tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1859940184293909528.post5433042626474345945..comments2023-04-28T04:20:05.766-07:00Comments on WRITER on WRITING: I Put The Poison In Both CupsVirtual Strangerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01040333093180694172noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1859940184293909528.post-34522059690035193212009-12-16T06:20:37.440-08:002009-12-16T06:20:37.440-08:00Absolutely, V.S.
My personal beef is with all tho...Absolutely, V.S.<br /><br />My personal beef is with all those, "How to write and sell a story," people who want to dummy everything down in order to sell their how-to books to unsuspecting beginners. I think they cripple creativity by suggesting that readers are all alike and rather stupid.<br /> Which is pretty much what you end up doing as a writer if you don't write for an audience you know and respect.<br /><br />I don't get that from you at all.<br /><br />There are things that won't fly (Most things, actually) but simply avoiding mistakes isn't nearly enough, even though that is a necessary condition for success. (And thus a valid topic for instruction). What not do do is the easy part. <br /><br />What's scary about that is that even the easy part is hard.frank farrarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1859940184293909528.post-24259541715541250362009-12-15T21:21:54.239-08:002009-12-15T21:21:54.239-08:00Hey, Frank,
I think we're saying the same thi...Hey, Frank,<br /><br />I think we're saying the same thing... I think.<br /><br />You've got a solid point that sometimes a reader's disappointment is their own fault, not the writer's. If I pick up <i>Jane Eyre</i> looking for ninjas or watch <i>Cloverfield</i> expecting a character-driven romance, it's hard to say the writer failed in that. I'd never point to a situation like that as a cop-out.<br /><br />However, as you say, once a writer starts making promise after promise after promise about one story element, there's an obligation to follow through on those promises. If, after 300 pages of set up the writer ends it on "Bob was insane the whole time," or "Bob was dreaming the whole time," or (heaven forbid) "Bob's secret will be revealed in a later story," then it's just a cop out. <br /><br />That was the kind of instance I was referring to, and I think we agree on that point, yes?Virtual Strangerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01040333093180694172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1859940184293909528.post-86377807294101734232009-12-12T05:21:49.945-08:002009-12-12T05:21:49.945-08:00I needed this rant to help me think about being tr...I needed this rant to help me think about being true to one's chosen audience.<br /><br />What you say is right, but I think that at least some cop outs are not that at all, but arise from the perceptions of readers who just like to read something else.<br /><br />Or happen to equate violent revenge with justice, for example.<br /><br />My take is that the writer simply has to make significant (or at least, juicy) promises at some level, AND THEN KEEP THEM.<br /><br />thanksfrank farrarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1859940184293909528.post-29541396396138205742009-12-12T05:13:38.628-08:002009-12-12T05:13:38.628-08:00I tried to post a comment, but the site crashed.I tried to post a comment, but the site crashed.frank farrarnoreply@blogger.com