@karthmin
active 1 month ago
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Martin Detwiler wrote a new post, Don't Make Your Short Story Too Complicated 3 weeks, 3 days ago
Short stories are a powerful medium. In just a few thousand words, they send us on meaningful emotional journeys that linger with us for the rest of our lives. “The Gift of the Magi” illuminates the tender bea […]
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Tolstoy vs. Superheroes: Two Approaches to Character Development 1 month ago
Tabitha,
I don’t know for sure.
Both pantsing and plotting cultivate artistry in the final product; they simply take two different routes along the way. Plotting is much more intentional on the front end before creating a manuscript, while pantsing ret-cons the intentionality into the story on the back end of the creative process.
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Martin Detwiler wrote a new post, What The Promise of Jesse Woods Teaches Writers about Balancing Multiple Plot Lines 2 months, 1 week ago
Editor’s Note: This is the third part of our series exploring the merits of The Promise of Jesse Woods by Chris Fabry. You can read the introductory post here and the second installment here. Beware that this a […]
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Create Stronger Themes through the Way Your Characters Access Magic 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Cool! Do you know what kinds of themes you will try to explore with that?
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Create Stronger Themes through the Way Your Characters Access Magic 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Thank you! So glad this was helpful for you, Ethan. 🙂
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Martin Detwiler wrote a new post, Create Stronger Themes through the Way Your Characters Access Magic 2 months, 2 weeks ago
When you write, you don’t aim to recreate reality. Instead, you excitedly create a secondary world. Although a few aspects resemble reality to make the story understandable, other aspects are intentionally u […]
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AMAZING article Martin! I was having a bit of a problem defining magic, but this really helped.
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Thank you! So glad this was helpful for you, Ethan. 🙂
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Cool! Do you know what kinds of themes you will try to explore with that?
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Tolstoy vs. Superheroes: Two Approaches to Character Development 3 months ago
Thank you, Rolena!
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Martin Detwiler wrote a new post, Tolstoy vs. Superheroes: Two Approaches to Character Development 3 months, 2 weeks ago
A plot may stimulate readers’ minds, but even the most unforeseen twists won’t linger in their memory unless the events are deeply rooted in the characters’ lives. Strong character development engages reade […]
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Yay superheroes! 😀 Great article, Martin. I especially appreciated this closing thought. “The better you know yourself as a writer, the more intentional you can be in crafting your stories. Lean heavily into the strengths of the method you gravitate toward, and strive to avoid the weaknesses you’re prone to.” 🙂 Great advice right there.
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Thank you, Rolena!
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Tabitha,
I don’t know for sure.
Both pantsing and plotting cultivate artistry in the final product; they simply take two different routes along the way. Plotting is much more intentional on the front end before creating a manuscript, while pantsing ret-cons the intentionality into the story on the back end of the creative process.
I think it would be shortsighted to say that these methods have absolutely no effect on the emphases of the final product. But I’m not willing to say that there is a direct correlation from pantsing to character-driven stories, or from plotting to plot-driven stories. I’m of the opinion that those methods (pantsing and plotting) reflect the personality style of the author far more reliably than the focus of the story.
With that said, it’s quite easy for me to imagine a pantser simply following their characters around and ending up with a character-driven story. And vice versa, it’s very easy for me to imagine a plotter coming up with a complicated and engaging series of twists and turns that leads them to write a more plot-driven story. So it may reflect a tendency, but at the same time this is based on our stereotypes of plotters and pantsers.
There is nothing that prevents a plotter from becoming enamored with a character and building a story around them. And pantsers have a way of happenstancing upon the most brilliant and sucessful of plot twists almost by accident – leading to a stories that could be very, very plot-oriented.
At the end of the day, I think there’s something of a connection, but I wouldn’t rock my baby in that bassinet. I definitely wouldn’t want to box up my creative output in only one direction or the other.
Lots of words, no conclusion. Sorry! I really enjoyed the question, though.
I’m so glad I was able to make this topic feel important to you! Thank you for your kind words. 🙂
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, 3 Practical Tips to Tighten Long-Winded Prose 3 months, 2 weeks ago
So happy you’ve found this helpful, Kristianne! Best of luck as you continue writing and editing!
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Martin Detwiler wrote a new post, 3 Practical Tips to Tighten Long-Winded Prose 3 months, 3 weeks ago
One of the biggest challenges we face as writers is the process of translating our ideas into chunks of text that seem much more bland than the characters, settings, and themes did in our imaginations. Once […]
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This is so helpful! I will definitely be coming back to this as I go through serious editing on my WIP in a few months. I especially like the first point about using details as more than details. A very interesting concept and one I will try to be using in my writing. 🙂
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So happy you’ve found this helpful, Kristianne! Best of luck as you continue writing and editing!
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Are Your Stories Subtly Undermining God’s Truth? 3 months, 3 weeks ago
No problem, Lilly!
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Are Your Stories Subtly Undermining God’s Truth? 3 months, 3 weeks ago
What a goal! I love that you’re not afraid to tackle Biblical fiction, Bella! It’s a tricky genre, but there’s so much potential for powerful payoff, especially for a Christian audience. I’m so glad this article was helpful to you! God bless your efforts!
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Are Your Stories Subtly Undermining God’s Truth? 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Wow! So glad you found it to be worthwhile, Naiya! Really love hearing this from you.
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Are Your Stories Subtly Undermining God’s Truth? 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Thank you for these kind words, Libby. I really appreciate this and I’m so glad you found it of use to you!
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Are Your Stories Subtly Undermining God’s Truth? 4 months, 1 week ago
Coralie,
I’m glad this has been encouraging and thought-provoking to you. There’s definitely a lot of big ideas here that have been bouncing around upstairs for a while – and it’ll be a continual process to walk the line between self-expression and subcreation.
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Are Your Stories Subtly Undermining God’s Truth? 4 months, 1 week ago
Lilly,
The verse I had in mind particularly was Proverbs 18:1, “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.”
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Are Your Stories Subtly Undermining God’s Truth? 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Thanks so much, K. M.! Zachary was so kind as to post the text of the scene that I was referring to. It was definitely much more confusing to me as a young reader than it is to me now – but I’ve had the opportunity to study and read more of Lewis’ fiction and non-fiction at this point.
As Daeus pointed out, Lewis did not simply throw this into…[Read more]
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Martin Detwiler commented on the post, Are Your Stories Subtly Undermining God’s Truth? 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Thank you!
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Martin Detwiler wrote a new post, Are Your Stories Subtly Undermining God’s Truth? 4 months, 2 weeks ago
When you claim to speak truth, opening your mouth is dangerous.
Words are not idle collections of syllables in a conversation or symbols on paper. The pen is mightier than the sword, causing both greater good […]
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Wow. This is such a thought-provoking and important article! It takes such a balance. On one hand, we need to be extremely careful with our stories, specifically in the three areas you highlighted. On the other hand, we can’t become so scrupulous that we stop writing altogether for fear of making mistakes; we have to trust that God in His goodness will help us if we make a sincere effort to portray truth.
I am curious: what was that confusing scene in the Last Battle? I haven’t read Narnia in a while, but I’m interested in going back and seeing which scene you referred to.
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I wouldn’t exactly call it confusing. Lewis presents the same idea in Mere Christianity.
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Thanks so much, K. M.! Zachary was so kind as to post the text of the scene that I was referring to. It was definitely much more confusing to me as a young reader than it is to me now – but I’ve had the opportunity to study and read more of Lewis’ fiction and non-fiction at this point.
As Daeus pointed out, Lewis did not simply throw this into his story without thinking it through. The same argument appears in his non-fictional work as well. It’s been a hotly-contested question for many years (by far more than just Lewis), so it is no surprise that Lewis tackled it in his fiction. He had a tendency to tackle big topics, which is one of the things that I love about his writing. But it just means more is at stake, and more care must be taken.
God help us not to shy away from those questions, though, simply because they are difficult.
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Ah, I remember that one now. Thank you, Zachary!
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For anyone interested: I found this article to have an interesting take on what that scene means. https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/books/the-salvation-of-emeth.html
I haven’t thought about it enough to see if I agree or not, but I do think it’s an interesting take on it.
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*comes in a bit late* Goshes, I need to actually buckle down and read Narnia. XD
Khylie, one thing you said really struck me: “On the other hand, we can’t become so scrupulous that we stop writing altogether for fear of making mistakes; we have to trust that God in His goodness will help us if we make a sincere effort to portray truth.”
That’s so true. It’s something I’ve battled with, and it’s a huge relief when I remember I’m not trying to do this on my own. God is in this with me. So yes, thanks for the reminder. It’s an immense comfort.
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Thank you!
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A thought-provoking article, certainly. There are some ideas in here I need to chew on and stew on a little. Though, I particularly enjoyed the last portion and found it highly encouraging. The call to prayer and immersing ourselves in God’s word, to leaning into Christ, knowing truth, and growing in our understainding and faith is strong. And it will infect every aspect of our lives, including our writing. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
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Coralie,
I’m glad this has been encouraging and thought-provoking to you. There’s definitely a lot of big ideas here that have been bouncing around upstairs for a while – and it’ll be a continual process to walk the line between self-expression and subcreation.
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@karthmin Do you have any resources you can recommend to further learn about and understand what subcreation is?
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This is so true! Is it not absoultely amazing to take in the very many sides of our awesome God?!
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Lilly,
The verse I had in mind particularly was Proverbs 18:1, “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.”
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This was really encouraging and full of truth. Thank you for writing this and sharing this with us. I really appreciate it.
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Thank you for these kind words, Libby. I really appreciate this and I’m so glad you found it of use to you!
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Wow, I’m a little late, but this was really an amazing article! I especially love how you pointed out ways we can work on our mistakes in this area instead of simply showing where we go wrong. It’s both helpful and comforting.
There was so much good stuff in this article. I’ll probably have to keep it open on my laptop for a while to glance back at while I’m writing! :’D Thank you so much!-
Wow! So glad you found it to be worthwhile, Naiya! Really love hearing this from you.
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Thank you so much for this, Martin! I clicked on it right away because one of my characters is the Apostle Paul, and for a while now I’ve been deathly afraid of putting words in his (and therefore God’s) mouth, and making him a puppet of sorts or mouthpiece to get my personal thoughts out there. This has been extremely helpful!
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What a goal! I love that you’re not afraid to tackle Biblical fiction, Bella! It’s a tricky genre, but there’s so much potential for powerful payoff, especially for a Christian audience. I’m so glad this article was helpful to you! God bless your efforts!
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Thank you! I really am quite passionate about the genre. I pray often that I’ll be able to reach other believers with that power I’ve seen when all’s said and done. Thank you again for your encouragement and time spent in the writing of this thoughtful article!
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No problem, Lilly!
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Martin Detwiler wrote a new post, 2 Ways to Grow as an Author without Actually Writing 5 months, 1 week ago
When you sit at your desk and take up your pen, you’re centered on the act of being a storyteller. You bring to bear all the skill and experience you’ve accumulated. But what about the moments when you are […]
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Great article, bro! Now I want to write a short story!!