Tag archives for writing - Page 2
What if? Building an alternate history
Photograph of Lord Halifax, British Ambassador to the United States, with an unidentified officer, at the - NARA - 199243 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Last week I had dinner with a friend who asked me a "what if?" question that set me thinking about building an alternate history for a game and a story. We were talking about SOE in the spring and summer of 1944. The period is rich in possibilities and decisions for players on a game. However there's an awful lot of hindsight getting in the way of being able to properly game the period. The Problem with Hindsight The invasion is inevitable, and even when previous games have given the allies latitude over where and when the German players don't act the way the Germans did. It's impossible to create the same uncertainty in the German High…
Horror Movies – What Makes Them Properly Scary?
The Blair Witch Project (Photo credit: Wikipedia) On the way to school this morning Alexander was asking me what makes the Blair Witch Project a scary horror movie. He hasn't seen Blair Witch, but he has read the article on the sequel in the current Empire magazine. Ever since he has been obsessed about knowing how the Blair Witch Project went. Horror or Splatter? One of the things we talked about was whether or not you really need lots of blood and gore in a horror movie. There's certainly a visceral horror in seeing injured or dismembered people. But it is quite hard to get it right. We're good at understanding that it isn't real. If we don't think it is real then we cannot be truly terrified. Gore in a horror movie is like slapstick in a comedy. It…
Zombie Stories Breaking my Suspension of Disbelief
I've been reading zombie stories recently and enjoying them, Max Brooks World War Z for a second time and Frank Tayell's Surviving the Evacuation series (1-3 so far). However, there are a number of things though that I find it hard to keep my disbelief suspended in. Zombie Stories So I completely understand that zombie stories aren't about the hard science, or even about zombies. They're underlying tales of the human struggle with death. We also like the post apocalyptic survival thing. Who doesn't think they could break the rules and survive when society breaks down? It's a cool escapist fantasy, and there are hordes of zombie movies and books out there that pander to it. Zombie Pandemic English: The Spanish Influenza. Chart showing mortality from the 1918 influenza pandemic in the US and Europe. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Pandemics happen.…
Themself – now available on kindle
Today is publication day for my latest book Themself - Confessions of an open university creative writing student. As the sub-title suggests it is about my experience of studying creative writing with the OU. Although Themself goes further than that and includes the things I've learnt from my experience of writing, studying and self publishing. Themself - Confessions of an open university creative writing student You'll find some of the content in Themself here on the blog, but only about half of it. You'll also find that I've edited it since I first published it on the blog. Although I've tried hard to keep to the original character of the contemporary blog posts about how I was feeling. The bits I've updated are where I'm summarising what I've learnt. There is also a lot of new material. All of the stories and poems…
Book Review – Romps, Tots and Boffins by Robert Hutton
Romps, Tots and Boffins: The Strange Language of News by Robert Hutton My rating: 4 of 5 stars A really interesting commentary/dictionary on the language used by journalists. Well worth reading. The chapters are themed, Politics, Sex, Death etc. and after a little introductory bit there are then a set of definitions for each of the terms. As well as being informative there is also a sense of humour to it and several of the entries made me chuckle out loud as I read them. Definitely worth a read if you have an interest in language. View all my reviews Related articles Romps, Tots and Boffins by Robert Hutton (@RobDotHutton) for £! @eandtbooks #Amazon UK Kindle Nonfiction Daily Deal! The Word on the Sheet Lauren Collins: A guide to the language of news. Boffin lifts the lid on journalese: A…