Episodes
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What makes a good ending--in a mystery story, or in any story? A combination of the unexpected and the inevitable, of course. But there's also something to be said for one final twist (or trick, depending on how you see it), plus a few moral loose ends.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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In this week's episode, Conan Doyle shows us how to make reason and logic--in other words, detective work--not only enchanting, but downright spooky.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Missing episodes?
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You know that old saw: genre fiction is about plot, literary about character. But in The Hound of the Baskervilles--and, I suspect, in most satisfying mystery stories--the complexities of character drive the plot forward. Also, an update on the progress of my literary mystery novel.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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In Sherlock Holmes's world, and perhaps in ours as well, you can never be certain that you know what you know, at least until the end of the story. Conan Doyle balances the need to preserve mystery with the equal need to provide information that moves the story forward. Once again, the key to the balancing act is Watson.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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In this extra-short episode, we take another look at how Conan Doyle establishes character through dialog--this time focusing not on what characters say, but how they say it. Also, you can hear me attempt to say "dolichocephalic," a word I have never said before in my life.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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In our first foray into Conan Doyle's creepy classic "The Hound of the Baskervilles," we examine the subtly cruel dynamic between Watson and Holmes, as revealed by their seemingly playful opening conversation. By showing these two as much more than a genius and his humble admirer, Conan Doyle helps us invest in the mystery emotionally as well as intellectually.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Probably not. But as I constantly struggle with endings to my own stories, I wonder...did Conrad force a change in Winnie's character in order to wrap the plot up? What do you think?
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Plots should be fast-paced, with plenty of action and well-timed jolts, right? In The Secret Agent, however, Conrad sidelines the big events and makes the revelation of those events the real story. This is no more true than near the end, when Winnie, almost in real time, processes what has happened to her brother, as her boorish husband tries to cajole her.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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The Secret Agent is not an action-packed novel. Yes, it includes a grisly bombing, but that central event occurs too early according to Freitag's Triangle--and it's reported, not even presented directly. Yet TSA is an exceptionally suspenseful novel because of the way Conrad intertwines structure and point-of-view through a series of hand-offs.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Even a squeamish reader like me has to admit that there are certain times, in certain stories, when depicting horror is necessary. In this episode, Conrad shows us how to do it, relatively subtly but still very distressingly. (CW: gore, violence)
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Is it OK for an author to hate their characters, even the most evil among them? If you don't offer just a little sympathy, won't they turn out to be cardboard villains? Learn from Joseph Conrad how to dispense with sympathy while crafting a villain who is interesting and memorable. Of course you'll need the omniscient point of view to do it, but why not try?
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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In this week's short craft talk, we begin a new series on Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent. This compact but deeply disturbing novel oozes evil, and Conrad makes sure we get a good look at all of it right from the start--by literally ringing a bell to set the awfulness in motion.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Are you still mad about the last episode of Lost, even though it happened almost twelve years ago? Would you like Dostoevsky to show you how not to write such an infuriating ending--while still preserving your favorite metaphysical/religious tropes? You're in luck--if not in writer heaven.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Last time Dostoevsky showed us how to make children interesting. Now let's learn how to do the same for the devil--by way of Ivan's helpful attack of "brain fever."
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Kolya Krassotkin is a pompous, imperfectly self-aware, but ultimately well-intentioned thirteen-year-old who attracts our hero Alyosha's attention. He deserves ours as well--for through him, we learn how to keep child characters from becoming clichés, and to make our readers root for these darn kids.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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In this short craft talk, we learn why it's sometimes good to have your characters do senseless things--especially if your book is about human senselessness.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Do your characters stub out cigarettes or twist their hair while conversing? Do you wish you could think of more interesting and revealing physical gestures that break up dialog or other scenes? Dostoevsky shows us how, through a surprisingly sweet moment with Dmitri.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Just as The Brothers Karamazov is becoming a truly exciting psychological mystery, Dostoevsky takes us on a long detour into the life of a seemingly minor character. Did Dostoevsky really need an editor? Or does this digression turn out to enlarge the story in multiple ways? (Hint: the latter.)
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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Are you depressed about the progress of your novel? Take a lesson from Dostoevsky and his author insert, Ivan Karamazov, on how depression can move your story forward.
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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The Grand Inquisitor, perhaps the greatest set piece in all of (classic) literature, is also a lesson creating a story-within-a-story. The whole novel grinds to a halt while one character narrates a twenty-page philosophical treatise, and yet it's spellbinding. How does Dostoevsky do it? And how might we?
Ann Gelder on Mastodon: @[email protected]
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