Research « E. John Love: a Writer.

On Process: Getting to Love Scrivener

By E. John Love, on January 19th, 2012%

Have I said how much I am loving Scrivener?

I am loving Scrivener.

When I started writing my first novel, Owe Nothing, my initial tools were a notebook (the dead-tree-based, spiral-bound kind) and a variety of ballpoint pens. I wrote a dozen pages at a time, “long hand” as they say.I would write at home, . . . → Read More: On Process: Getting to Love Scrivener

On Research and Creativity: Archetypes and Inspiration…

By E. John Love, on January 7th, 2012%

I’ve been revisiting and researching famous stories and hero myths, starting from the most recent, pop cultural stories and their influences, and then digging down deeper into personal territory, furrowing paths that lead me to my mother and father, and to my images and beliefs of myself.

I’m a fan of pop culture, comic books, . . . → Read More: On Research and Creativity: Archetypes and Inspiration…

On Research: Joseph Campbell and The Hero’s Journey

By E. John Love, on December 31st, 2011%

I’ve only ever read snippets of Joseph Campbell’s books on heroes and heroic tales and myths, so I never expected to find influences in his works. Yet, the influence is there. Many other writers and film-makers *have* studied Campbell (not the least of them being George Lucas). So, in being a fan of modern epics . . . → Read More: On Research: Joseph Campbell and The Hero’s Journey

On Writing: Chasing Echoes and Ghosts

By E. John Love, on August 27th, 2011%

For me, the energy and desire to write always seems to get bogged down in the necessity to research. It’s just part of the process. In my fiction, a certain amount of factual research is needed in order to pin characters, places and things down in a realistic, believable way.

When it works, and I . . . → Read More: On Writing: Chasing Echoes and Ghosts

On Research: How did it ever get done before the Internet?

By E. John Love, on July 23rd, 2011%

How the hell did writers ever do research in the days before the Internet? A lot of cultural and technological development took place to get us where we are today.

I’m not exactly a digital native – I remember the days before Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google. I remember the days before the web, and . . . → Read More: On Research: How did it ever get done before the Internet?

From Rockstars to Sleuths: Has 3D Game Storytelling Matured?

By E. John Love, on July 10th, 2011%

Have gaming and interactive storytelling finally matured to a new level? This is the impression I’m left with after reading reviews and watching clips from Rockstar/Team Bondi’s impressive new game, “L.A. Noire”.

Granted, I’m no gamer. Hell, I’m practically a neophyte. In the last year, I’ve probably spent more time playing Bejewelled and Angry Birds . . . → Read More: From Rockstars to Sleuths: Has 3D Game Storytelling Matured?

Game Noir? “LA Noire” and Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles

By E. John Love, on July 2nd, 2011%

Check out these posts by Tom Williams, a literary agent and biographer of hard-boiled crime fiction master, Raymond Chandler.

Tom is reviewing the new Rockstar game, “LA Noire”:

LA Noire and Raymond Chandler (Part 1)

LA Noire and The Big Sleep

LA Noire and Raymond Chandler (Part 1) . . . → Read More: Game Noir? “LA Noire” and Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles

On Writing: Motivating Characters (and their Author)

By E. John Love, on June 24th, 2011%

What is it that will drive a character to take an action? By this, I mean to ask “What, in the character’s mind/worldview is the rationale that will cause them to do one thing instead of another? For the Author, this includes considering the underlying goal of driving the story in a believable way, consistent . . . → Read More: On Writing: Motivating Characters (and their Author)

On Writing: Having Uncommon Thoughts in Common

By E. John Love, on June 4th, 2011%

To observe and comment on your life and world, you need to have a certain amount of objectivity – detachment – from it. If you’re too-comfortably living inside your world, you really can’t see the outside shape of it. . . . → Read More: On Writing: Having Uncommon Thoughts in Common

On Writing: Visualization and Collage in Storytelling…

By E. John Love, on February 13th, 2011%

For me, writing is a lot like an act of integration. Taking disparate chunks of experience and combining them into an assemblage or collage gives them added meaning. I think that this is what is intended by the word “juxtaposition” in art/design terminology. It boils down the creating a new whole out of a bunch of summed-up parts. . . . → Read More: On Writing: Visualization and Collage in Storytelling…

E. John Love: a Writer.