This is one of those literary devices that can really ruin the element of surprise once you get used to spotting it. Based on a writing philosophy observed and often practiced by Russian author Anton Chekhov, the law of “Chekhov’s Gun” states that a storyteller should never introduce a gun in Act One of the…
It seems like the most basic piece of advice for a writer, but I think it’s the one a lot of us have the most trouble with. Artists tend to be perfectionists, and if something doesn’t come out exactly the way we want it to right from the beginning, we tend to get discouraged. I…
We’ve said it often enough before that sometimes a change of view is the best remedy for a lack of inspiration. But for many writers there is more to this advice than just having an excuse to get out of the house every once in a while. Different places can awaken the imagination in different…
I was once part of a group of readers who would critique play submissions with the goal of narrowing them down to five pieces that would eventually be performed. During one of our sessions, a fellow reader scoffed at the “predictability” of one particular play. Now, I was there to judge the plays, not the…
I have been thinking more about AI art recently. And, no, my stance hasn’t really changed on it. I still think artificial intelligence takes too much away from both the creator and the audience; I still think art is only art when and if it focuses on the human condition, communication, and connection (and obviously…