspects of story-telling, the creation of believable characters, of a good plot and
realistic dialogue, and, above all, how to make readers care and want to read
on and on... Students are encouraged to offer kind, constructive criticism to each other.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Which course should you come on?</u></b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><u>Afternoons</u>: For people curious about writing and
those wishing to start a piece of work. Each lesson studies a particular aspect
of writing, with practical exercises. These are often aimed at helping students
develop a short story, novel or script. You work on your own story idea,
developing it, and apply the exercises to the development of your work, stage
by stage. You bring in the result of your exercise each week, and these are
discussed by everyone in a spirit of mutual support. We begin with
character creation, moving on to plot & structure, & so on.</li>
<li><u>Evenings</u>: For students from last year who are in
the process of working on the novels they began before, plus anyone already
well into working on a long piece. Students will set their own challenges, in
consultation with the tutor and class, and bring in the resulting work for
discussion. We will concentrate on advanced issues such as: how the story
unfolds beat by beat; style; convincing dialogue; editing; pacing and suspense;
advanced structural changes. The aim is to finish the work and market or
publish it.
All students will also learn about the publishing industry, agents and marketing their work. I've been amazed at how much fun and how popular it has been last year.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b><u>Online course:</u></b><br />
If you can't make the lesson times, you can take
the course online. The following link also tells you more about the course
content and contains testimonials from previous students.<b><u></u></b>
You can do a
combination of online and 'real world' modules if you can't make every week's
session: <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/online-writing-course/">http://davidthorpe.info/online-writing-course/</a> or call 07901 925671.
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Cost</u></b>:
<br />
<ul>
<li>First
taster session (beginners) £3.00</li>
<li>All
other sessions: £5. Concessions: £4.50</li>
<li>A
block of ten sessions: £42 (save £8)</li>
<li>
Each
online module: £8 (includes individual feedback on your work)</li>
</ul>
<b><u>Last year's students' work:</u></b><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life:
Ten Slices from the Cutting Edge</i>, is a highly readable collection of the work of ten of the many
students who attended last year. Download it at no cost as a PDF here: <span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/life.pdf">http://davidthorpe.info/life.pdf.</a></span><br />
<br />
David Thorpe, hello@davidthorpe.info<a href="mailto:hello@davidthorpe.info" target="_blank">hello@davidthorpe.info</a> Tel. 07901 925671DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-32168524686627785102017-08-28T02:31:00.000-07:002017-09-04T02:09:52.609-07:00My talk on September 8 in London on climate fiction<div class="p1">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZnskuszSzQ8/Wa0MHOflldI/AAAAAAAAEVw/K9tOKPi7k44BzICIihLFn_bgLWtJ0s_UgCLcBGAs/s1600/foyles_bookstore_cli-fi_news_featured.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="501" height="242" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZnskuszSzQ8/Wa0MHOflldI/AAAAAAAAEVw/K9tOKPi7k44BzICIihLFn_bgLWtJ0s_UgCLcBGAs/s320/foyles_bookstore_cli-fi_news_featured.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm speaking about '<b><span style="color: #990000;">The rise of climate fiction: beyond dystopias and utopias</span></b>' at this free event below:<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="p3">
Friday September 8th, 10-5.30pm:<i> Fate, Luck and Fortune: Popular Narratives of Environmental Risk, </i>a workshop exploring the nature and role of the concepts of fate, luck and fortune in different types of narratives. </div>
<div class="p4">
<br /></div>
<div class="p3">
Speakers: Nick Alfrey (Nottingham University), Claire Craig (Royal Society), Karen Henwood (Cardiff University), James Lyons (Exeter University), Joe Smith (Open University), <b><span style="color: #990000;">David Thorpe (author and journalist)</span></b>, and Jonathan Wolff (Oxford University). <b>To find out more and to register to attend: </b><a href="https://goo.gl/BnPWDN"><span class="s1"><b>https://goo.gl/BnPWDN</b></span></a><b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The evening before there is also this: Thursday, September 7th, 6pm: <span class="s1"><a href="http://history.rutgers.edu/faculty-directory/187-lears-tj-jackson">Professor Jackson Lears</a></span> (Rutgers) on “The Return of Animal Spirits: Toward A Vitalist Narrative Of Environmental Risk” A public lecture. To find out more and to register to attend: <span class="s1"><a href="https://goo.gl/rjdrqF">https://goo.gl/rjdrqF</a></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<b> </b></div>
<div class="p3">
<b>They are free and will be held at: University of Liverpool in London (Seminar Room 9), 33 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1A.</b></div>
<div class="p3">
<b><br /></b></div>
DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-46204900056577050132017-07-17T02:30:00.000-07:002017-07-17T02:30:07.055-07:00Launch party for my writing class' collection!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--5Z1gwf4bss/WWyC15056AI/AAAAAAAAD7U/izvZmXkUejc5ZCDw35_ZaHXClD0uxZPsgCLcBGAs/s1600/Life-launch-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1117" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--5Z1gwf4bss/WWyC15056AI/AAAAAAAAD7U/izvZmXkUejc5ZCDw35_ZaHXClD0uxZPsgCLcBGAs/s400/Life-launch-poster.jpg" width="278" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We're launching a collection of ten highly varied pieces of
fiction by local writers at a party in the YMCA, Broad Street, Llandovery this Wednesday at 7pm! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The stories in<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Life: Ten Slices from the Cutting Edge </i></b>are
the work of ten out of many more students who have been attending my local <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Writing for Fun and Profit course</b> since
September 2016. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The collection will be freely available to
download online, as a PDF. The stories
illustrate a wide range of imagination and genre. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Several are aimed at children: Jacqui
Hyde's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trials</i> follows the path of a
boy from a Welsh hill farm wanting to be a footballer. If you've ever wondered
what diarist Samuel Pepys might have got up to in the Civil War as a child,
then you might get a clue from Julian Dutton's amusing, eponymous novel
extract. And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Primrose</i> by Stella
Starnes gets inside the head of a young teenager growing up in a local village
under the thumb of her mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Two are in the genre of speculative
fiction: Mike Tomlin's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardian</i> is
from an ongoing published ebook series about the discovery of a hidden alien
presence in our midst, while Pete Barker's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Share
& Enjoy</i> tracks a small band of rebels in a dystopian future and is the
opening of a completed novel. If you enjoy a sardonic take on life, there is
nothing better in this collection than Mari Mitchell's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Dish Best Eaten Cold</i>, another novel opening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Four short stories are of the classic type
where an unexpected twist at the end throws the whole story into a lovely new
perspective: Ciaran O'Connell's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Rose
Blossom</i>, about a misunderstanding on holiday, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Henry's Story</i> by Mary Thurgate, in which a chance, trivial event
has life-changing consequences, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Assistance</i>
by Kathy Biggs, on the theme of 'what goes around, comes around'. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cunning Man's Last Day</i> by historian
Sara Fox, a fortune teller from the upper Tywi valley in the last century seeks
to escape the fate he has seen for himself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB">The
writing course <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The writing course itself is designed to
create a safe space for writers to learn about aspects of story-telling, the
creation of believable characters, of a good plot and realistic dialogue, and,
above all, how to make readers care and want to read on and on... Students are
encouraged to offer kind, constructive criticism to each other. Each lesson
studies a particular aspect, with practical exercises, often aimed at helping
students create a long work, be it a short story, novel, or script. They also
learn about the publishing industry, agents and marketing their work. I've been
amazed at how much fun and how popular it has been. There is certainly much
talent in this area.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">A new course starts for new students next
September from Wednesday 13 September from 2-4pm in the afternoons in the YMCA
on Market Square, Llandovery. The existing evening course will continue at 7pm
on the same date and new members are welcome to join that too, but will have to
catch up a bit faster with the modules! Or, you can take the course online and
also find out more at this web page:
http://davidthorpe.info/online-writing-course/ or call 07901 925671.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-31869680101108837752017-06-05T00:34:00.002-07:002017-06-05T00:54:54.388-07:00The real story of The Magic Money Tree<i>Does the Magic Money Tree really exist? Theresa May says no, Jeremy Corbyn says yes. This little girl went to find out... </i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hJJwQ3AUP3U/WTMRnrBzAZI/AAAAAAAADww/sXwx_VBSBFoVgQ1R-SE2UILZ5MMc1BEOACLcB/s1600/magic-moey-tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hJJwQ3AUP3U/WTMRnrBzAZI/AAAAAAAADww/sXwx_VBSBFoVgQ1R-SE2UILZ5MMc1BEOACLcB/s320/magic-moey-tree.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Once upon a time, a little girl called Layla was crying in the street. <br />
<br />
After a while, up came a man with snow-white hair and a snow-white beard. "Hello, my name is Jerry. Why are you crying?" he asked her.<br />
<br />
"I wish that my mother had some money so she could buy food for me to eat," she said in between snuffles.<br />
<br />
"Never mind, little girl," said Jerry. "I can tell you how to find a magic money tree, and you can pick some money and give it to your mother so she can buy food for you to eat."<br />
<br />
"Really?" Layla was happy upon hearing this and stopped crying. <br />
<br />
But suddenly up popped an iron-grey-haired woman who said, "Don't believe this man, Layla, there's no such thing as a magic money tree. He just wants to lure you away and bad things will happen."<br />
<br />
"Who are you?" asked Layla.<br />
<br />
"I am Terry, and I am in charge and I know everything," said the woman. "So you have to trust me."<br />
<br />
But Jerry insisted he was right and what's more he told Layla where to go to find the magic money tree.<br />
<br />
"Who shall I trust, Jerry or Terry?" Layla thought to herself. "Well, there's only one way to find out."<br />
<br />
So Layla packed a bag with some jam tomorrow sandwiches, which Terry gave her, and some milk of human kindness, which Jerry gave her, and set off walking.<br />
<br />
She followed a river upstream and along the way she met a boy her own age. "Excuse me but can you tell me the name of this river?" she asked.<br />
<br />
"Certainly. This is the River of the Tears of the Low Waged."<br />
<br />
"Thank you," said Layla. "That's what I thought. I'm on the right track. But can you tell me now how far it is until I get to the Bank That's Too Big to Fail?"<br />
<br />
"Not far, just keep walking up the river for about an hour and you can't miss it."<br />
<br />
It was indeed impossible not to notice this bank because it towered above the left side of the river, just as Jerry had said. Jerry had told her that she had to climb to the top of this bank but she thought she had better sleep first because it looked like a long, hard, climb. She lay down and went to sleep.<br />
<br />
In the morning she woke up refreshed, and for breakfast drank some of the milk of human kindness, which was very nice, and tried to eat some of the jam tomorrow sandwiches, but they seemed to melt into nothingness as soon as she put them in her mouth.<br />
<br />
Anyway, she washed her face in the river and started climbing. By midday she was halfway up. The river looked very small far below.<br />
<br />
By half past four she had got to the top. She was so high up that she was above the clouds and could no longer see the River of the Tears of the Low Waged.<br />
<br />
She was met by a man who was only one metre tall in a green hat. "How do you do." The man held out his hand. "I am Peter the Gnome, who are you?"<br />
<br />
"I am Layla," said the girl, who was surprised that the man was the same height as herself. "And I am looking for a magic money tree."<br />
<br />
"Then you have come to the right place," said Peter. "Follow me."<br />
<br />
She followed the gnome into a forest in which every tree was different. There were big trees and little trees and trees of every conceivable colour. <br />
<br />
"Some people say that the magic money tree does not exist," said Layla to Peter. "So I am very much looking forward to seeing it."<br />
<br />
"The people who say that it does not exist wish to keep it a secret so that they can keep the money for themselves," said Peter. <br />
<br />
"That's not very nice," said Layla.<br />
<br />
"The truth is that the tree nearly died a few years ago," said Peter. "It was all we could do to keep it alive. We have looked after it very carefully. It is now much better and it has started producing money again. Look–"<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CIp0V7EMRuk/WTMSxyHFYYI/AAAAAAAADw0/57Y67UmANow53e8Yc9M5RrUyWt-ENEVbQCLcB/s1600/sickmoneytree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The magic money tree was not well for a while." border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="826" height="221" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CIp0V7EMRuk/WTMSxyHFYYI/AAAAAAAADw0/57Y67UmANow53e8Yc9M5RrUyWt-ENEVbQCLcB/s320/sickmoneytree.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The magic money tree was not well for a while.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
They had come to a clearing. In the middle a shaft of sunlight came down from above and shone onto a beautiful tree. Its branches fanned out from the trunk, which was a golden brown, and its leaves fanned out from the branches, and were bright green. It was covered in big golden flowers and their smell was like the most fragrant perfume Layla had ever smelt.<br />
<br />
"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed. "But where is the money?"<br />
<br />
"Look carefully at the flowers," said Peter.<br />
<br />
Layla approached the magic money tree. The flowers were twice as big as the palms of her hands. Each petal was the size of her ear and upon each petal was a pattern and writing. She gasped. "It says these are million pounds notes! Is that real?"<br />
<br />
Peter nodded. "Yes, each of these petals is a million pound note."<br />
<br />
The tree was adorned with thousands of flowers and each flower was made of very many petals. Layla thought that there must be billions, if not trillions of pounds on this tree.<br />
<br />
Peter plucked one of the petals and gave it to Layla. "Here you are."<br />
<br />
"Is this for me?"<br />
<br />
Peter smiled. "You can take it away with you when you leave."<br />
<br />
"And this is not a dream? And I will be able to spend it when I get home?"<br />
<br />
"Yes. For you see this money was originally yours, or perhaps your mother's. Or perhaps it belonged to many of the people who now live at the source of the River of the Tears of the Low Waged. They paid it in their taxes to the government. But when the bank that we are standing on–"<br />
<br />
"-You mean the Bank That's Too Big To Fail?"<br />
<br />
"Yes, when it looked like it was going to fail and the tree was going to die, the government used trillions of pounds of that money to prop up the bank so that it wouldn't collapse into the river and the tree would live. Now it is all right again but they haven't given the money back."<br />
<br />
"I'm not sure that I understand that," said Layla, "but thank you anyway."<br />
<br />
She put the million pound note carefully in her bag and started climbing back the way she had come. On the way down she thought to herself, "Funny, but this story is awfully like the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, except that I didn't have to kill a giant, and I didn't have to plant a bean. Well, I suppose it isn't really like the story of Jack and the Beanstalk at all in that case."<br />
<br />
Somehow, when she got back to the river, she found herself in a different place from where she had started. "I must have taken a wrong turning," she thought to herself. <br />
<br />
For there in front of her was a huge city of poor houses with holes in their rooves. She passed a hospital with broken windows and a school that was boarded up.<br />
<br />
She came upon another little girl just like herself who was sitting sadly by the side of the road. "Excuse me, could you tell me where I am please?" Layla asked her.<br />
<br />
"You are in the City of the Low Waged," replied the little girl. "We all work very hard but we never have enough to eat because we are not paid enough."<br />
<br />
"But haven't you heard about the Magic Money Tree?" said Layla, giving her a drink from the bottle containing the milk of human kindness. She thought it strange that no matter how much she drank from it, it never seemed to run out. <br />
<br />
The little girl shook her head.<br />
<br />
"It is on top of the Bank That's Too Big to Fail." Layla took off her bag and got out her million pound note. "Look. I've just been up there and got this from the tree. There are plenty more where that came from."<br />
<br />
"But we have been told by a woman called Terry that it doesn't exist!"<br />
<br />
"That's what she told me too, but a man called Jerry told me how to find it."<br />
<br />
"You mean I should trust Jerry and not Terry?" said the little girl.<br />
<br />
"That's exactly right," said Layla, and went off to look for a food market.<br />
<br />
<b>David Thorpe's script for <i>The Young Robin Hood </i>tv series is currently being read by CBBC and he's busy on a novel of the same title. He grew up in Nottingham and Robin Hood was (and still is) his hero, so he definitely approves of a Robin Hood Tax. </b><br />
<br />
<b>His new short story imagining a future Britain – <i>For The Greater Good – </i>is featured in this free ebook: <a href="http://www.cambriabooks.co.uk/portfolio/weatherfronts/" target="_blank">Weatherfronts: Climate Change and The Stories We Tell</a>. His novels for teens – <i>Hybrids</i> and <i>Stormteller</i> – can be found and bought <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/" target="_blank">here</a>.</b><br />
<br />DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-53567574170450620112017-04-26T04:18:00.000-07:002017-04-26T04:23:14.375-07:00New imaginative writing to mobilise action on climate change<a href="http://www.cambriabooks.co.uk/portfolio/weatherfronts/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="cover for e-book Weatherfronts: climate change and the stories we tell" border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RBikLzw3TE0/WQB-84gM8MI/AAAAAAAADcU/5jHyaRtYaIgA0StiNH9fVYEKTxWZ1u4KACLcB/s320/WEATHERFRONTS%2BCC%2Band%2Bstories%2Bsm.jpg" title="" width="236" /></a>
<br />
<h4>
An 8000 word story of mine about the future of Britain and Barcelona is included in a new e-book published this week by Cambria Publishing.</h4>
<br />
<a href="http://www.cambriabooks.co.uk/portfolio/weatherfronts/"><i>Weatherfronts: climate change and the stories we tell</i></a> is an anthology of specially commissioned work by 12 writers and poets featuring their imaginative and very different responses to the topic of climate change.<br />
<br />
The book will be launched this Sunday at the <a href="https://llandeilolitfest.org/tag/climate-change/" target="_blank">Llandeilo Litfest</a> and on May 25 at the <a href="https://www.hayfestival.com/showsection.aspx?SectionID=435&SEName=thursday-25-may-2017&genrefilterid=0&categoryfilterid=" target="_blank">Hay Festival</a>. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hZNnjiUWOi4/WQCC2QsAY0I/AAAAAAAADcg/ulUA1GQAdsAhWW5YsSGv_kyztmy3QuJbQCLcB/s1600/WEATHERFRONTS-launch-flier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hZNnjiUWOi4/WQCC2QsAY0I/AAAAAAAADcg/ulUA1GQAdsAhWW5YsSGv_kyztmy3QuJbQCLcB/s320/WEATHERFRONTS-launch-flier.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The question of how to mobilise public opinion to do something about climate change using imaginative fiction and poetry was behind two weekend-long events that resulted in the works contained within it.<br />
<br />
These were attended by over 130 writers and 50 scientists at London’s <a href="https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/weatherfronts-climate-change-writing-commissions" target="_blank">Free Word Centre</a> and resulted in two sets of commissions for 12 very varied writers. The idea was – to reach the parts of people’s brains that scientists and politicians cannot reach!<br />
<br />
The project has seen writers’ and indeed all artists’ responses to the subject of climate change grow far more sophisticated and extend in range and scope.<br />
<br />
Reading this collection one can see this progression, from the sometimes didactic to the much more considered examination of particular times, places and aspects, greater use of imagination, and even of humour, in writing for children.<br />
<br />
Different writers are also writing for different audiences.<br />
<br />
So this collection presents twelve very individual approaches. The authors’ experience of the subject is very varied, but all have committed themselves deeply to their own interpretation of the theme.<br />
<br />
All have also benefited from meeting and talking to scientists, social scientists and geographers to whom they have been introduced by TippingPoint.<br />
<br />
The collection combines two publications only available previously as PDFs into one e-book.<br />
<br />
From the first collection come contributions from writers Sarah Butler, Dark Mountain’s Nick Hunt, Stevie Ronnie, Dan Simpson, and a group of three activist poets, all with a deep commitment to social and climate justice, Zena Edwards, Sai Murray and Selina Nwulu.<br />
<br />
From the second collection come Darragh Martin, with a delicious children’s story about ‘the shortest private detective in her school’, Emma Howell’s warm tale of the 1970s, Sarah Thomas’ exploration of her neighbours’ experience of recent floods, David Thorpe’s near future in which adapting to climate change has unfortunate consequences, and Justina Hart’s poetic evocation of the earlier inhabitants of what is now the North Sea forced off their land by the melting ice cap. Sound familiar?<br />
<br />
If there is a common theme to these five powerful pieces of writing it is that their scale is personal.<br />
<br />
As Peter Gingold, Director, TippingPoint, says: “This most grandiose and abstract subject is experienced at a very personal level, making its demands on the way we live with partners – or with friends, neighbours and communities. This must be fruitful.”<br />
<br />
The pieces in this collection were commissioned by TippingPoint, Free Word and partners from 2014-2016. TippingPoint has since morphed into the project <a href="https://climatecultures.net/" target="_blank">Climate Cultures</a>.<br />
<br />
Download <a href="http://www.cambriabooks.co.uk/portfolio/weatherfronts/"><i>Weatherfronts: climate change and the stories we tell</i></a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Featuring work by:</b><br />
Sarah Butler, Zena Edwards, Justina Hart, Emma Howell,<br />
Nick Hunt, Darragh Martin, Sai Murray, Selina Nwulu,<br />
Stevie Ronnie, Dan Simpson, Sarah Thomas, David Thorpe<br />
<br />
<b>Forewords by:</b><br />
Peter Gingold, Director, Tipping PointDavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-67441667918231716642017-03-29T01:18:00.003-07:002017-03-29T01:18:51.793-07:00Brexit: we blamed the wrong people and are now on the wrong track<b>Today Article 50 is triggered and the UK begins the process of leaving the EU. How and why has this happened?</b><br />
<br />
Last night Nick Clegg could be seen interviewing pro-Brexit voters in Ebbw Vale on BBC2's Newsnight. <br /><br />These voters said they voted for Brexit because they didn't like the way EU money was spent on ridiculous dragon street sculptures and shiny buildings they didn't want.<br />
<br />
What they wanted was their old steel jobs back or proper training and apprenticeships in new trades that were real. <br /><br />Fair enough. But they blamed the wrong people. <br /><br />It would have been the great and good in Wales who decided what the EU money was spent on, not Eurocrats.<br />
<br />
And the jobs these steel workers lost went to Chinese workers, with whose wages they couldn't compete without subsidies.<br /><br />It's the same in the US for steel and coal workers. And Trump's response is to repeal Clean Power legislation – as if it could give back those jobs. <br /><br />But the train is going the other way, towards a clean energy future, and that is where the training of workers should be subsidised by the state if it wants to create real jobs that have a meaning and give back dignity to people and communities.<br /><br />UKIP has lost its only MP. All the Brexit cheerleaders have vanished, abdicating responsibility for the decision they persuaded the nation was best – with a cocktail of what we now know were untruths. <br /><br />No one had a plan – or intended to carry one out. <br /><br />The real task all along behind Cameron's decision to call the referendum was the unification of the Tory Party.<br />
<br />
That is now job done with the Tories set to rule forever in England, all opposition wiped out or in disarray.<br />
<br />
<br />
Never mind the future prosperity of the country.<br /><br />May is triumphant and although the Tories make mistake after mistake there's no one to call them to order. <br /><br />I wish we could hold another Brexit referendum. Remain might well win now we know the emperor has no clothes.<br />
<br />
But the right wing press, Paul Dacre's Mail, porn baron Richard Desmond's Express and the Barclay Brothers' Telegraph are still too powerful in shaping the flow of skewed facts to suit their warped agenda... to keep the Tories in power so they pay less tax.<br />
<br />
<br />DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-29117414607502310852017-01-26T01:57:00.003-08:002017-01-27T01:50:13.632-08:00The Hybrids tv series is now available for agents / producers to pick up.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nW0x2x1D4qk/WInHu6tpvwI/AAAAAAAACtg/g3KDhCgBFRYNoppzK_lvcfvO7BGa3gIIwCLcB/s1600/Hybrids-logo-we-are-human-too.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hybrids - we are human too" border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nW0x2x1D4qk/WInHu6tpvwI/AAAAAAAACtg/g3KDhCgBFRYNoppzK_lvcfvO7BGa3gIIwCLcB/s1600/Hybrids-logo-we-are-human-too.jpg" title="" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #555555; font-family: "roboto" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">The pilot script and tv series bible for Hybrids are now incredible thanks to enthusiastic and discerning feedback from Adam Stern, Director of Development at the Gotham Group, one of the top ten Hollywood production and management companies, who called it 'unique' and 'original'. He feels it's best suited for the millennial sf market, cable, and the theme is a 'hot topic'.</span><br />
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This revolutionary SF thriller set five minutes into the future dramatises for the millennial viewer the popular anxiety that we are being taken over by technology. </div>
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Johnny – half computer – and Kestrella – her hand is her smartphone – are hybrids. Together they battle a conspiracy that will lead them to the top of a country in chaos. </div>
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Hybrids is X-Men meets Mr Robot.</div>
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A pandemic is terrorising the country by merging victims with their most frequently-used technology. It mutates their cells so the device regrows beneath their skin. They become 'hybrids' – feared, crippled, sometimes enhanced, sometimes dead. </div>
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Are you wedded to your device?</div>
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Hybrids is now available for agents and producers to pick up. Contact:<a href="mailto:info@cyberium.co.uk"> info@cyberium.co.uk</a></div>
DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-84427351527978614662017-01-24T03:16:00.000-08:002017-01-27T09:24:58.902-08:00Climate change fiction is coming of age<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Literature that touches on the topic of climate change is reaching maturity. This is evidenced by the latest collection of work just launched by the Weatherfronts project, called <a href="https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/realistic-utopias-writing"><i>Realistic Utopias</i></a>, in which I have an 8,000 word story, <i>For The Greater Good.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Whether you call is climate fiction, cli-fi, stories for change or have your own pet name, it really doesn't matter. It is now such a broad church that this collection includes poetry, a very funny children's story (with illustrations), speculative fiction, human interest and domestic drama.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The book is a free download:</span></div>
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<a href="https://cdn.freewordcentre.com/uploads/2017/01/Realistic-Utopias-Writing-for-Change.-Anthology.pdf"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">https://cdn.freewordcentre.com/uploads/2017/01/Realistic-Utopias-Writing-for-Change.-Anthology.pdf</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There was a previous collection last year:</span></div>
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<a href="https://cdn.freewordcentre.com/legacy/files/Weatherfronts_-_Climate_change_and_the_stories_we_tell_-_Final1_copy.pdf"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">https://cdn.freewordcentre.com/legacy/files/Weatherfronts_-_Climate_change_and_the_stories_we_tell_-_Final1_copy.pdf</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Weatherfronts project, run by TippingPoint and the <a href="https://www.freewordcentre.com/">Free Word Centre</a> (where the launch happened) in London, is about using the arts to broaden the conversation about climate change, away from the scientific, polemical or political. Five stories were commissioned for this collection.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It grew out of an <a href="https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/listen-weatherfronts-2016">event</a> that brought together fifty scientists and thinkers and fifty writers in a series of workshops. (<a href="https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/listen-weatherfronts-2016">Listen to it here</a>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"One thing we have seen very clearly is that over the 12 years of TippingPoint’s life, writers' responses to the subject have grown far more sophisticated and increased in their range and scope," observed the director of the Free Word Centre, Peter Gingold, as he introduced the writers to this sold out event.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7tWtyFM2K5E/WIck3Vo_L9I/AAAAAAAACrk/848XZVIwnOI1aUDMl_naVOYyluSt9nDmACLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_184223494.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="The audience arrives for the Weatherfronts climate fiction book launch." border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7tWtyFM2K5E/WIck3Vo_L9I/AAAAAAAACrk/848XZVIwnOI1aUDMl_naVOYyluSt9nDmACLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_184223494.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The audience arrives for the launch event.</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w77LFdARqbU/WIck4LL75-I/AAAAAAAACrw/DS2gMSHOrG8IRY7M31nVokLfAkfAsEnyQCLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_190337701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Peter Gingold introduces the Weatherfronts climate fiction book launch." border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w77LFdARqbU/WIck4LL75-I/AAAAAAAACrw/DS2gMSHOrG8IRY7M31nVokLfAkfAsEnyQCLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_190337701.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Peter Gingold introduces the authors.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Each of the authors then read some of their work:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RU-rn9RY8qw/WIck4F9dFhI/AAAAAAAACr0/vcg7M63im1gMNaR3V-v2O0uEbwdAeOyRgCLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_191008512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Sarah Thomas reading from her story Rainfell, Fell." border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RU-rn9RY8qw/WIck4F9dFhI/AAAAAAAACr0/vcg7M63im1gMNaR3V-v2O0uEbwdAeOyRgCLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_191008512.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sarah Thomas read from her story based on her friendship with the widow of the one man who died in the Cumbrian floods of the winter of 2014-15, Rainfell, Fell.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BNGucX6w2Hc/WIck4y_oeKI/AAAAAAAACr4/87nmKl6I0sAeyRRlhqn0XpxiDVI78SVPQCLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_191920567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Emma Howell reading from Thrift: A Love Story" border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BNGucX6w2Hc/WIck4y_oeKI/AAAAAAAACr4/87nmKl6I0sAeyRRlhqn0XpxiDVI78SVPQCLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_191920567.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Emma Howell read from Thrift: A Love Story about her father's attempts to go green in the 1970s.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OP7JBVKfuh8/WIck48JrXQI/AAAAAAAACr8/K2PbHDpfWQAeBr-aaycisCbx2yt2lVNiQCLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_192343665_BURST001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Justina Hart reading from her poem sequence Doggerland Rising." border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OP7JBVKfuh8/WIck48JrXQI/AAAAAAAACr8/K2PbHDpfWQAeBr-aaycisCbx2yt2lVNiQCLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_192343665_BURST001.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Justina Hart read from her poem sequence Doggerland Rising, in which she imagines (based on archaeological research) the inhabitants of islands that used to exist in the North Sea having to leave their homes when the sea level rose around 9,000 years ago.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then I read from my story For the Greater Good, set in 2084, in which I imagine the possible side-effects of Britain achieving a goal of feeding its population and satisfying all of its energy from renewables.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But as I'm taking the photos there isn't one of me! Anyway, a number of people said afterwards how affecting the story is. Which was satisfying, so thank you.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kWM_ZkXVkJY/WIck41gy0iI/AAAAAAAACsA/GDSobBdRkK0-ZLxhJtMzRaajPTOIMCQ8ACLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_193939581.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Darragh Martin reading from Thumbelina Jellyfizz and the Elephant in the Bathroom." border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kWM_ZkXVkJY/WIck41gy0iI/AAAAAAAACsA/GDSobBdRkK0-ZLxhJtMzRaajPTOIMCQ8ACLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_193939581.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Then Darragh Martin read from his hilarious kids' tale Thumbelina Jellyfizz and the Elephant in the Bathroom, with vibrant illustrations from Euan Cook:</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Iqrv6rE3ZE/WIc02YrnhAI/AAAAAAAACsk/gmwEReJcx74rBFL0CkR-H2Ec_OoS_olxACLcB/s1600/darragh-martin1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="illustration by Euan Cook" border="0" height="196" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Iqrv6rE3ZE/WIc02YrnhAI/AAAAAAAACsk/gmwEReJcx74rBFL0CkR-H2Ec_OoS_olxACLcB/s320/darragh-martin1.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QWHM9Eysm8A/WIc02dlB8lI/AAAAAAAACso/_6KsCenploIhIIcZMQPEup0BhJRDOMqkACLcB/s1600/darragh-martin2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="illustration by Euan Cook" border="0" height="210" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QWHM9Eysm8A/WIc02dlB8lI/AAAAAAAACso/_6KsCenploIhIIcZMQPEup0BhJRDOMqkACLcB/s320/darragh-martin2.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There was the inevitable panel discussion, with Durham University's Harriet Bulkley introducing Jane Riddiford, the visionary founder of the amazing <a href="http://www.globalgeneration.org.uk/">Global Generation</a>, a club for teenagers and kids in King's Cross, central London. She explained how she got the children interested in nature.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8uUURJYlc1c/WIck5JDOaMI/AAAAAAAACsE/PEavyya5S3orPOyMjiboaOoMXqHLyGcqQCLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_194614119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="L2R: Harriet Bulkley, Emma Howell, Darragh Martin and Jane Riddiford," border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8uUURJYlc1c/WIck5JDOaMI/AAAAAAAACsE/PEavyya5S3orPOyMjiboaOoMXqHLyGcqQCLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_194614119.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">L2R: Harriet Bulkley, Emma Howell, Darragh Martin and Jane Riddiford,</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This led to the following amazing film about their work:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She guides them through periods of silent contemplation and then asks them to write about nature. Three of them came to read their work:</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M65G3PAwBa4/WIck5ljf9AI/AAAAAAAACsI/-fZltl7pjD0pz-C3BpHLG0tAeCMMcZ3YgCLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_200259844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Samika of Global Generation reading her poem on nature" border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M65G3PAwBa4/WIck5ljf9AI/AAAAAAAACsI/-fZltl7pjD0pz-C3BpHLG0tAeCMMcZ3YgCLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_200259844.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Samika of Global Generation reading her poem on nature.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hEVqLSYqz6w/WIck5uJzsoI/AAAAAAAACsM/La9seTWfxVEAI3TmrePzqL45xz_R_ZdogCLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_200459509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Aisha of Global Generation reading her poem on nature " border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hEVqLSYqz6w/WIck5uJzsoI/AAAAAAAACsM/La9seTWfxVEAI3TmrePzqL45xz_R_ZdogCLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_200459509.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Aisha of Global Generation</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gd0u11kSHKo/WIck57e9vgI/AAAAAAAACsQ/P3-rZqm3cCkR94RfFzwDQhRmj4N7X8z-ACLcB/s1600/IMG_20170119_200627183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Rania of Global Generation reading her poem on nature " border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gd0u11kSHKo/WIck57e9vgI/AAAAAAAACsQ/P3-rZqm3cCkR94RfFzwDQhRmj4N7X8z-ACLcB/s320/IMG_20170119_200627183.jpg" title="" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Rania<span style="font-size: 9.6px;"> of Global Generation</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then the audience had to do some work – write their own feelings about what nature meant for them, which was a cathartic experience:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kmfro-AcRP4/WIc0no_StEI/AAAAAAAACsg/tGjcBWgkChoVRwEE2P09x0IAogmmG0OFgCLcB/s1600/tippingPointsession.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kmfro-AcRP4/WIc0no_StEI/AAAAAAAACsg/tGjcBWgkChoVRwEE2P09x0IAogmmG0OFgCLcB/s320/tippingPointsession.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">That's me in the middle at the front!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It does feel like writing stories about climate change is no longer weird or unusual. Climate change is here, and all stories now react to it or are situated within a climate changed world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The stories in this collection are all domestic. They show lives, families, affected by the changing climate and our reactions to it. They help us think about what this means and come to terms with the enormity of it. They let us develop and consider our own emotional responses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Find out more here: <a href="https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/realistic-utopias-writing!">https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/realistic-utopias-writing!</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.6px;">[David Thorpe is the writer of Marvel's</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.6px;"> Captain Britain</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.6px;">, the sci-fi YA novels </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.6px;"><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/hybrids/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hybrids</a>, <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/#DC" none="" style="color: #5f5f5f; text-decoration: none;" text-decoration:="">Doc Chaos: The Chernobyl Effect</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.6px;"> and the climate change fantasy </span><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/stormteller/" style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; line-height: 19.6px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><i>Stormteller</i></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.6px;">.]</span></span>DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-8995936948166795202017-01-13T05:50:00.001-08:002017-01-17T02:00:50.089-08:00Writing for Fun and Profit online course<h3>
I'm now offering this new online writing course that is based on successful classes run in the real world.
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Who is it for?<br />
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This course is for anyone interested in telling stories. The aim is to provide a safe, constructive, encouraging environment in which you can get the best from your story, whatever it is.
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How does it work?<br />
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It consists of modules with exercises. Students proceed at their own pace although the recommendation is to complete one module per week. If this is done, it should take about six months. Once the exercises are returned you receive feedback and the next module.
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We spend a lot of time at the start on character and structure development because this helps to focus on what is really important in the story and the possibilities for how it will unfold.
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The principles of the course are applicable to all kinds of storytelling, since they cover plot, character, suspense, dialogue, structure, imagery, pacing, and so on. These universal rules and guidelines work whether you are doing oral storytelling, writing screenplays, novels, graphic novels, short stories or stage and radio plays.</div>
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The course is delivered by email and Skype.
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Course content<br />
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The modules are:
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Developing characters – since all stories begin with characters – and how characters develop storylines.
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The four basic plots and the four possible endings.
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Ideas and how to evaluate them.
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Structure I: the three act structure, and writing your story summary and logline.
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Character design and the inner conflict. Attitude and style.
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Mapping all of your characters.
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Theme, moral and imagery.
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Using the 'story map' to generate and fix the story's details.
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Writing the detailed plot synopsis.
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The use of suspense. Storytelling and spell-weaving.
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The meaning of 'show don't tell'.
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First or third person?
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Prose style and the art of writing descriptive prose
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Writing convincing dialogue.
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Structure II: the monomyth, the cosmogonic cycle and the 12 stage story structure.
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Opening lines.
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Beyond plot: slice of life, mood, etc., mosaic structure, allegory.
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Subplots and minor characters.
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Comic writing and satire (optional).
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Pacing (mood, time, transitions, flashbacks, framing devices)
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Genres and 'literature'.
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Endings.
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Editing your work.
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Writing for radio, tv, film.
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Writing for magazines and websites.
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Having completed your work:</li>
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Finding an agent or editor
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Finding markets for your work
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Publishing and self-publishing
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Marketing yourself and your work, including the use of social media, book signings, etc.</li>
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Cost<br />
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The cost of the course is £260, which is £10 per module. Don't forget, this includes individual feedback on your exercises.
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The fee is payable up front. If at any point you decide not to proceed, you will receive a refund for the modules not taken.
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Alternately you can set up a direct debit of £44/month.<br />
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Testimonials<br />
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Comments from 'real world' students:
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"I thoroughly enjoyed last week's session. I know I'm a professional in the script-writing field, but to be honest I think any writer no matter how much they've done can benefit from a 'reboot' as it were."<em> Julian Dutton, professional tv/film comedy scriptwriter</em>
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"I lack confidence and belief in myself, you have no idea how much your support and guidance is appreciated." <em>Jacquie Hyde, writer of Young Adult fiction</em>
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"Thank you so much for all your teaching, most enjoyable and I've learnt a lot."<em> Joy Daniels, playwright </em>
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"Your classes have provoked some great ideas." <em>Sara Fox, writer of historical romances.</em><em></em><em></em>
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<h3>
Interested?<br />
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Send an <a href="mailto:hello@davidthorpe.info?subject=Online%20Writing%20Course%20enquiry&body=Dear%20David%0A%0AI%27m%20interested%20in%20your%20writing%20course.%20I%20myself%20am%20interested%20in....">email enquiry</a> with some information about your writing interests.
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You will hear back very shortly!
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The tutor<br />
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David is a successful writer of fiction for adults, young adults and older children, who believes strongly that with imagination we can change the world. He's the author of <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/hybrids/"><em>Hybrids</em></a>, "a stunningly clever novel" – <em>The Times </em>– which won the UK HarperCollins-Saga Magazine 2006 Childrens Novelist competition.
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He co-founded the London Screenwriters' Workshop and has written many short stories, TV scripts, <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/comics-and-graphic-novels/">comics and graphic novels</a>, including for Marvel, HarperCollins, Titan Books and Macdonald-Futura.
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He has also worked as a commissioning editor for various book publishers, plus as journalist and news editor, is the author of over ten non-fiction books and is a director of Cambria Publishing Co-operative.
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He has a City and Guilds Further Education Teachers Certificate and has completed a City and Guilds course in Contracts and Rights.<br />
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He is a member of the Society of Authors and the Society of Childrens' Book Writers and Illustrators.DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-19252103871007533872017-01-13T05:06:00.002-08:002017-01-13T05:06:59.592-08:00What children's books will help you survive the apocalypse?<b>What stories for children told today will still be around in 100 years? What qualities in these books will future generations find appealing?</b><br />
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What's got me wondering about this is that lately I've been looking at remarkable books still popular now that were written either in or about the 19th century.<br />
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/1932-LittleHouseInTheBigWoods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/1932-LittleHouseInTheBigWoods.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Montgomery_Anne_of_Green_Gables.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Montgomery_Anne_of_Green_Gables.jpg" width="133" /></a>Amongst these are Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of <i>Little House </i>books and Lucy Maud Montgomery's series beginning with <i>Anne of Green Gables</i>. Both are still in print.<br />
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Wilder based her books on her childhood which was in the northern Midwest US during the 1870s. She wrote eight titles which were published by Harper & Brothers from 1932 to 1943.<br />
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Of the Little House books I've been particularly entranced by the first, <i>Little House in the Big Woods</i>. It tells in extraordinary detail how her family – Caroline and Charles, elder daughter Mary Amelia, and herself, aged 6–7 – survived in the frozen woods of Wisconsin in an almost completely self-sufficient way of life.<br />
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Charmingly illustrated, it is almost a 'how-to' manual of survivalism, describing in some detail the making of clothes, gathering of wild honey, butchering of animals, how to birth a calf, how to make butter and cheese, and how to keep warm and travel on a sleigh in deep snow (put hot baked potatoes in your pockets and boots).<br />
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<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3b/e4/51/3be45197c0e39d25c025404660a2f4c8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3b/e4/51/3be45197c0e39d25c025404660a2f4c8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Most interestingly it describes the collection and refinement of maple syrup from the sap of the trees which is done with Grandpa and Grandma.<br />
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<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e0/b7/7b/e0b77b7b33a2f21529aa2b1767a5aa26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e0/b7/7b/e0b77b7b33a2f21529aa2b1767a5aa26.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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When Pa goes hunting he hauls back a deer and this is skinned, the leather cured and the meat smoked for the winter.<br />
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If I were ever on Desert Island Discs I think I'd choose this book to take with me to the desert island because it would be both helpful and entertaining!<br />
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For it's not all hard work. Most nights Pa tells the girls a story (which we hear too) with them sat on his knee and plays them a song on his fiddle.<br />
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<a href="https://nmscarcheologylab.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/fiddle.jpg?w=483&h=290" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://nmscarcheologylab.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/fiddle.jpg?w=483&h=290" width="320" /></a></div>
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Not only can Pa build a house, hunt and make furniture, he is musical!<br />
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<i>Little House in the Big Woods</i> was serialised in the BBC tv programme <i>Jackanory</i> in the 1960s.<br />
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<i>Little House on the Prairie</i> continues the story in the same style, describing how in 1869 the family moved via covered wagon from Wisconsin to Indian Territory on the prairie of Kansas. Then they had to build a whole new house.<br />
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<i>Little House on the Prairie </i>became an NBC network tv series that ran from 1974 to 1983 and revealed much about the pioneers and settlers and their relationship with the indigenous tribes.<br />
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Lucy Montgomery's Anne series is likewise a glimpse into a lost world. Although fictional it is strongly based on the real community of New London, Prince Edward Island in North East Canada.<br />
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A key moral message of the books is the need for self-improvement, and the civilising values of respect for others.<br />
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As a more sustainable version of Disneyland or Harry Potter World, the location for the story, Green Gables farm, became a visitor centre and the seed for the creation of a National Park.<br />
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<a href="https://www.attractionscanada.com/Prince-Edward-Island/images/Green-gables1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://www.attractionscanada.com/Prince-Edward-Island/images/Green-gables1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.homeaway.ca/info/files/live/sites/ca/files/shared/discover/10-Wonders-of-PEI-National-Park/PEI-lighthouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://www.homeaway.ca/info/files/live/sites/ca/files/shared/discover/10-Wonders-of-PEI-National-Park/PEI-lighthouse.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Nowadays, adults probably read these books now more than children, but they may be reading them to their own children simply because they themselves read them when they were kids.<br />
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They are fascinating because they provide a window onto another way of life. There is a nostalgia or a longing for those simpler times and the simple morality they espouse. It seems a marvel that the ways of life described are only three or four generations ago.<br />
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And there's a feeling that perhaps, if the apocalypse comes, we or our children may have to learn to live that way again: close-knit, close to nature, relying on our wits, fitness, morality and skills. I think that's why I put some of these practical tips about survival in my own apocalyptic novel <i><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/stormteller/" target="_blank">Stormteller</a></i>.<br />
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Maybe in 100 years it will be these kind of books that will still be read. What do you think?<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">[David Thorpe is the writer of Marvel's</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;"> Captain Britain</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">, the sci-fi YA novels </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;"><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/hybrids/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hybrids</a>, <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/#DC" none="" style="color: #5f5f5f; text-decoration: none;" text-decoration:="">Doc Chaos: The Chernobyl Effect</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;"> and the cli-fi fantasy </span><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/stormteller/" style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><i>Stormteller</i></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">.]</span>DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-24005106770372174862016-12-17T15:09:00.000-08:002016-12-19T08:53:10.737-08:00Post-Brexit Britain is in crisis. But where is Captain Britain?<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3aWdLK83PoY/WFWs7nMPiiI/AAAAAAAACLY/a0cMa_wqUIM134KG7cW3kUjcbFSzDPVEwCLcB/s1600/legacy%2Bof%2Ba%2Blegend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3aWdLK83PoY/WFWs7nMPiiI/AAAAAAAACLY/a0cMa_wqUIM134KG7cW3kUjcbFSzDPVEwCLcB/s320/legacy%2Bof%2Ba%2Blegend.jpg" width="207" /></a><b>
It's 40 years since Britain got its own Marvel superhero.</b> To celebrate this anniversary Marvel has put out a new collection of stories, <i><a href="http://marvel.com/comics/collection/56802/captain_britain_legacy_of_a_legend_trade_paperback" style="font-family: calibri;">Captain Britain: Legacy Of A Legend</a>.</i> And guess who has written the introduction and some of the stories?
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This pick
of stories from 1975-86 is a perfect introduction to the Union Jack-clad hero,
and also strings together a virtually seamless single epic that launches the Brobdingnagian cast that has formed the bedrock of all his subsequent narratives.<br />
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But right now, Captain Britain does not have his own comic book, tv series, film or anything else except the odd appearance in other comics. There was talk of a tv series or a movie, but Marvel Studios has no plans for either (I asked them – even sent a script).<br />
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<b>Is he having a mid-life crisis?</b></div>
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With a name like Captain Britain the character inevitably taps the many resonances of British culture. Different creators have picked up
on different aspects: Spidey clone, Arthurian hero, secret agent, trans-dimensional warrior, Carrollian surrealist, and protector against the paranormal threats... </div>
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<b>Perhaps it's no coincidence that, right now, Britain itself is having a kind of identity crisis</b>.<br />
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Since the 52%-48% vote to leave the European Union the country has been riven in a way not seen since the 1980s days of the miners' strike. Crimes of racism and homophobia have increased as queues at the food banks have lengthened and wage levels stagnated, and nobody knows where the country is heading. Political leadership is nowhere to be found and the country is stumbling to find its way in the world.<br />
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In the media, arguments rage over what it means to be British. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are frequently at odds with the English government. Post-Brexit, here we are in our time of need.<br />
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<b>But where is Captain Britain? Could he save us?</b><br />
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The character has, in some writers' hands, sometimes strayed far from his own core identity. Perhaps that is why he has never been as successful as <i>Captain America</i> or <i>Spider-Man</i>. His very name is problematic: what is he a captain of? Unlike Captain America he was never in the armed forces.<br />
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He is an orphan, a twin, from an aristocratic family fallen on hard times. He is a physicist who practices a form of magic. He is a liberal who wears the flag. He is the husband of a psychic half-fairy gypsy. He embodies, in other words, a mess of contradictions. Just like the United Kingdom.<br />
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Lately I've been thinking a lot about him. I've been trying out all kinds of storylines, including a reboot in the manner of Marvel's <i>Ultimates</i> series. I'm still thinking.</div>
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I have come to believe that key to his potential mass appeal is his ability to be a slate onto which others will project their hopes, wishes and fantasies about what he might be and what values he might represent. Yet he himself is his own man, picked for his heroic qualities by the wisdom of Merlyn and Roma, who back him up, and he is able to draw on the possibilities and lessons to be learned from the other versions of Britain in parallel dimensions, and on the legendary Celtic magic of Otherworld.<br />
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I believe a <i>Captain Britain </i>tv series should be made in Britain. In the context of Brexit and renewed soul-searching up and down the country about national identity, I think funnily enough that the country actually <i>needs</i> one. </div>
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Just as, in his time, <i>Captain America</i> has been a prism through which writers have viewed the politics of their country, a national British superhero series could also act as a focus for our national hopes and anxieties to play themselves out. </div>
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For example the tv series <i>Sherlock</i> and <i>Dr Who</i> both have a wit and dynamism that energises British themes and experiments imaginatively with quintessentially British icons. These echo throughout the world and are wildly successful.</div>
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With fantasy, it's possible to project and reflect different extensions of modern real-world trends without being didactic or partisan. That would never do.</div>
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<b>Captain Britain is a cipher. A powerful vehicle for playing harmlessly but fruitfully with ideas about British culture now and in the past and even in the future. </b></div>
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As for the man behind that mask.... what would he think of all this himself?</div>
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Now there is a good question....<br />
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[David Thorpe is the writer of Marvel's<i> Captain Britain</i>, the sci-fi YA novels <i><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/hybrids/">Hybrids</a>, <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/#DC">Doc Chaos: The Chernobyl Effect</a></i> and the cli-fi fantasy <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/stormteller/"><i>Stormteller</i></a>.]<br />
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My writing course can be taken online. <a href="mailto:hello@davidthorpe.info">Contact me</a> if interested.</div>
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DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-62648037615325688862016-12-13T11:39:00.000-08:002016-12-13T11:39:08.410-08:00For the Greater GoodI wrote a short story for the Weatherfronts commission. The brief was to respond to the themes and the discussions arising from a two day<a href="https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/themes/living-dangerously-stories-of-climate-change"> Weatherfronts event </a>that took place at the Free Word Centre earlier this year.<br />
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This event brought 50 writers/artists and 50 climate change scientists together to discuss creative ways to respond to climate change.<br />
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My 8000 word story was called <i>For the Greater Good</i><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>and I've just had feedback for it from the editors:<br />
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<i>"We really enjoyed reading it! This was a great read. The human relationships here were very believable and there were some strong emotions conjured quickly, to pull the reader in to this new, alternate world. This was a great unpicking of the moral and societal dimensions that were raised at Weatherfronts, and it broached pertinent moral questions in a plausible and non-didactic way."</i><br />
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That's a relief!<br />
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The story will be published next month and there will be a launch event at the <a href="https://www.freewordcentre.com/whats-on/coming-up">Free Word Centre on January 19</a>. Maybe see you there?DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-24945374182785865012016-12-03T09:24:00.002-08:002016-12-03T09:24:46.935-08:00The 12 stages of the Hero's Journey – Are they real?This month I thought I would publish the slides from a presentation I gave this week at my writing course.<br />
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I wanted to delve deeply into the idea of plot and structure and then test the popular technique writers are taught that quest, discovery or journey type stories all have 12 stages. I did this by analysing two recent films and book that are very different indeed: <i>The Girl On A Train </i>and<i> Doctor Strange</i>. If you haven't seen these: spoiler alert! Don't read the penultimate two slides!<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">[David Thorpe is the writer of Marvel's</span><i style="text-align: start;"> Captain Britain</i><span style="text-align: start;">, the sci-fi YA novels </span><i style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/hybrids/">Hybrids</a>, <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/#DC">Doc Chaos: The Chernobyl Effect</a></i><span style="text-align: start;"> and the cli-fi fantasy </span><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/stormteller/" style="text-align: start;"><i>Stormteller</i></a><span style="text-align: start;">.]</span></div>
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My (12-stage, of course!) writing course can also be taken online. <a href="mailto:hello@davidthorpe.info" target="_blank">Contact me</a> if interested.</div>
<br />DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-17395223727679570642016-07-29T07:28:00.003-07:002016-07-29T07:28:33.615-07:00 New course: Writing for Fun and ProfitYou know what they say about those who teach? So I'm teaching a writing course again...<br />
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<br />
Wednesdays 7pm to 9pm, YMCA, Gerwyn House, 19 Market Square, Llandovery SA20 0AB. From September 7th.<br />
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I'll be running this course – which I've run before elsewhere and has proved very popular – from September 7th. It's for anybody with an interest in writing.<br />
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It will offer support and constructive feedback and aim to build an enthusiastic, supportive group, whatever type of writing you are passionate about.<br />
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For those who have an interest in being published there will be advice and pointers about the different kinds of markets.<br />
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All types of writing and genres will be covered, from children's and adult fiction to scriptwriting, online (e.g. blogging), interactive computer games, comics, journalism, non-fiction and specialist technical or business-to-business writing – except for poetry, as there is another group which specialises in poetry in Llandovery.<br />
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It will begin with a taster session on September 7th, price £3 to cover costs. After that it will be £5 per session, £4.50 concessions, or £42 (£38) for 10 sessions, on Wednesdays 7pm to 9pm.<br />
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I am a full-time professional writer and have taught hundreds of hours of creative and scriptwriting classes. I'm a novelist and winner of a HarperCollins contest to find a new children's writer with his young adults novel Hybrids.<br />
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I've also written, edited and commissioned many comics and graphic novels including for Marvel, and am a co-founder of the London Screenwriters Workshop.<br />
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On the non-fiction side I'm an author of thousands of journalistic articles on renewable energy and sustainable development and of over ten practical or technical/academic books on how to live more sustainably.<br />
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I'm also also a director of Cambria Publishing Co-operative and a member of the Society of Authors.<br />
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If you want to find out more before coming along, phone me on 07901 925671 or 01550 721476.<br />
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Here's a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1774461446109145/" target="_blank">Facebook event link to share.</a>DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-88016378327107768502016-07-11T01:57:00.002-07:002016-07-11T01:57:24.705-07:00Why have linguistic standards slipped in books for older children?One of the most successful novels ever written for older children is perhaps <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45/45-h/45-h.htm" target="_blank"><i>Anne of Green Gables</i></a>. Written in 1908 by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery for all ages, it has been considered a children's novel since the mid-twentieth century.<br />
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I have been reading it to my mother, now 93 and in a care home, because she read it as a child – and several times since – and she loves it.<br />
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The novel recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an orphan girl who is mistakenly sent to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged brother and sister who had intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm in Prince Edward Island. She starts the novel aged 11 and ends it at 16, when she leaves school.<br />
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<i>Anne of Green Gables</i> has sold more than 50 million copies and been translated into 20 languages. The book is taught to students around the world.<br />
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Why do I mention it? Because I was struck strongly by the difference in language level in this book and that of books published nowadays for similar age levels.<br />
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Here are two samples. Firstly, the opening:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde's Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof."</blockquote>
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And from a little further in:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Anne started off irreproachable, arrayed in the stiff black-and-white sateen, which, while decent as regards length and certainly not open to the charge of skimpiness, contrived to emphasize every corner and angle of her thin figure. Her hat was a little, flat, glossy, new sailor, the extreme plainness of which had likewise much disappointed Anne, who had permitted herself secret visions of ribbon and flowers. The latter, however, were supplied before Anne reached the main road, for being confronted halfway down the lane with a golden frenzy of wind-stirred buttercups and a glory of wild roses, Anne promptly and liberally garlanded her hat with a heavy wreath of them. Whatever other people might have thought of the result it satisfied Anne, and she tripped gaily down the road, holding her ruddy head with its decoration of pink and yellow very proudly."</blockquote>
Nowadays, writers for children are offered a number of pieces of advice: 'show don't tell', 'keep the language simple' and so on. These texts break all of these rules, containing 'difficult' words, extended subordinate clauses, use of the passive tense, and more.<br />
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The opening does not feature the main protagonist, nor a dramatic or emotional hook.<br />
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Let's choose a modern book to contrast with this, also aimed at girls of a similar age, Shannon Hale's <i>The Princess Academy</i>. It opens like this:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Miri woke to the sleepy bleating of a goat. The world was as dark as eyes closed, but perhaps the goats could smell dawn seeping through the cracks in the house’s stone walls. Though still half-asleep, she was aware of the late autumn chill hovering just outside her blanket, and she wanted to curl up tighter and sleep like a bear through frost and night and day."</blockquote>
This does start with the protagonist, and contains no words longer than three syllables, and only one inverted sentence structure, with no other subordinate clauses.<br />
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There is nothing linguistically unusual about this passage either in relation to the rest of this book, nor to dozens of others published in recent decades and marketed to the same age bracket. None have anything approaching the complexity and subtlety of language which has helped make <i>Anne of Green Gables</i> such a success.<br />
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But I bet you anything that if this title were to be sent anonymously to modern editors or agents it wouldn't stand a chance of publication.<br />
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So my question to you is: why? What has happened in the intervening 108 years? Have the reading powers of 13 year olds worsened while their numbers have mushroomed? Have educational standards lapsed? Have editors deadened the stylistic inventiveness of writers?<br />
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Because whatever else you may say, the uncompromising linguistic complexity of Montgomery's work did nothing to dull its popularity – even if it may not be amongst the top ten books for contemporary young girls. And my mother, despite her dementia, can still follow raptly its complicated sub-clauses.<br />
<br />
[David Thorpe is the writer of Marvel's<i> Captain Britain</i>, the sci-fi YA novels <i><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/hybrids/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hybrids</a>, <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/#DC" none="" text-decoration:="">Doc Chaos: The Chernobyl Effect</a></i> and the cli-fi fantasy <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/stormteller/" target="_blank"><i>Stormteller</i></a>.]<br />
<br />DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14661668.post-55412588326514586002016-05-24T01:03:00.002-07:002016-07-10T11:03:46.370-07:00When William Shakespeare met the Gunpowder Plotters<b><i>As a contribution to the commemorations of the fourth centenary of the Bard's death, here are some facts and idle speculations, plus an imagined conversation...</i></b><br />
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Several of the conspirators in the Catholic Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Protestant English Houses of Parliament in 1605 not only came from the Midlands, where Shakespeare and his Catholic family lived, but were related to the playwright – many of them his cousins.<br />
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So how much might Shakespeare have known of the plot?<br />
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<h3>
Shakespeare's Catholic family</h3>
<b>Robert Catesby,</b> born in 1572, was the lead conspirator of the plot. He was William's cousin through his mother, Mary Arden. Mary was the daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham, and came from a well-known Roman Catholic family. She was second cousin to the father, William Arden, of Edward Arden, who in 1583 was sentenced for his part in another Catholic plot against Elizabeth I.<br />
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Edward was uncle to Catesby and <b>Francis Tresham</b>, another Gunpowder Plotter; both these plotters shared Catesby grandparents, Francis on the maternal side.<br />
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Robert Catesby recruited more of his cousins: <b>Robert Wintour</b> (born 1568), his brother <b>Thomas</b> (born three years later) and their half brother <b>John</b>. <i>De facto</i>, they were, too, cousins of William Shakespeare.<br />
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Robert Catesby was married to a niece of Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange, whom many biographers believe was William Shakespeare's first aristocratic patron.<br />
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His next patron, Henry Wriosthesley, Earl of Southampton, was arrested in the Essex Rebellion of 1601 (of which more below) along with co-plotters Catesby and Tresham.<br />
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It gets thicker, and the likelihood that the conspirators and Shakespeare knew each other greater.<br />
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William Shakespeare's daughter Judith married, and her brother-in-law Adrian Quiney was himself married to Eleanor Bushell, whose aunt Elizabeth Winter was the aunt of the three Winter brothers.<br />
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Furthermore, their sister Dorothea was married to another plotter, <b>John Grant</b>, who was the grandson of William Shakespeare's father John's business partner Edward Grant.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/William_Parker,_4th_Baron_Monteagle_and_11th_Baron_Morley_by_John_de_Critz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/William_Parker,_4th_Baron_Monteagle_and_11th_Baron_Morley_by_John_de_Critz.jpg" width="140" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lord Monteagle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Still with me? Now, the man credited with betraying the gunpowder conspiracy was another cousin. He was William Parker, 13th Baron Morley, 4th Baron Monteagle (born 1575, right), commonly known as <b>Lord Monteagle</b>. His wife Elizabeth was Francis' sister, the daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham and Muriel Throckmorton. They were of a wealthy Catholic family from Coughton Court in Warwickshire; Tresham had been Sir Robert's ward. He helped to organise Thomas Winter's mission to Spain in 1602, to win support from the Spanish crown for the plot.<br />
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Monteagle was 'turned' by Robert Cecil, the King's (and Queen Elizabeth's before him) head of security as Secretary of State, and was rewarded handsomely for his troubles. There is strong evidence for suspecting that Monteagle was not just a double agent, pretending to be a member of the conspirators while relaying everything back to Cecil so he could coordinate the sitting of Parliament and the 'discovery' of the plot to maximum effect, but also an <i>agent provocateur </i>who helped to buy the conspirators time when it took longer than expected to dig the tunnel, and obtain the gunpowder, which would have been very difficult to do otherwise since all gunpowder (a rare commodity) was held under licence by the government, and then get hold of the keys to the cellar beneath the Parliament hall when the plan to build the tunnel failed.<br />
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<h3>
The context for the plot</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Robert_Cecil,_1st_Earl_of_Salisbury_by_John_De_Critz_the_Elder_(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Robert_Cecil,_1st_Earl_of_Salisbury_by_John_De_Critz_the_Elder_(2).jpg" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Cecil</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Gunpowder Plot was the most famous in a line of Catholic plots against the government, the most famous of which prior to that was the Babington plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth in 1586. Just as now, with Islamic terror, and during the IRA mainland bombing campaign of the 1970s-80s, the state was on high alert for plots.<br />
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Sir Francis Walsingham was made responsible by Queen Elizabeth for setting up the first Secret Service and a network of paid informers, who would regularly inform upon one another. His agents tortured victims and suspects, and brought him notice of suspected Catholic plots. He was succeeded in 1590 by Robert Cecil, who became the first Earl of Salisbury, and the most powerful man in England when he was appointed the leading minister in 1598. After Elizabeth's death he went on to serve King James, the Catholic in whom the conspirators put so much faith that was not rewarded – quite the opposite.<br />
<br />
<h3>
What happened to the gunpowder?</h3>
Have you ever asked yourself why the gunpowder was not exhibited at the trial of the conspirators as evidence?<br />
<br />
There was a minimum of 36 barrels, weighing 3,600 pounds or 1633kg – not a small amount. My theory is that it was because the government, which had a monopoly on gunpowder for its arsenal, had already had this precious commodity transported to Ireland to support their colonial programme.<br />
<br />
The man who led this subjugation of Ireland was Sir Henry Bouncker, Monteagle's brother-in-law, followed by Henry's son and Monteagle's nephew – William.<br />
<br />
The discovery of the plot occasioned a massive clampdown on Catholics everywhere, including seizure of their property, which enriched Cecil and his colleagues. Did you think it would be distributed to the poor?<br />
<br />
<h3>
Was Shakespeare aware of the plot?</h3>
Of course, the population was not great at that time, families contained many children, and it would be common for somebody to have many cousins. So it would not be statistically unusual for Shakespeare to be related to many people in his same social class, in the same geographical area. But would he have known the conspirators? And if he did, would he have been sympathetic?<br />
<br />
William's father was a Catholic recusant who paid a huge amount in fines. He kept a priest hidden in a bolthole in his home to take confession. His sister married Thomas Habington, also a Roman Catholic. Most of Shakespeare's family were Catholic, and William himself was brought up a Catholic.<br />
<br />
There has been much discussion about whether Shakespeare himself continued to be a Catholic throughout his life. His father's gardener in Stratford was a priest, and Shakespeare himself never wrote a good Protestant churchman in any of his plays, while his Jesuit priests are upstanding citizens. There is also no record of Shakespeare attending a Protestant communion service if he could help it.<br />
<br />
Clopton House was the seat of the gunpowder conspiracy. Adjoining it was the Welcombe land where Shakespeare had acquired a freehold estate. Sir Hugh Clopton built New Place – bought by William Shakespeare in 1597 and the grandest house in town at the time. It was situated opposite the Catholic Guild Hall. It is easy to imagine, given this, that Shakespeare could have met at least some of the conspirators.<br />
<br />
Three years before the plot was 'discovered', Shakespeare was involved obliquely in the Earl of Essex Affair, a Catholic uprising. The writer himself played John of Gaunt in a performance of Richard II at the Globe Theatre, mocking the Queen's rule by implication.<br />
<br />
His cousin Robert Catesby was so inspired by this that the following day he led the revolt in the Strand. William would have been heard to utter:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thy deathbed is no lesser than thy land,<br />
Wherein thou liest in reputation sick;<br />
And thou, too careless patient as thou art,<br />
Committest thy anointed body to the cure<br />
Of those ‘physicians’ that first wounded thee.</blockquote>
Given what had happened to the members of his family, Shakespeare, a political animal to the last drop of his blood, would know better than most that it would be necessary, if he wanted to be successful at his prime passion, to conceal his Catholic leanings.<br />
<br />
After the Essex affair he was very careful to do so, while his contemporary rival, Ben Jonson, became a Catholic and consorted with the plotters. Theatre was, after all, traditionally Catholic with its mystery and morality plays, and the Puritans hated theatre, calling it "the chapel of Satan". The pressure to be seen to conform could hardly have been higher.<br />
<br />
Robert Southwell, the poet, martyr and another cousin of Shakespeare's, urged Shakespeare to use his talents to good ends: <i>"In fables are often figured moral truths that covertly uttered are to the common good which, without masks, would not find so free a passage."</i><br />
<br />
<h3>
If Catesby met Shakespeare</h3>
I have made several attempts to turn the above research into a play or script. A play of mine with a title <i>Plot!</i> was performed by an amateur dramatic society in my then hometown of Machynlleth. This version interweaved the above story alongside another, of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven, all set up by agents provocateurs, Catholics falsely imprisoned on terrorist charges. History repeats itself.<br />
<br />
I still haven't arrived at a satisfactory draft, but in all versions I imagine a scene, perhaps on the border of the Welcombe and Clopton estates, in which Robert Catesby tries to persuade William Shakespeare to join their cause because he is aware of the power of theatre to motivate the crowds onto the conspirators' side, and because of Shakespeare's fame and influence.<br />
<br />
In my imaginary conversation both Catesby and Shakespeare make their arguments for and against the plot using quotes from Shakespeare's own plays.<br />
<br />
If such a conversation ever took place, William would have been far too canny to sympathise with Catesby's arguments. He knew the direction in which history was travelling, and he knew on which side his bread was buttered.<br />
<br />
He might have responded to Catesby as follows:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>SHAKESPEARE <i>(as the Duke in Measure for Measure):</i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thou knowest not what thou speak’st</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Or else thou art suborn’d against his honour</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In hateful practice...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
...Someone hath set you on.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>CATESBY: <i>(Measure For Measure)</i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Be not so hot!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My business in this state </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Made me a looker-on here in ... London ...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Where I have seen corruption boil and bubble</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Till it o’errun the stew...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>SHAKESPEARE: (<i>Hamlet</i>)</u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Your words fly up, your thoughts remain below:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Words without thoughts never to heaven go!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>CATESBY: <i>(becoming angry: also Hamlet)</i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Suit the action to the word, the word to the action -</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>SHAKESPEARE<i>: (triumphantly)</i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
- with this special observance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>CATESBY:<i> (from MacBeth, which Shakespeare actually wrote just after the plot was discovered) </i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Screw your courage to the sticking place,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And we’ll not fail.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>SHAKESPEARE: <i>(MacBeth too) </i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The attempt, and not the deed...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
will confound the land...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>CATESBY:<i> (mocking; back to Hamlet) </i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And thus the native hue of resolution</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And enterprises of great pith and moment</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With this regard their actions turn awry</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And lose the name of action.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>SHAKESPEARE:<i> (sadly remembering his own father, whom this line is said to be about:)</i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
...His beard was grizzled, no?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>(answering self)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It was, as I have seen it in his life,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A sable silvered.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>CATESBY: <i>(seeking to capitalise on the emotion: Hamlet still)</i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Ay, murder most foul was it...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>(not quoting)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Your very father, - for his Faith... as mine -</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>(quoting again)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That you, with wings as swift</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As meditation, or the thoughts of love,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
May sweep to his revenge.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Pause, while SHAKESPEARE recovers his wits.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>SHAKESPEARE: <i>(Softly: Merchant of Venice)</i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mercy is above the sceptred sway...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It is an attribute of God himself</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
When mercy seasons justice.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>CATESBY: <i>(contemptuously, last attempt: (Hamlet)</i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
What a falling off is there!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
What is a man</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
If his chief good and market of his time</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Be but to sleep and feed?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
...A thought which, quartered, hath but one part </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
wisdom</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And ever three parts coward ...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Witness this army of such mass and charge </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
ranked now with us -</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u>SHAKESPEARE: <i>(Closing the discussion: Measure For Measure)</i></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Might but my bending down</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Reprieve us from our fate, it should proceed.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I’ll pray a thousand prayers for thy death;</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No word to save thee.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>SHAKESPEARE walks sadly off. CATESBY watches him go.</i></div>
<br />
<h3>
Sources</h3>
My sources for all of this are many and varied. I spent some time in the British Library researching. Chief amongst the books are: <i>The Gunpowder Plot</i> by Hugh Ross Williamson, published by Faber in 1951; <i>Shakespeare and Catholicism </i>by H Matschumann and K Wentersdorf (NY, 1952). I know there have been more recent scholarly studies; a more recent one is <i>The Heart of His Mystery: Shakespeare and the Catholic Faith in England</i> by John Waterfield (2009). Here is a reasonable online <a href="http://www.gunpowder-plot.org/monteagle.asp">deconstruction of the official story of the Gunpowder Plot</a>, although it stops short of the conclusion to which it points, that Monteagle was an agent provocateur/double agent. Hugh Ross Williamson also dramatised the events above (minus Shakespeare) from a Catholic perspective in <i>Gunpowder, Treason and Plot,</i> his 1951 play. I have it in an edition published in that year by Elek Books.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div>
David Thorpe is the writer of the sci-fi YA novels <i><a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/hybrids/" target="_blank">Hybrids</a></i>, <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/buy-davids-fiction/#DC">Doc Chaos: The Chernobyl Effect</a> and the cli-fi fantasy <a href="http://davidthorpe.info/imagination/stormteller/" target="_blank"><i>Stormteller</i></a>.</div>
DavidKThorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.com0