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What's New?
Stay updated on everything new with Once Upon A Time!
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Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:30 pm
Sqwid  |
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What We're About
Why does this forum exist?
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Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:27 pm
Sqwid |
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Report a Problem
Swearing optional.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:45 am
Steve |
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Make a Suggestion
Want a new category? Feel a certain word should be banned? Think you can make Once Upon a Time a better place for all? Here's your chance.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:47 am
Steve |
| Genres and Subgenres |
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Romance
Romanticism (literature), characterized by reliance on the imagination and subjectivity of approach, freedom of thought and expression, and an idealization of nature. The term romantic first appeared in 18th-century English and originally meant "romancelike"—that is, resembling the fanciful character of medieval romances. Holds emotion and expression over reason and reserve.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:29 am
LilyCat |
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Gothic
Gothic fiction is an important genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto. The effect of Gothic fiction depends on a pleasing sort of terror, an extension of essentially Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively new at the time of Walpole's novel.
Prominent features of Gothic fiction include terror (both psychological and physical), mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses and Gothic architecture, castles, darkness, death, decay, doubles, madness, secrets and hereditary curses.
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Thriller
Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. In a thriller, the hero must thwart the plans of an enemy, rather than uncover a crime that has already happened. Thrillers also occur on a much grander scale: the crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of governments. Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements. While a mystery climaxes when the mystery is solved; a thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the villain, saving his own life and often the lives of others. In thrillers influenced by film noir and tragedy, the compromised hero is often killed in the process.
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Suspense
Psychological thrills rather than physical thrills typify the Suspense Novel. Often moody and disturbing, suspense novels may be considered crime fiction if all other conditions for the definition are satisfied.
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Fantasy
Beginning perhaps with the Epic of Gilgamesh and the earliest written documents known to humankind, mythic and other elements that would eventually come to define fantasy and its various subgenres have been a part of some of the grandest and most celebrated works of literature. From The Odyssey to Beowulf, from the Mahabharata to The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, from the Ramayana to the Journey to the West, and from the Arthurian legend and medieval romance to the epic poetry of the Divine Comedy, fantastical adventures featuring brave heroes and heroines, deadly monsters, and secret arcane realms have inspired many audiences. In this sense, the history of fantasy and the history of literature are inextricably intertwined.
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Horror
Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle, or horrify the audience. Historically, the cause of the "horror" experience has often been the intrusion of an evil —- or, occasionally, misunderstood —- supernatural element into everyday human experience. Since the 1960s, any work of fiction with a morbid, gruesome, surreal, or exceptionally suspenseful or frightening theme has come to be called "horror". Horror fiction often overlaps science fiction or fantasy, all three of which categories are sometimes placed under the umbrella classification speculative fiction
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 2:03 am
Steve |
| The Plot |
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Structure
Plot is often schematically represented as an arc reflecting the rising action described in the following phases:
1. Initial situation – the beginning. It is the first incident that makes the story move.
2. Conflict or Problem – goal which the main character of the story has to achieve.
3. Complication or Rising action – obstacles which the main character has to overcome.
4. Climax – highest point of interest of the story.
5. Dénouement or Resolution – what happens to the character after overcoming all obstacles and reaching his goal, or failing to achieve the desired result and not reaching his goal.
6. Conclusion – the end result
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:59 am
Steve |
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Subplots
A subplot, sometimes referred to as a "B story" or a "C story" and so on, is a secondary plot strand that is auxiliary to the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporting characters, those besides the protagonist or antagonist.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:49 am
Steve |
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Plot Devices
A plot device is an element introduced to a story to affect or advance the plot. In the hands of a skilled writer, the reader or viewer will not notice that the device is a construction of the author—it will seem to follow naturally from the setting or characters in the story. A poorly-written story, on the other hand, may have such awkward or contrived plot devices that the reader has serious trouble maintaining suspension of disbelief; indeed, the devices may even leave plot holes.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:55 am
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Plot Holes
A plot inconsistency, mostly confused with a plot hole, is a gap in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story's plot. While many stories have unanswered questions, unlikely events or chance occurrences, a plot inconsistency is one that is essential to the story's outcome. Plot inconsistencies are usually seen as weaknesses or flaws in a story, and writers usually try to avoid them to make their stories seem as realistic as possible.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:52 am
Steve |
| Characters and minor characters |
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Characterization
A well-developed character is one that has been thoroughly characterized, with many traits shown in the narrative. The better the audience knows the character, the better the character development. Thorough characterization makes characters well-rounded and complex. This allows for a sense of realism. As an example, according to F.R. Leavis, Leo Tolstoy was the creator of some of the most complex and psychologically believable characters in fiction. In contrast, an underdeveloped character is considered flat or stereotypical.
Character development is very important in character-driven literature, where stories focus not on events, but on individual personalities. Classic examples include War and Peace or David Copperfield. In a tragedy, the central character generally remains fixed with whatever character flaw (hamartia) seals his fate; in a comedy the central characters typically undergo some kind of epiphany (sudden realization) whereupon they adjust their erratic beliefs and practices, and avert a tragic fate. Historically, stories and plays focusing on characters became common as part of the 19th century Romantic movement, and character-driven literature rapidly supplanted more plot-driven literature that typically utilizes easily identifiable archetypes rather than proper character development.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:20 am
Sqwid |
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Direct vs. indirect characterization
Direct or explicit characterization
The author literally tells the audience what a character is like. This may be done via the narrator, another character or by the character him or herself.
Indirect or implicit characterization
The audience must deduce for themselves what the character is like through the character's thoughts, actions, speech (choice of words, way of talking), looks and interaction with other characters, including other characters’ reactions.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 2:06 am
Steve |
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Minor Characters
Minor characters in a work of fiction who do not tend to undergo substantial emotional change or growth. Flat characters are also referred to as "two-dimensional characters," and are the opposite of round characters. Minor characters are present for the sake of the story whether character-driven or plot-driven.
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| Literary Tools |
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Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 2:31 am
Steve |
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Motifs
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:37 am
LilyCat |
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Symbols
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:38 am
LilyCat |
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Literary Terms
You might remember these from highschool: metaphors, anaphorism, antithesis, everything that makes your writing teem with intelligence or stink of pride.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 2:10 am
Steve |
| Writer's Block |
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Origin
Writer's block can be closely related to depression and anxiety two mood disorders that reflect environmentally caused or spontaneous changes in the brain's frontal lobe. This is in contrast to hypergraphia, more closely linked to mania, in which the changes occur primarily in the temporal lobe. These processes, and their implications for treatment, are described in neurologist Alice Flaherty's book The Midnight Disease.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:39 am
LilyCat |
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Overcoming
Helpful hints on overcoming the disease.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 2:37 am
Steve |
| Fraud |
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Evade Scams
Writers are prime targets for scammers. Here's how to avoid the most common scams.
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Thu Nov 15, 2007 8:07 pm
Sqwid |
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Fraud Stories
Been cheated? Tell us.
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Fri Nov 16, 2007 2:08 am
Steve |
| Success |
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Publishing Success Stories
Tell us all about your trail and success.
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