Literature

Literature

Of or pertaining to the art of writing in any form or style, most especially published works.

19Categories 66119Terms

Add a new term

Contributors in Literature

Become a Contributors

Literature > Fiction

zombie

Literature; Fiction

A partially revived creature that returns from death with an insatiable taste for human flesh. Originally a Haitian Creole term for a person who has been raised from death by ...

McGuffin

Literature; Fiction

An external constraint (object, fact, person) whose sole dramatic purpose is to force a character or characters into actions which serve the author’s dramatic theme.

Caesar’s palmtop

Literature; Fiction

A handy device an author introduces, in all innocence, whose existence in this particular fictional universe implies a huge offstage infrastructure that demands so much overhead ...

Chekhov’s gun

Literature; Fiction

If you put a gun onstage in Act I, Chekhov once wrote, you must use it by Act III. A Chekhov’s gun is a fictional element (threat, character, mystery, prize, challenge) introduced ...

overhead

Literature; Fiction

The amount of reality-bending in a science fiction or fantasy story which the reader must absorb as a precondition of enjoying the work and appreciating the dramatic point. ...

pace

Literature; Fiction

The timing by which the major events in the plot unfold and by which the big scenes are shown. Dramatic tension is largely a function of pace. Pace is also the process of ...

packing peanuts

Literature; Fiction

Elements included in a story to fill out spaces between big scenes or important events. All stories need some packing peanuts; be wary of stories which are ''nothing but'' packing ...