Hmm…

Author: harmamae

  • A Few Classics That Are Not Hard to Read

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    harmamae
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    Classics are usually heavy reading. Even if they’re short, the language is unfamiliar enough that they take a long time to get through. But every once in a while you find one that surprises you, and here are three that surprised me. Note: I’m not including any classics described as ‘children’s literature’ in this list.…

  • More White Male Protagonists in Scorsese’s Silence

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    harmamae
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    I went to see Martin Scorsese’s Silence the other day and was curious about others’ reactions to it, especially considering the way it discusses Christian faith (and I am a Christian). Reactions to the movie were not hard to find, but scattered among these were many who pointed out Scorsese had made another movie about…

  • On Following Your Dreams in 2017

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    harmamae
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    We’re told we should either pursue our dreams at all costs, or quit dreaming and face reality. It’s a new year now–what should we actually do? Open your eyes and take a look around. The truth is, many people do make a living doing what they love, and yes, this even includes the arts. Somehow…

  • First Draft Depression

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    harmamae
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    I’m doing NaNoWriMo this month–National November Writing Months–that thing where you try to write a 50 000-word novel in a month. It’s good to write a full novel again. But it also reminds me how excruciating the process of creation actually is.   The minute you try put that thing in your head down on…

  • No, Let’s Talk About Being a Millennial

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    harmamae
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    “Rhiannon’s life, compared with mine, seems very wobbly. She can never feel quite safe in her home or work; she is generally anxious and suffers from what her mum calls “impending doom scenarios”. … I’m not surprised. I’m only surprised by her and her friends’ general determination and resilience, and their lack of animosity towards…

  • Do People Fall in Love Out of Gratitude?

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    harmamae
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    What’s going on here? A romance novel is seriously making the hero fall for a girl simply because she adored him first? “[T]hough Henry was now sincerely attached to her, though he felt and delighted in all the excellencies of her character and truly loved her society, I must confess that his affection originated in…

  • 2015’s Top Posts at Stories and Stuff

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    harmamae
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    I didn’t blog a ton, but I did get a few good posts out about stories and writing! So here are my best posts (judged purely on the basis of their popularity with the internet!) from this year: In Jane Austen, Nice Guys Finish First “Authors can easily write their ‘nice guys’ as Mary Sues. I’ve read…

  • Things I Learned About Love in 2015

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    harmamae
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    Things I learned about love in 2015: I can fall in love. I used to wonder if I could. Then this year happened. Multiple times, sometimes at the drop of a hat, which is not reassuring because: Love is blind. When you’re in love even serious red flags don’t look like flaws at all. When you…

  • Worldview and Writing

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    harmamae
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    I thought I left off my last post on a rather hopeful note. Turns out people start worrying the minute you acknowledge the world is not a bed of roses, even though we all agreed on that point millennia ago. I think it’s just facing the fact that life is just a precarious teeter on the…

  • Writing the Tragedy – As Hard as Living It

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    harmamae
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    The place my writing comes from inside me is dead right now. Probably not permanently, but dead for now. I’ve always thought of writing – and reading – as a kind of escape from reality. I’ve blogged about this more than once. There’s a contrary theory of literature that says the good stuff comes from…