tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post5141430208592321276..comments2023-12-26T23:07:08.005-08:00Comments on TOMORROWVILLE: Plot versus Story versus GodzillaDavid Isaakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-1134913211152595892010-06-29T00:45:43.830-07:002010-06-29T00:45:43.830-07:00"Certain levels of diction are like a magical..."Certain levels of diction are like a magical spell, and let you get away with murder"<br /><br />The secret of Vance's success...Tim Strettonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-32621675790006472272010-06-29T00:01:38.384-07:002010-06-29T00:01:38.384-07:00Hi, Tim--
A good point. Though I think that if an...Hi, Tim--<br /><br />A good point. Though I think that if any of us could manage the full Elizabethan English with conviction, we could manage anything we like. Certain levels of diction are like a magical spell, and let you get away with murder.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-37379058367581388012010-06-27T23:51:51.588-07:002010-06-27T23:51:51.588-07:00"And I even find myself starting to enjoy or ..."And I even find myself starting to enjoy or sympathize with characters who I originally designed to be despicable..."<br /><br />I think this is essential. The alternative, which we see all too often, is the cardboard villain. Shakespeare may be able to getting away with an Iago, but the rest of us can't.Tim Strettonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-6608802694986771212010-06-26T14:38:37.275-07:002010-06-26T14:38:37.275-07:00Hi, Frances. I think you're right--loving at l...Hi, Frances. I think you're right--loving at least one character is necessary. And I even find myself starting to enjoy or sympathize with characters who I originally designed to be despicable...<br /><br />As to Finnegans Wake: Trad it? Yep. Understood it? Who knows? But I was young, and did things like that. Nowadays I'd probably stop at the first "taking a tree for grafted", chuckle, set it down, and just never get around to picking it up again. <br /><br />I used to believe that simply because people said that something was "important" meant that I had to read it. Now I know better.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-17178167280557527082010-06-26T11:34:52.886-07:002010-06-26T11:34:52.886-07:00A good post, David. I think you're so right ab...A good post, David. I think you're so right about the writer needing to care; if he doesn't care about his plot, his story, his characters, then he can't expect anyone else to. I think this applies especially to characters. The writer has to like - even love - at least one of his characters. That'll be the one we're all rooting for; the one we want to succeed. If we as readers don't want love/success/happiness or whatever for the character, then the story is of no interest, however clever.<br /><br />By the way, have you really read Finnegan's Wake? All of it? Wow!Frances Garroodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10614916006798375706noreply@blogger.com