Download Dramatic Action Card Deck Even before The Creative Identity existed two ideas were already germinating in my head. I wanted a lovely newsletter and I thought that a small section of the site should be devoted to free downloads. The newsletter thing is on its way and today's the day for a little gift for you writers of fiction. First off I thought of Really Valuable Downloads, that is, spec letters, a mini proposal, a little synopsis, a checklist, that type of stuff. But then I spoke to my inner circle and got enlightened. We want our writing to be successful and to leap from closeted pages to manuscript-fit-for-an-agent, but sometimes a little light relief can take us places. Thus I sought inspiration within the pages of Aristotle's Poetics and I came to the conclusion that much can be understood by applying his principles of dramatic action. I had already used parts of Poetics for my PhD. I spoke of the drama intertwined with horror in that section that then became instrumental for Slaughter but there was something else that made an impression on me: Aristotle's splitting down of the constituents of tragedy and explanation of how they create drama once crafted together. In the introduction to Poetics, the author speaks of epic poetry and tragedy, of comedy and dithyrambic poetry, and while conceding that all of these are modes of imitation (of life), they differ from one another in three respects: the medium, the objects and the manner... Read more →
