Helen Lowe's Blog, page 24

Styling Characters in “Daughter of Blood”

Those of you who’re following along will know the drill by now, but I’ll recap for those who may be coming to things new.

This series of posts was inspired by one of Kim Falconer’s More Than Meets The Eye posts on the Supernatural Underground blog. It’s taking a closer look at how styling characters fits into developing their personalities and part in a story, but can also cast light on societal and cultural difference, thus playing a part in worldbuilding as well.

The particular series of stori...

A Writing Quote from the Great Ursula K Le Guin

“Right now, I think we need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art.”

~ Ursula K Le Guin, 1929 – 2018

This quote comes from Ursula Le Guin’s acceptance speech for the 2014 National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Although short, I believe it’s well worth your time to read, or hear — both options available here:

Speech in Acceptance of the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contri...

Remembering Judith Walsh

Today’s post is in memory of Judith Walsh, a longstanding member of the Christchurch poetry community who recently passed away.

Judith and I were both members of the “Friday Group” (also known as the “Boiler Room”) poetry group in the early to mid ’00s. She was also an active member of the Airing Cupboard Women’s Poetry Group and the Small White Teapot Haiku group, convening both at different times. Judith also served on the Canterbury Poets’ Collective (CPC) committee for a number of years.

In ...

Styling Characters in “The Gathering of the Lost” – Revisited!

Well, there I was thinking I’d managed a really comprehensive post on Styling Characters in the The Gathering of the Lost (Book 2 in The Wall Of Night series) last Thursday.

USA: Current cover

Then, “oh-no-ze!”, Andie commented that the “damosels” (variant of “damsels”, aka young women) could have got a mention as well – which made me realize that perhaps I had weighted the post toward the men(z) in their various guises!

And there definitely are some worthy moments of styling among the story’s w...

Styling Characters in “The Gathering of the Lost”

Last week, inspired by Kim Falconer’s More Than Meets the Eye: Styling Characters post on Supernatural Underground, I took a closer look at styling characters in The Heir of Night (Heir).

The premise of Kim’s post is that a character’s depiction through “style”, whether clothing or arms, can provide insight into their personality, as well as their part of the story’s narrative arc, or their current mood and motivation.
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In last week’s post I also addressed “When to Style”, which I won’t repe...

On Supernatural Underground for July – Sister Acts

Yes indeed, 1 July already! Which means I have a post up on Supernatural Underground, continuing my – broadly – “band of brothers” theme.

Last month I segued from “band” to “bromance”, since the latter (I argued) is very often, if not always, a subset of the former. This month, I’m shifting the spotlight from May’s “band of sisters” to “true sisterhood.”

From “found” sisterhood…

By which I mean sisters as in family ties, rather than “found” sisterhood, which is the territory of the “band of sis...

Ending As We Began – Photo #10 From Marion Drolsbach’s NZ Visit

Marion Drolsbach, translator extraordinaire

Today we come full circle, ending (close to) where we began with this “Fun With Friends” post series.

As those who have been following along will know, Marion Drolsbach is a book translator (English to Dutch), and we first met when she was translating The Heir of Night. So I was delighted, toward the end of last year, when she visited New Zealand, together with her husband Malcolm.

Both are keen photographers, so I have been able to extend the pleasu...

Styling Characters in “The Heir Of Night”

So-o, last week I posted on Kim Falconer’s excellent “More Than Meets The Eye” series on the Supernatural Underground blog, with a link to the latest instalment on Styling Characters.

The premise is that a character’s depiction through “style”, whether clothing or arms, can provide insight into their personality, as well as their part of the story’s narrative arc, or their current mood and motivation.

All of which has inspired me to take a closer look at how I’ve styled characters in The Wall Of...

About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Nalin

USA

The About The Characters post series focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist’s Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood — in alphabeti...

On Supernatural Underground – Kim Falconer & “Styling Characters”

KimFalconer

Just a headsup that Kim Falconer has another great post up on Supernatural Underground currently:

Styling Characters – More Than Meets The Eye

In it, Kim, discusses the part a character’s clothing can play in establishing personality and position, mood and motivation – well worth a read for anyone interested in the craft of storytelling.

And as Kim points out, not just written storytelling!  “Costume” is, after all, one of the categories of Academy Award.

“Hero” — a film that’s all ...