From the category archives:

Storytelling

The ugly duckling

August 18, 2008

‘The Ugly Duckling‘ was originally told by Hans Christian Andersen – and, if Jackie Wullschlager’s biography of the writer is to believed – the story is partly autobiographical.In the story, a cygnet, shunned by the other animals because of his ugliness, matures into a beautiful swan, eventually getting the respect he deserves.We can describe the [...]

In other words

August 6, 2008

One response to my earlier question is to say that all texts – stories, music, whatever – are re-tellings of something else. There’s no new story to tell.Two interesting books on this subject: Vladimir Propp – Morphology of the Folk Tale (includes the 31 functions of folk tales) Christopher Booker – The Seven Basic Plots [...]

Cover versions

July 30, 2008

Cover versions are interesting to people because they combine something familiar with something unexpected. They are a deviation from something we already know.In some cases, the success of the cover version relies on our knowledge of the original. Punk covers are like parodies of the originals – deeply referential, usually quite one-dimensional. Me First & [...]

My first fictional drabble

February 22, 2007

I thought I’d try writing a fictional drabble after all the non-fiction stuff I’ve been doing lately. Here it is, and I would appreciate any constructive feedback on it: She came in through the bathroom window. Even as she threatened my life, my mind mouthed the words to the Beatles song, ‘She Came in Through [...]

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