The Kilted Writer

With the trailers for the new film version of Lois Lowry's The Giver showing up more and more, I thought I would start a series of posts looking at the book's introduction and characters. I must admit I have never read The Giver , but I'm correcting that error as I prepare these posts. The first thing I noticed as I was listening (I do better with audio due to some reading problems) to the book was the use of the "Show; Don't Tell" principle. Jonas lives in a dystopian society that is described very well through scenes in the book's introduction. First, we see a jet flying over the community. An announcement forces people inside, leaving their bicycles lying where they were dropped. From this, we know this is a very disciplined society that is monitored by some unseen group, and this group can communicate to everyone at any time. We also learn the severity of being "released." Lowry could have simply defined the word for us, but Jonas's

I try to teach concepts that are universal, which means they should apply across genres and across time. That's why I try to include examples from older, classic literature as well as more recent releases. In this post, I will be illustrating the concept of "importance" using Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd . This book is written from a third-person point of view. Despite this, the world of the story is revealed through the eyes and mind of the main character, Miss Marple. The most important thing in Miss Marple's life in this story is her garden. No one can care for her garden the way she can, and the first few paragraphs in the story center around the care of her garden. After the garden, Miss Marple reflects on the village in which she lives. Rather than describing the village outright, Christie let's us see the village through the eyes of an aging woman who longs for the "good old days." In one part, we learn more about the village

The Unvanquished , by William Faulkner, is a great example of "importance," revealing the world of your story in order of importance to the main character. The story starts with a description of two young boys playing a game of war out by the wood shed. From the game, we understand the story is set during the time of the Civil War. If we know our history, we can also easily deduce the story is set on a Southern plantation. The war is not important to the main character, but the game is, so we learn about the setting through the game. Faulkner does not leave it up to our knowledge of history, though, to reveal the world of the story. He refines the setting through the main character's remembrances of his father. Again, the war itself is not important to the main character, but the fact that his father is away fighting in it is very important. The relationship between the main character and is friend is another great example. At first, we see a young boy playing a gam

The Kilted Writer currently has two workshops scheduled in the month of June. First, I will be presenting my "Brains, Brawn, and Bravado" workshop to the Parker Writers Group , on Sunday, June 8 and again to the Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group the following week. The CSFWG presentation is currently for members only, so please see their website for membership details. On a completely different topic, I have recently applied for and received press credentials so I can start covering writing events as a journalist-blogger. My goal is to cover writing groups and events, including interviews of staff, faculty, and attendees, in order to educate the public on what's available to help aspiring writers master their craft. I am still looking for an appropriate livestream platform so I can provide live coverage of major events. I have narrowed down the options and will make a decision soon. I have also created a YouTube channel where I will keep highlights from these ev