Mythology and Folklore

  The power of creative constraints: Constraints aren’t the boundaries of creativity, but the foundation of it.   What makes a hero?: Talks about the monomyth, and the things that heroes go through. ‘A hero with a thousand faces’   How to build a fictional world: There are stories all around you all the time. Whether or not you tell them is up to you   What Orwellian really means:   Language plays an extremely important role in what we believe/thing/do/say.   What makes something Kafkaesque?: We rely on increasingly convoluted systems of administration which have very real impacts on our lives. The world we live in is one we create, and therefore, can change for the better.   How to write descriptively: There are many reasons to write. The point of fiction is to transport someone directly into the story.   Beware of nominalizations (zombie nouns): Nouns made from other parts of speech are nominalizations. They cannibalize t...

                                                        King Arthur King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang Sir Galahad and the White Knight                Sir Galahad came upon a white abbey, and found a white shield that would kill whoever picked it up unless he was the worthiest knight in the world. Sir Galahad proceeded to do many great deeds.   Sir Lancelot’s Vision                Sir Lancelot was not a pure knight, unlike his son, and he had to give up the quest for the Holy Graal   The Adventure of Sir Percivale                Sir Percivale loses a fight, pitches a fit, and makes friends with a lion...

King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang The Drawing of the Sword After King Uther died, England was thrown into chaos. Merlin declared that whoever could draw the sword from the stone would be King. Needing a sword for his brother, Kay, Arthur drew the sword from the stone and became the rightful King of England.                                          The Sword in the Stone Sculpture The Questing Beast                Knight Pellinore, who had been chasing a beast for nearly a year, stole a horse from the King and challenged him to catch the Knight. Merlin came along and prophesied Arthur’s death by his nephew.   The Sword Excalibur                How Arthur got Excalibur from the Lady in the Lake   The...