The Persons of the Tale was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and was published in a collection of his writings, 'Fables', in 1896.

Captain Smollett and Long John Silver stroll out of Treasure Island "to have a pipe before business should begin again, and met in an open place not far from the story." They debate which of the characters of Treasure Island is the author's favourite, and whether he needs both a hero and a villain to tell a good story...

#storytelling #creativewriting #fictionwriting #shortstories #rlstevenson #treasureisland #heroesandvillains

Random thoughts on books, authors and writing; with added random noises... Episode 5 : we take a look at the archetypal hero & villain, and how they function in stories. There may be pirates and parrots involved ...

(NOTE: The railway excerpt in this episode comes from 'Under the Gaslight', a melodrama by Augustin Daly, 1867)

#creativewriting #incitingincident #storytelling #aesopsfables #writing

A short selection of Aesop's Fables to accompany Episode 4: Inciting Incidents

Guest storyteller: Jonathan Brandt

Happy Listening!

#aesopsfables #aesop #storytelling #creativewriting #fictionwriting #incitingincident #shortstories

Random thoughts on books, authors and writing; with added random noises... Episode 4 : we look at how stories begin (or don't), what inciting incidents are (not necessarily to do with revolutions) and why they are useful for stories, with a few examples from Aesop's Fables. There may be men in togas discussing plot and strategies...

#creativewriting #incitingincident #storytelling #aesopsfables #writing

Random thoughts on books, authors and writing; with added random noises... Episode 3: While the hapless author battles with plot bunnies and runaway characters, we look at different types of character and their motivation. Introducing the Big Five, with some broken bicycles and how to deal with the cow that jumps over the moon...

#bigfivepersonalities #creativewriting #books #saveaword

A quick look at the life of Wilkie Collins, and the identity of the Woman who inspired the Woman in White....

#literature #excerpts #WilkieCollins #writing #fictionalcharacters

Random thoughts on books, authors and writing; with added random noises... Episode 2: Exploring the identity of your characters; Wilkie Collins, and secrets; our hapless author deals with writer's block with a hammer, while the Mad Professor seeks to create the perfect archvillain (with added thunderstorms)...

#character #techniques #characteridentity #fictionwriting #wilkiecollins

An unexpected meeting with fateful consequences. A very short story by Somerset Maugham.

#somersetmaugham #miniread #readingextract #literature