Learning from Coraline by Neil Gaiman: Building a world (video essay)
Great writers build spaces for compelling stories and settings that capture our imagination. Here's how author Neil Gaiman hooks readers using exploration and discovery of a setting in Chapter 1 of his novel CORALINE.
TRANSCRIPT on Medium: http://bit.ly/CoralineEssay
UPDATES on Twitter: / hownovelstarts
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MORE ABOUT “CORALINE” AND NEIL GAIMAN
Coraline book synopsis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coraline
Neil Gaiman’s website: http://neilgaiman.com/
Coraline (film): http://bit.ly/2NBIFyo
RECOMMENDED READING & VIEWING
A Wrinkle In Time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wrink...
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%2...
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lio...
Peter Pan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pan
Calvin and Hobbes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_...
CBC retrospective on Calvin and Hobbes: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode...
My Neighbor Totoro: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Neig...
The Shining: http://bit.ly/2QlVg7g
Annihilation: http://bit.ly/2x8A3pi
Read Chapter 1 of Annihilation: https://io9.gizmodo.com/read-the-mesm...
Geoff Manaugh interview with Patrick McGrath about architecture and fiction: http://www.bldgblog.com/2007/07/the-p...
Geoff Manaugh blog post about "an architecture of death": http://www.bldgblog.com/2007/05/at-th...
ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Wolf Children: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Ch...
This One Summer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_On...
The Devil’s Backbone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dev...
Mountains of the Mind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountai...
The Appeal of Lonely Places: • This Could Be the Happiest Place to Live
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ABOUT THE CHANNEL
What’s the best way to start a story? What makes readers, agents, and publishers take a chance on our book? What holds their attention? There’s plenty of advice out there on how to write a first chapter, but so much of it is generic. So I went looking for concrete examples in great books. On HOW THE NOVEL STARTS, I explore the opening chapters of popular novels, and figure out what writers can learn from them for their own work.
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/howthenovelstarts
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MUSIC ATTRIBUTIONS
"Holiday Gift" by Kai Engel
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai...
"A List of Ways To Die" by Lee Rosevere
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee...
"I Was Waiting For Him" by Lee Rosevere
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee...
"Brooks" by Kai Engel
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai...
"Love Wins" by Lee Rosevere
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee...
IMAGE ATTRIBUTIONS
At the psychiatric ward photo by Ján Jakub Naništa
https://unsplash.com/photos/z9hvkSDWMIM
Subscribe button by AlfredoCreates:
https://www.alfredocreates.com/youtub...
Blueprint background:
http://www.ianbarnard.co.uk/free-blue...
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#NaNoWriMo
#worldbuilding