| |
|
|
Welcome to the YouWriteOn Forum
|
**2012 News Random House & Orion Editors to continue free reviews of YouWriteOn Top Ten Writers each month - publishers of many of the world's bestselling authors |
YouWriteOn Authors' Hall of Fame Congratulations to our many authors achieving sales and signings successes through Waterstones, WHSmith and others! View Hall of Fame
|
|
dancingsue
|
|
|
|
Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 12:43Quote: dancingsue, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 12:27Yes, it works better on a piece that short. It could still do with more focus though. I guessed what he was doing immediately so that's not the problem. Lines like 'Then he would most likely feel someone's hobbyhorse smashed over his head by the man in charge.' do little or nothing and just feel a bit lumpy and repetitious. All I can say is that week after week the flash fiction readers remark on the language in positive fashion, particularly the Americans for some reason. I'm not going to write a story with a twist in the tail, for me that is wholly contrived, a slave to the form and to expectation. Nor should you. It's the journey that's important, although a reader shouldn't feel 'let down' by an ending any more than they should by the journey. The perfect story has the perfect ending, whether it's a twist, an enigma or even a beginning. But focus is important, otherwise the reader feels as though they're bouncing of the ropes instead of partaking in the event.
the long and the short of it
|
|
sulcus
|
|
|
|
Quote: dancingsue, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 13:05Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 12:43Quote: dancingsue, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 12:27Yes, it works better on a piece that short. It could still do with more focus though. I guessed what he was doing immediately so that's not the problem. Lines like 'Then he would most likely feel someone's hobbyhorse smashed over his head by the man in charge.' do little or nothing and just feel a bit lumpy and repetitious. All I can say is that week after week the flash fiction readers remark on the language in positive fashion, particularly the Americans for some reason. I'm not going to write a story with a twist in the tail, for me that is wholly contrived, a slave to the form and to expectation. Nor should you. It's the journey that's important, although a reader shouldn't feel 'let down' by an ending any more than they should by the journey. The perfect story has the perfect ending, whether it's a twist, an enigma or even a beginning. But focus is important, otherwise the reader feels as though they're bouncing of the ropes instead of partaking in the event. A conventional story has to have a beginning, middle and end... The film "Memento" plays with this rather wonderfully. In my novel the 2 characters have never met, have no knowledge of one another, yet the ending of the book links them together, I suppose though this wasn't conscious on my part, like the butterfly effect as explained in Chaos Theory. I just don't see the world in linear fashion, with sharply defined structures, patterns, arrangements and directionality. The human brain, the human genome, does not function in this unidirectional manner. I am pursuing narratives that express their multi-valency. I would write a manifesto, onlyu I'd have to shoot myself first for being pretentious enough to do so Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World" have 2 separate narratives seemingly cut off from one another until they collapse in on each other at the end.
This post was last edited by sulcus, 19 Feb 2010, 13:16
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
|
|
dancingsue
|
|
|
|
Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 13:11Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World" have 2 separate narratives seemingly cut off from one another until they collapse in on each other at the end. There are two lines to steer - the one between the narratives and the one between the narratives and the reader. I loved Memento. I doubt anyone except the simplest of souls would see life as a purely linear event.
the long and the short of it
|
|
sulcus
|
|
|
|
Quote: dancingsue, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 13:33Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 13:11Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World" have 2 separate narratives seemingly cut off from one another until they collapse in on each other at the end. There are two lines to steer - the one between the narratives and the one between the narratives and the reader. I loved Memento. I doubt anyone except the simplest of souls would see life as a purely linear event. Then why do so many books unfold in such fashion? Even flashbacks freeze the present day action in order to throw more light on it in order to advance it.
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
|
|
dancingsue
|
|
|
|
Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 14:30Quote: dancingsue, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 13:33Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 13:11Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World" have 2 separate narratives seemingly cut off from one another until they collapse in on each other at the end. There are two lines to steer - the one between the narratives and the one between the narratives and the reader. I loved Memento. I doubt anyone except the simplest of souls would see life as a purely linear event. Then why do so many books unfold in such fashion? Even flashbacks freeze the present day action in order to throw more light on it in order to advance it. Perhaps because the writer is underestimating the reader's ability to make their way through the maze. Or they're not skilful enough to guide him/her in any other way. There is such a thing as overestimating the reader at the same time. You have to remember that, just because something is clear in your head, doesn't mean it automatically transfers to someone else's. Clarity of intent is still necessary.
the long and the short of it
|
|
sulcus
|
|
|
|
Quote: dancingsue, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 14:38Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 14:30Quote: dancingsue, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 13:33Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 13:11Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World" have 2 separate narratives seemingly cut off from one another until they collapse in on each other at the end. There are two lines to steer - the one between the narratives and the one between the narratives and the reader. I loved Memento. I doubt anyone except the simplest of souls would see life as a purely linear event. Then why do so many books unfold in such fashion? Even flashbacks freeze the present day action in order to throw more light on it in order to advance it. Perhaps because the writer is underestimating the reader's ability to make their way through the maze. Or they're not skilful enough to guide him/her in any other way. There is such a thing as overestimating the reader at the same time. You have to remember that, just because something is clear in your head, doesn't mean it automatically transfers to someone else's. Clarity of intent is still necessary. No argument with that. I like to tilt upwards is all
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
|
|
dancingsue
|
|
|
|
Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 14:46No argument with that. I like to tilt upwards is all The trick is getting the angle right so you hit between the eyes and not through them. 
the long and the short of it
|
|
sulcus
|
|
|
|
Quote: dancingsue, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 14:53Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 14:46No argument with that. I like to tilt upwards is all The trick is getting the angle right so you hit between the eyes and not through them. There is a debate on the Year Zero Writers site asking the question who do you write for? In the sense that do you write what you want to write, or do you write with a specific reader (audience in mind). Clearly if you write for yourself, but in so subjective and personal a manner that it cannot reach out to engage an audience, this is futile. But equally, the majority of the writers there feel that if you set out to write already with a preconceived notion of your readers, then that would be setting yourself up to fail, because you are not writing for yourself in an unadulterated, from the heart way. I think my problem as a reader with certain types of genre writing, is that either it has to conform to reader expectations and preconceptions, (writing for an audience), or that even if it is seeking to break with traditions, it is still always with reference back to such traditions. Vampire novels seem the worst purveyors of this to me. The fact that the vampires can now exist in daylight, or are worried about securing their date for a High School Prom, really doesn't engage my interest. And this trend for sub-genres drives me crackers. It is reductive, further and further winnowing and filtering the audience, saying to fewer and fewer people, read this, you'll like it. Steampunk is a perfectly legitimate form of literature, but does it really deserve to be considered a genre or a sub-genre all of its own?
This post was last edited by sulcus, 19 Feb 2010, 15:08
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
|
|
dancingsue
|
|
|
|
Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 15:08Steampunk is a perfectly legitimate form of literature, but does it really deserve to be considered a genre or a sub-genre all of its own? You've got me there! I'm not writing novels, so I'm not aiming for genre. I just write the story that comes into my head and starts to dominate my thoughts. Often I have no middle or ending in mind and let the character(s) take it where they will. I haven't a burning ambition to be published - just as well, you may say - so I can please myself. However, if a reviewer can't make head or tail of my intention, I've failed. Back to the drawing board.
the long and the short of it
|
|
sulcus
|
|
|
|
Quote: dancingsue, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 16:44Quote: sulcus, Friday, 19 Feb 2010 15:08Steampunk is a perfectly legitimate form of literature, but does it really deserve to be considered a genre or a sub-genre all of its own? You've got me there! I'm not writing novels, so I'm not aiming for genre. I just write the story that comes into my head and starts to dominate my thoughts. Often I have no middle or ending in mind and let the character(s) take it where they will. I haven't a burning ambition to be published - just as well, you may say - so I can please myself. However, if a reviewer can't make head or tail of my intention, I've failed. Back to the drawing board. Again, gets no argument from me.
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
|
|
Powered by Zarr Forums
26 Database Read(s) - 5.688 seconds
|
|
|
The Top Ten is missing
19 Feb 2010, 13:05
