MarkMcGuire

@Dragon-Snapper oh, sorry. I’m still going. 😀

@Daeus okay well now I’m writing… XD When you come back, just tag me.

@Dragon-Snapper you still on?

@Daeus aaaahhhhh! I just stopped. 🙁 Lunch must be eaten. I will be later though. Do you want me to tag you?

@Charisetter The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers. Both excellent in different ways.

@Aratrea @Daeus

Experiments in Living:
1. One is victorious if they are able to protect their family and friends.
2. One is victorious if they have control over all those who wish them harm.
3. One is victorious if they can gain the ability to live in freedom from physical tyranny and oppression.
4. One is victorious if they can serve others and…[Read more]

@aratrea While working out my experiments in living for the next section, I realized that victory would work better than either of the others options I had. So I’ve tweaked my question and message slightly to ‘what constitutes true victory?’ and ‘Victory is not measured by if we win or lose earthly battles, but rather in our relationship with…[Read more]

@aratrea

Can I just say I am loving this course SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! Basically, everything @kate-flournoy said. It’s lesson 4 and already I’ve learned so much. I also really like how the lessons are fairly short so I can take the time to sit back and think about it and apply what I’ve learned to my various works in progress.

And yes; tragic…[Read more]

Goodbye Morgan! *heroically sniffs back tears* I wish you godspeed on your perilous journey. *shakes your hand solemnly* We shall meet again.

@PerfectFifths um… well… what they said. 😛 Thanks guys.
I’ll come back if I think of anything else. 😉

I shall return. Never fear. *disappears in a poof of smoke*

@Daeus This actually isn’t Fidelyon (though I’ve already filled out a similar outline of Fidelyon, with the theme being identity, and the focusing question being ‘of what does a man’s worth consist’).

The homework above is for a futuristic trilogy I’m working on where the MC goes through disillusionment arc on how things don’t always end well (at…[Read more]

@aratrea

The theme is the one thing I’m not quite sure about. The idea is that man cannot succeed on his own. Man is finite and there is a limit to what he can do and know – as compared to God, who is infinite, and in Whom true success and final victory lies. Themes themselves are naturally broad, but I’m thinking I might be able to focus mine…[Read more]

@northerner hm, yes. :/ Unfortunately the comedies have a lot of that. Quite honestly I stopped reading the comedies once I got a quarter of the way through The Merry Wives of Windsor. Not worth it. The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing were good. Otherwise, pretty much senseless.

@Northerner *is consoled* His histories are definitely my favorites. Most of his other work I really don’t care for. A few exceptions— The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and Macbeth if only for the villain 😛 but the histories are most certainly wonderful. Probably doesn’t help that it’s my favorite period of history too.…[Read more]

@Emma-Flournoy it’s a passage from Hamlet with the key words replaced. 😉

@DAEUS! *groans* You ruined it! *sobs* And Hamlet isn’t even my favorite either. *oceans of tears*
*goes to console herself by reading Henry V for the eighteenth time*

(Hilarious, by the way. 😀 )

@aratrea

Story: Lord of the Rings

Theme: Hope and Perseverance

Focusing Question: Is there ever a time one is justified in giving up?

Message: One must fight and persevere through every darkness, doing what one can whether there is hope or not.

I have a feeling there is probably more themes in LotR, but those are the main ones that I think…[Read more]

Theme: Finite ability of man

Focusing question: What constitutes success?

Possible answers:
a. Protection of loved ones
b. Personal power
c. Survival
d. Memorable acts
e. Relationship with God

Message: Success is not measured by if we win or lose earthly battles, but rather in our relationship with God.

@Aratrea
@Daeus

@aratrea Theme is exciting because it is the life of the story; the reason the story exists. It can be woven in so subtly and exploration of a theme can go in so many directions. I am always excited when I find books that are exciting and yet present a message or prompt thought-provoking questions without shoving the morals down your throat, and…[Read more]

A better understanding of how to create and fully develop themes. And to just understand themes in general. I’ll figure out a basic theme and message, but when it comes time to untangle all the fine points of the theme and work it into the story, it can become a confused mess.