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Writing Gimmicks and How to Avoid Them

September 28, 2020

Writing

literature, manipulation, music, writing, writing gimmicks

Writing gimmicks are tricks authors use to distract readers from a bad text. We’ll be defining this in more detail in this post, but in this context a trick has nothing to do with reader manipulation.

Reader manipulation is a legitimate narrative technique. Writing gimmicks, on the other hand, are not techniques but fluff. Indeed, writing gimmicks often have nothing to do with the text itself and are more about extra-textual factors.

In this post we’ll see what writing gimmicks are, how to avoid them, and there’s also a bonus: What are reverse writing gimmicks, and how to take advantage of them. As an example, I’ll throw in a brief reference to a kick-ass Japanese rock band. Home for Fiction combines everything, you can’t complain!

writing gimmicks
It looks flashy, but the way doesn’t affect the result. That’s what a writing gimmick is, too
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Sounds in Literature: Creating Subjective Meaning

December 17, 2019

Literature

affect, literature, meaning, music, sounds, subjectivity, symbolism

After sight, hearing is arguably the second most important sense to most of us. Humans mostly use seeing and hearing to interact with their surroundings. And so, sounds in literature can be powerful in conveying meanings – particularly those subtle and symbolic.

But, as with every aspect of writing that is important, there is significant depth below the surface.

To talk about “sounds in literature” isn’t about a one-line advice in the direction of “remember to describe the weather” – sorry Ernest; I never liked your writing.

In other words, in this post I won’t tell you “remember to describe sounds in your book” – let alone how to do it. Instead, I’ll become a bit more abstract and show you why sounds in literature can be powerful and useful, and how they affect your readers.

sounds in literature
This photo is a visual depiction of an aural experience. Sounds in literature operate in a somewhat similar way
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Gothic, Metal, and the Concept of the Unspeakable

November 27, 2019

Criticism

defiance, Gothic, metal, music, politics, society

First, a warning: This article is not about “Gothic metal” but about Gothic as a literary genre and metal as a music genre. In this post I explore their interconnection, with the concept of the unspeakable as a bridge.

In simpler terms, picture that there is something connecting, say, Bram Stoker’s Dracula to Jinjer’s “Pisces”. This something is what I refer to here as “the unspeakable”.

Two disclaimers before we begin:

  • the unspeakable is only one possible link between Gothic and metal. There can be several ways to connect them, but I choose the unspeakable as a neat “umbrella term”, in a way.
  • I’m not breaking any new ground here. Literary criticism has analyzed these concepts extensively. At best, I might be just popularizing these analyses.

And with these out of the way, let’s see how Gothic and metal might be siblings – and, more importantly, why we should care.

Gothic and metal
Freddy Lim, of Chthonic – a Taiwanese band… banned in China, thanks to their relentless political commentary. Good luck finding such lyrics in gum-chewing pop.
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