Benjamin Britworth's Narrative Mind: Recent Episodes
Ben Britworth
Fiction works and other unusual thoughts from award-winning writer, filmmaker and designer, Benjamin Britworth.
In this special bonus episode, Joelle David of Aestheletic.com has shared the audio of a recent discussion group that I was kindly asked to join. In the discussion, we explored the questions: what makes art 'good' and how marginalised voices can be heard through artistic practice. It was an excellent discussion to be a part of and we covered some interesting, albeit tricky, topics. Come take a listen. To read more about the discussion group, please visit Joelle's blog - https://aestheletic.com/blogs/aestheletic-blog/art-for-good-a-space-for-marginalised-narratives If you like my work, please find more of it at Britworth.com
This episode explores how J.K. Rowling uses archetypes to build iconic characters within her work, and how new writers might consider using archetypes within their own work to develop strong characters that readers can relate to.
CITED
Rowling. J. K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 1997.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey. Michigan: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. (Includes G. Jung paraphrase)
MMORG2010. "Trey Parker and Matt Stone discuss Mormonism at TAM5." YouTube, 22 Aug. 2010. https://youtu.be/JyiflmigQNs.
This episode looks at how Stephen King creates such convincing monsters within his work, focusing on Pennywise the clown, a creepy creature that scares the town of Derry in the book IT.
CITED
Forster EM. Aspects of The Novel. London: Edward Arnold, 1958. p82
King, Stephen. IT. London: Hodder, 2007.
This podcast explores how Arthur Conan Doyle frames the stories of Sherlock Holmes through Dr Watson in order to draw the reader into the narrative.
CITED:
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Complete Sherlock Holmes. London: Vintage, 2009.
Alvarez, A. The Writer’s Voice. New York: Norton, 2005.
Lodge, David. The Art of Fiction. New York: Viking, 1993.
This episode explores how Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 creates an effective sense of place by using sparing language in his story. Conjuring up a strong sense of place within a narrative is key to an author's ability to world-build. Without a sense of place, the reader will be left floundering as to where the story takes place or why the plot is important.
CITED:
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. London: Harper Voyager, 2008.
Lodge, David. The Art of Fiction. London: Viking Penguin, 1993. p60
In this episode I look at how Donna Tartt hooks a reader through the prologue of her book 'The Secret History'. The prologue (or opening) is arguably the most important part of a book, as a strong opening will entice a reader and get them to read on, while a bad opening will end with them putting the book down instead.
CITED: Lodge, David. The Art of Fiction. London: Viking Penguin, 1993. p5 Tartt, Donna. The Secret History. London: Viking Penguin, 1993.
This episode looks at how Washington Irving plays with language and description within his short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
CITED:
Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories. New York: Penguin Classics, 2014.
Ronen, Ruth. "Description, Narrative and Representation." Narrative 5, no. 3 (1997): 274-86.
Valentine T. Bill. Chekhov: The Silent Voice of Freedom. Philosophical Library (1987)
This episode details my belief that all works of art hold some value when regarded through a varied critical eye. This is in contrast to engaging in a narrow view of thinking that art is either 'good' or 'bad'.
CITED:
Austin, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: White's Books, 2010.
King, Stephen. On Writing. London: Hodder, 2012.
In this episode I look at the elusive archetype of the antihero. I specifically look at Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange; a story where the antihero is king. Burgess deliberately plays around with the character type, showing just how morally ambiguous antiheroes can be.
CITED: Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. London: William Heinemann, 2012. Brombert, Victor. In Praise of Antiheroes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1999.
An encounter in the irradiated wastelands of a world that was once not so dissimilar from our own...
In this episode I look at the opening chapter of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and how he uses fear as a narrative tool in the construction of the scene. Beware, this episode is a tough'un... really, I mean it!
CITED: Ben Walters, Debating Inglourious Basterds, Film Quarterly, Vol. 63, No. 2 (Winter 2009), pp. 19-22 Paul L. Gower, Psychology of Fear, Nova Biomedical; UK ed. edition (9 Oct. 2003) Mary Wrenn (2013) Fear and Institutions, Journal of Economic Issues, 47:2, 383-390 Doherty, Thomas. Cinéaste, vol. 35, no. 1, 2009, pp. 59–61. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41690858. Accessed 23 Apr. 2020. Žižek, Slavoj. “Looking Awry.” October, vol. 50, 1989, pp. 31–55. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/778856. Accessed 23 Apr. 2020.
How does Stephen King use description in his book, The Shining, to bring objects to life and turn them into monsters? In this week's episode, I take a closer look at why I think the book works so well as a piece of horror literature.
CITED: Bishop, Wendy. Starkey, David. "Image and Metaphor." Keywords in Creative Writing. Colorado: University Press of Colorado, 2006. pp. 112-115 King, Stephen. The Shining. London: Hodder, 2011.
This short story plays with uncomfortable realities of the modern world through the eye of a classical fairytale genre. It received a commendation from the 15th Elmbridge Literary Competition, in 2020