I have Bruno Bettelheim's book Uses of Enchantment, somewhere. Yet I'm less interested in Freudian readings of myth and fairy tales than other types of interpretation. But that's not the point of this. I was reading how selling is the art of story telling, (in a Medium piece here) but earlier I'd been looking for a … Continue reading Uses of enchantment
fairy tales
Writing the dark side
In a writing group a member explained she had been criticised by a teacher for creative writing which featured a bleak theme. She was told no one reads dark stories. This is clearly wrong. I think her teacher meant "I don't read bleak stories." Of course our group came up with examples that contradicted her … Continue reading Writing the dark side
Big Bad Truth Tellers
Once upon a time, the villain of the piece was the King of Lies, who would lead the main character astray, away from the truth and light and all good things. Sounds epic, biblical even, doesn't it? Thing is, this has changed. The King of Lies has lost his crown and I'm not sure when exactly. Perhaps … Continue reading Big Bad Truth Tellers
Eternal verities & Fairy Tales
The *in* thing So, there's Once Upon a Time, Red Riding Hood, Tangled, Snow White and the Huntsman and now Hansel and Gretel. Fairy tales are in. But fairy tales were always the in thing. There are feminist takes and post modern re-tellings and grunge and hyper-homogenised commercial versions. All worthwhile. And there's plenty to say about … Continue reading Eternal verities & Fairy Tales
The myth of the mad man and his box
Dr Who has a mythic arc to it, with epic battles with worlds at stake, but it's also a fairy tale. It always was. There is the eponymous hero (with not 1000 but) 13 faces. He has special devices to solve problems (like psychic paper) and unique abilities, which puts in a category similar to … Continue reading The myth of the mad man and his box
The Storyteller’s Old Magic
There's power in names. The names we're given, the names we choose for ourselves. The titles we earn and the ones we think we out grow. To name something is to pin it down, collate it, categorise it, accept or dismiss it. And also to place it in context - a text - a story. Stories … Continue reading The Storyteller’s Old Magic
