August break

As those of you who live in Malta know, temperatures are over 35°C, the tarmac is baking, and so are we. Therefore, this coming month I’m focusing more on recuperating my energies, working on my work-in-progress and preparing for the coming scholastic year. Which means, I’ll be taking things slightly slower and will not be sending out the usual bi-monthly newsletter.

Those of you who are on holiday, enjoy the break, and if you’re like me, don’t forget to tuck a book into your suitcase or upload an ebook on your device.

Image by TonyRi from Pixabay

One of the Maltese islands, Comino, film site of The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

Back soon,

Caroline

M is for Metaphor

Metaphor – one of my favourite literary devices 😊. As we’ve all learnt at school, metaphors create a comparison between two dissimilar objects without using ‘like’ or ‘as’. Which sounds simple, but as any secondary student will say, understanding metaphors is not as easy as it sounds.

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amreading #literary-device

To read please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com.

By subscribing to carolinesciriha.substack.com you’ll receive my twice monthly newsletter in your inbox and as a thank you for your trust, you’ll get access to one of my most light-hearted short stories.

L is for Litotes and on ‘The Storyteller’ by Antonia Michaelis

Litotes pronounced lie-toe-tease /laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/ are figures of speech where the writer uses a double negative or negative wording to express the opposite meaning. It’s easier to explain with examples, such as, ‘not bad’; ‘not unattractive’; ‘I don’t hate it’; ‘I won’t be sorry’.

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amreading #literary-device

To continue reading please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com

K is for Kenning

When planning this post, I considered having to skip K as I couldn’t think of any literary device beginning with this letter. But research brought up kenning, and I thought it an interesting concept worth discussing.

This week’s newsletter is on Kenning, and on my latest air-dry clay project 🙂

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amreading #amcrafting

To continue reading, please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com

J is for Juxtaposition

Who doesn’t like contrasts and complexity? In fact, one easy way to create a dramatic effect in literature is to use subtle (or obvious) comparison and contrast. This can be on the level of characters (in which case they are often referred to as foil characters), settings, ideas etc.

This week’s newsletter is on Juxtaposition

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amreading

To continue reading please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com

I is for In Medias Res

Writing experts and books on writing urge writers to begin their story in medias res, but this is one piece of advice I don’t always follow to the letter in my longer pieces (though I do tend to follow it when writing a short story).

In medias res (Latin for ‘in the middle of things’) means starting the story with some significant action/event which triggers the plot…

This week’s newsletter is on In Medias Res

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amreading

To continue reading – and also get the link to one of my short stories – please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com

I is for Inciting Incident

I don’t think I had heard of the expression ‘inciting incident’ before I started dabbling in writing but as a reader it’s as important as the hook to keep me reading. The inciting incident is the event that disturbs the daily life of the protagonist/s and sets them off on a physical or metaphorical journey that will be the end goal of the plot.

This week’s newsletter is on The Inciting Incident and on ‘All Systems Red’ by Martha Wells as well as ‘Tasmanian Gothic’ by Mikhaeyla Kopievsky

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amreading

To continue reading, please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com

H is for Hook and more on ‘The Untold Story’ by Genevieve Cogman

H is for Hook

The books I find difficult to put down are those that grab me from the first page. Some books are like that – immersive from the start – others require more will to read on and it is only after reading several pages or chapters that a spark is lit and the story and the characters draw me in.

This week’s newsletter is on Hooks in the ABC of literary devices series and on The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman.

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amreading #theuntoldstory #genevievecogman

To continue reading, please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com

G is for Genre

Most of us, I’m sure, have a favourite genre which we gravitate towards when choosing the next book to read or the art form to enjoy (as in music, visual arts, drama, cinema…). As you might have gathered, I love fantasy but also enjoy a good thriller or crime story.

This week’s newsletter is on Genre in the ABC of literary devices series and on The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman.

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amreading #theuntoldstory #genevievecogman

To continue reading, please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com

F is for Flashback

As the word suggests, flashback takes the reader back to a character’s past so flashbacks often appear in the form of memories or dreams.

Flashbacks tend to give the characters more depth as they provide background information about the character and help the reader understand where the characters are coming from and what has formed them into the beings they’ve become. Basically, a common use of flashbacks is to help the reader understand what traumas, wounds or experiences have moulded the character and the reason/s he or she is reacting in a particular way.

This week’s newsletter is on Flashback and on Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.

#amwriting #amreading #gideontheninth #harrowtheninth #tamsynmuir

To continue reading, please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com