James Hynes
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Nelson Humbolt is a visiting adjunct English lecturer at prestigious Midwest University, until he is unceremoniously fired one autumn morning. Minutes after the axe falls, his right index finger is severed in a freak accident. Doctors manage to reattach the finger, but when the bandages come off, Nelson realizes that he has acquired a strange power-he can force his will onto others with a touch of his finger. And so, he obtains an extension on the...
Author
Language
English
Description
Told from the perspective of an enslaved boy being raised in a Roman brothel, a stunning literary historical novel of identity, family, suffering, and freedom
In a brothel on the Spanish coast during the waning years of the Roman Empire, a young enslaved boy of unknown parentage is growing up. His world is a kitchen, then an herb-scented garden, followed by a loud and dangerous tavern, and finally, the mysterious upstairs where the "wolves" do...
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 8
Language
English
Description
Turn from the mechanics of dialogue to discover how it can be used to evoke character or advance the story. After surveying how dialect is a powerful tool, if used carefully, Professor Hynes shows you how writers smoothly weave exposition into dialogue, and he considers the significance of what is not said in an exchange.
4) Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques: Fictional Characters, Imagined And Observed
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 4
Language
English
Description
Continue your study of character with a look at several approaches for building a character. Some writers draw from life, whereas others draw from the imagination. Some build characters "inside out," others from the "outside in." Some develop characters by psychology, others by circumstances. Professor Hynes shows you a range of options.
5) Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques: Building Fictional Worlds Through Evocation
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 2
Language
English
Description
Show, don't tell is the mantra of many writing workshops. But what does this mean? Find out how to choose just the right detail to evoke a scene, develop a character, and advance your story. After arming yourself with several strategies for "showing," you'll consider when it's OK to "tell."
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 18
Language
English
Description
Time and place are critical in most recent fiction, so today's writer must know how to evoke a setting. But, as with so many techniques in this course, setting exists along a continuum, from the richly detailed (as in Bleak House) to just a few sparse details (as in Pride and Prejudice). Find out when - and how much - to describe your story's setting.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 1
Language
English
Description
Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a writer like facing the blank page. Start your course in fiction writing with some strategies for beginnings. You'll examine several ways to ease into a story, including the "5W's" of journalism, outlines, and opening in medias res ("in the midst of things"). The good news, as you'll see, is that there are no hard and fast rules.
8) Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques: Call Me Ishmael - Introducing A Character
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 5
Language
English
Description
Now that you now have a wealth of strategies for developing character, how do you get your character into your story? In this lecture, you'll run through five different ways authors introduce characters. You'll also see two methods for building a story: the exploratory method and the "iceberg theory" of character creation.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 6
Language
English
Description
Books come in all forms and sizes, and so do characters. Learn the hallmarks of different character types, like round vs. flat and major vs. minor. See what purpose each type of character serves, and discover the relationship between a character and his or her desires.
10) Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques: I, Me, Mine - First-Person Point Of View
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 16
Language
English
Description
First-person narration can be one of the most natural ways to tell a story - but there are several important guidelines to keep in mind. Professor Hynes helps you navigate the different types of first-person storytellers, including the double consciousness, the unreliable narrator, and the retrospective narrator.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 14
Language
English
Description
Starting a narrative may be daunting, but ending one can be just as tricky. After discussing some famous examples of bad endings, Professor Hynes gives you tips for creating believable, satisfying endings, whether this means finding an answer to the story's opening gambit, or tracing a narrative to its logical end.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 9
Language
English
Description
Characters breathe life into your story, but without plot, even the most engaging character can fall flat. This lecture opens a six-lecture unit on plotting, a critical skill for any writer who wants to keep the reader turning pages. Professor Hynes begins the unit by breaking down story and plot into a few fundamental components.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 12
Language
English
Description
Not all stories have a traditional plot that can be modeled along Freytag's Pyramid. Contemporary short fiction, for instance, is often relatively plotless. See what drives momentum in stories such as Chekhov's "The Kiss" and Joyce's "The Dead," and then turn to "plotless" novels such as Mrs. Dalloway.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 24
Language
English
Description
You might have a mental image of the writer as a solitary genius toiling away in an ivory tower. But writers today must be adept at both the crafting of words and the business of publishing. To conclude this course, Professor Hynes surveys the publishing landscape today and gives advice for making the leap from hobbyist to professional.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 10
Language
English
Description
Whether you're writing literary fiction or a potboiler, your story needs a structure. Freytag's Pyramid is the classic structure for moving a story from an initial situation through a series of conflicts to a resolution. Examine every stage of the pyramid with examples ranging from The Wizard of Oz to Middlemarch to Game of Thrones.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 23
Language
English
Description
Write what you know is a common dictum, but what happens when you run up against the limits of your knowledge? What if you want to write a story about something other than your own life? What real-life details do you have an obligation to get right? Find out how fiction writers approach the unknown.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 7
Language
English
Description
Shift your attention from building characters to figuring out what they should say. This lecture provides an overview of the nuts and bolts of dialogue, from the rules of punctuation to the way writers use dialogue tags to add clarity to a conversation. See how what a character says can create meaning and evoke mood.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 13
Language
English
Description
Revisit beginnings. How do you get started with a story? In this lecture, Professor Hynes shifts from the techniques of plotting to offer several clear strategies for putting these techniques into action. He also provides invaluable advice about making choices on the page - and understanding the implications of those choices.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 19
Language
English
Description
Every narrative has a tempo. Some stories are short, while others are long. Some move at breakneck speed, while others linger over every detail. Discover how to strike the right balance between length and time (the pacing), between length and detail (the density), and between scene and summary.
20) Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques: Seeing through Other Eyes - Point Of View
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 15
Language
English
Description
What happens in a story depends in large part on who tells it. The three-lecture unit on point of view begins with a quick tour of the major points of view, from the third-person omniscient to the subjective first person. You'll also see how point of view is linked to time. As it turns out, when a story is told matters just as much as who tells it.