Blog: Mel's Muse

A Black Hole Where Once Your Mind Was

His world is one of darkness. Silent. Confused. He’s not entirely Anything. Not blind, nor daft. Just less of what he was. Diminished. Shrunken. Glimpses of shapes he catches in the side of his eye appear tall and distorted, disorienting and delusional from a moving car. The rushing sensation induces motion sickness. He cries out...

Posted at 21:35pm on 27th December 2008

The Seven Plot Lines: Rebirth

It seems appropriate to be thinking of Rebirth as the last of the seven story plots on Christmas Eve, because the birth that we celebrate tomorrow is the one that is meant to bring rebirth to the human race.

Kasia Body’s review of The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker in The Daily Telegraph (2004)...

Posted at 17:56pm on 24th December 2008

Ten Thoughts At Christmas

Happy Christmas

A hot debate in The Daily Telegraph has dubbed the family Christmas letter as ‘self-congratulatory’, ‘embarrassing’ or ‘derisory’. Am I alone in enjoying news of far-flung family and friends? I hope not, because this one comes with a very sincere thank you to all of you who have visited my website in the (nearly)...

Posted at 00:00am on 23rd December 2008

Answers To Fun Christmas Quiz 2008

You have, obviously, all had too much on your minds to think about this Fun Christmas Quiz. Or perhaps, with all the perplexities of planning menus and bedroom combinations for visiting family members over the festive period, your brain simply couldn’t accommodate more? All I can say is: you will be kicking yourselves when you...

Posted at 09:05am on 22nd December 2008

Creative Writing Tutorial: Voyage And Return

We’ve now looked at five of the seven plot lines which form the basis of all storytelling, and move on, today, to the penultimate Voyage & Return.

Rags to Riches
Overcoming the Monster
The Quest
Comedy Tragedy
Voyage and Return Rebirth VOYAGE & RETURN

Voyage and Return frequently follows not simply a physical journey, but an inner voyage of overcoming something...

Posted at 21:05pm on 20th December 2008

What It Means To Subscribe

Thank you for visiting my website. Would you like to receive regular updates of books, or articles on Mel’s Muse? Perhaps you’re interested in Creative Writing? Family and Parenting issues? Stepfamilies or Bereavement? Or, perhaps, Personal Growth or Relationships, or taking a Personality Test?

There are several ways of doing this and, having taken the advice of a professional...

Posted at 19:53pm on 19th December 2008

1 Comment

The Seven Plot Lines That Form The Basis Of A Creative Writing Process

I began this series by saying that, according to tradition, there are only seven basic plots which form the basis of all the stories ever told or written. They are:

Rags to Riches Overcoming the Monster The Quest Voyage and Return Comedy Tragedy Rebirth

We've already looked at the first three, and discovered that some story plots are...

Posted at 17:33pm on 18th December 2008

2 Comments

Seven Basic Plots: Part 3 - The Quest

I began this study on the seven plot lines that are said to be the basis of all stories, by examining what is meant by the rags to riches story, and that of overcoming the monster. Today I'm going to look at what it means to write about the quest.

THE...

Posted at 11:30am on 16th December 2008

Fun Christmas Quiz 2008: Think Outside The Box

Come on peeps! ONLY ONE WEEK TO GO. Although heaps of you have looked at my Fun Christmas Quiz, no one has been brave enough to leave any answers. You don’t have to be a brain-box to do this. The emphasis is on FUN. Try to think outside the box. Look forward to hearing from...

Posted at 17:19pm on 15th December 2008

The Seven Story Plots: Parts 1 & 2

It is said that there are only seven basic plots, to which all storylines adhere. Of these seven plot lines perhaps the best known is the rags to riches story. This, after all, is the basis of many of our favourite nursery rhymes and fairy stories. Think Cinderella, and Jack...

Posted at 00:00am on 14th December 2008

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