"A practical guide to incorporating principles of peace-building and non-violence into compelling fiction, this book shows writers how they can enact non-violent heroism in their characters, model civil resistance in their stories and create worlds around mythos that champion redemptive nonviolence. With concepts applicable to writing fiction, drama, screenplays and poetry, it deconstructs the necessity for violence in popular works, explores ideas in peace studies and helps writer establish their own peace poetics. Featuring creative writing prompts and examples from film and literature including Trading Places, Selma, Frozen, A Christmas Carol, Asphalt Jungle and Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels, this is an important expansion to any writer's toolkit when approaching storytelling"--
Superhero violence and graphic action sequences are prevalent on the screen and on the page, but this book takes an alternative route with practical guidance, frameworks, and tools for incorporating the principles of peacebuilding and nonviolence into compelling fiction. By mapping a path less travelled but just as vital in divisive times, Gabriel Ertsgaard shows writers how they can enact nonviolent heroism in their characters, model civil resistance in their stories, and create worlds around a mythos that champions redemptive nonviolence. With concepts applicable to writing for fiction, drama, the screen, and narrative poetry, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace deconstructs the necessity for violence in popular works, explores key concepts in peace studies, and helps writers establish their own peace poetics. Focused around the narrative craft techniques of character arcs, campaigns, duels, and worldbuilding, the book features numerous creative writing prompts and examples from key works. These include films such as Trading Places, Selma, Lage Raho Munna Bai, and Frozen and literature ranging from Shakespeare's plays to Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels.
A timely and important expansion to any writer's toolkit, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Peace allows storytellers to understand the complex dynamics of, and the damage caused by, violent perspectives and actions, giving them a way into considering nonviolence as powerful and preferable.
