Story Theory - How to Write Like J.R.R. Tolkien in Three Easy Steps
Dunlith Hill Writing Guides, Book 4
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Narrated by:
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Deren Hansen
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By:
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Deren Hansen
About this listen
We all know how to tell stories just like we all know our native language, having heard both since we were born. People, however, who study their native language discover there's much they misunderstood or simply didn't know. The same is true of story when we look at it more carefully.
With topics that include the theory of story as model, the fractal key to narrative complexity, and the art of the long form, this volume will show you the essence of stories and storytelling.
It's advanced stuff - no writing prompts or exercises here - but if you want to understand how stories are the minimum container of significance, how storytelling is like commanding an artillery battery, and why the three easy steps are (1) lather, (2) rinse, and (3) repeat, this volume is for you.
And like deep magic, once you comprehend the nature of the art, you'll be well on your way to becoming a master story weaver.
©2012 Deren Hansen (P)2016 Deren HansenListeners also enjoyed...
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You love Dungeons and Dragons. As an experienced dungeon master, you've run dozens, if not hundreds of games. You put a lot of work into making your games great. What if there's another way to look at how you prepare your game? What if it turned out you could spend less time and less energy and have a better game as a result? It's time to unleash the Lazy Dungeon Master.
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Helpful tips for Dungeon Masters
- By Goblin Town on 05-02-16
By: Michael E. Shea
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To Show and to Tell
- The Craft of Literary Nonfiction
- By: Phillip Lopate
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Distinguished author Phillip Lopate, editor of the celebrated anthology The Art of the Personal Essay, is universally acclaimed as “one of our best personal essayists” ( Dallas Morning News). Here, combining more than 40 years of lessons from his storied career as a writer and professor, he brings us this highly anticipated nuts-and-bolts guide to writing literary nonfiction. A phenomenal master class shaped by Lopate’s informative, accessible tone, and immense gift for storytelling.
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Not a guide on writing personal essays
- By A. Yoshida on 08-07-13
By: Phillip Lopate
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Save the Cat!
- The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need
- By: Blake Snyder
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Here's what started the phenomenon: This book has been a best seller for over 15 years and has been used by screenwriters around the world! Blake Snyder tells all in this fast, funny, and candid look inside the movie business. Save the Cat is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying.
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Don't waste your time
- By Amazon Customer on 02-05-20
By: Blake Snyder
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Directing Actors
- By: Judith Weston
- Narrated by: Judith Weston
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In this essential guide to acting, internationally renowned directing coach Judith Weston demonstrates what constitutes a good performance, what actors want from a director, and what directors do wrong. She also goes over script analysis and preparation and how actors work, and she shares important and helpful insights into the director/actor relationship.
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Directing Humans
- By Jacob Moore on 10-15-19
By: Judith Weston
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Storytelling with Data
- A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals
- By: Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
- Narrated by: Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Storytelling with Data teaches you the fundamentals of data visualization and how to communicate effectively with data. You'll discover the power of storytelling and the way to make data a pivotal point in your story. The lessons in this illuminative text are grounded in theory but made accessible through numerous real-world examples - ready for immediate application to your next graph or presentation.
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Very insightful and actionable
- By Amazon Customer on 04-27-18
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Choice Words
- How Our Language Affects Children's Learning
- By: Peter H. Johnston
- Narrated by: Peter H. Johnston
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In productive classrooms, teachers don't just teach children skills, they build emotionally and relationally healthy learning communities. Teachers create intellectual environments that produce not only technically competent students, but also caring, secure, actively literate human beings.
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Check it out at the library or don't
- By Lesley on 04-01-12
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In Pursuit of Elegance
- Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing
- By: Matthew E. May
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In this thought-provoking exploration, Matthew May defines elegance as the elusive combination of unusual simplicity and surprising power, and pinpoints the four key elements that characterize it: seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability. In a story-driven narrative that sheds light on the need for elegance in design, engineering, physics, art, urban planning, sports, and work, May offers a surprising array of stories that illustrate why what's "not there" often matters more than what is.
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I love elegance, but this book isn't elegant
- By Oliver Nielsen on 06-26-11
By: Matthew E. May
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- Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
- By: Robert McKee
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
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Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress, and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese, and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives, and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
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Only 5 Chapters
- By Stephen Buck on 02-15-11
By: Robert McKee
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Freedom Evolves
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments - drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy - that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally.
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I knew I was going to like this book
- By Gary on 05-30-14
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Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
- The Untold History of English
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar. Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.
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Great for casual linguists
- By Bertie on 01-11-10
By: John McWhorter
What listeners say about Story Theory - How to Write Like J.R.R. Tolkien in Three Easy Steps
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Somebody
- 05-10-16
Tolkien is a red herring
Would you try another book from Deren Hansen and/or Deren Hansen?
Hansen seems to now a lot about writing. There's no indication he has any particular expertise or insight into Tolkien.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
If your interest is in how to write, this work may be fine. If your interest is in J.R.R. Tolkien, and what made his writing unique, don't bother with this work. Hansen's inclusion of Tolkien material seemed incidental only - a few paragraphs in the middle which took some examples from Tolkien's books to make points about writing in general. You are left with the impression that he could just as easily have titled the book How to Write Like Ernest Hemingway or Louis L'amour or Danielle Steel by revising those few examples on one page. The rest of the work would remain exactly the same. And that's ok... unless your interest is in Tolkien.
Any additional comments?
Again, as a manual on how to write, this is work fine - it just isn't a work about J.R.R. Tolkien. Since that was my interest, it was a complete disappointment.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Marina Balassi
- 03-11-18
Unclear method
Wasn’t something that I could embrace. Might work best for a different type of writing style.
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