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mary rosenblum
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Hello all.
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mary rosenblum
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Welcome to our Tuesday Forum.
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you're all enjoying the
fall weather and finding more writing time indoors as the days shorten.
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mary rosenblum
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If the weather's not pleasant,
why not set a story in a nice sunny locale?
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mary rosenblum
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It's a great way to escape the
waning year. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about beats today. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about 'beats'
today.
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mary rosenblum
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This is a craft issue that a
lot of novice writers are not consciously aware of.
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mary rosenblum
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While some people insert them
automatically, many people do not.
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mary rosenblum
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And they are a primary method
of controling the pace of your story or narrative.
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mary rosenblum
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Beats are the small glimpses
of visual action that keep the scene active in your reader's mind's eye.
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t green
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Is this like beating your story
into submission? lol!
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mary rosenblum
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More like beating your story
into action, t! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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They can be glimpses of the
character from an 'action tag' in dialogue:
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mary rosenblum
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"You'll have to tell
me." Angel pouted into the mirror. "Is my lipstick the right
shade?"
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mary rosenblum
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Here, 'Angel pouted into the
mirror' is the beat.
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mary rosenblum
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We SEE that action.
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mary rosenblum
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In narrative form, again,
beats are used to keep that scene fresh and active in the readers mind's
eye.
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mary rosenblum
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Winter in Narrow Crossing
dragged in gray and remained gray. Dirty snow, charcoal trees against a
grimy sky, gray permeated the residents' souls. On this January morning...
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mary rosenblum
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Bartlett Perlon whistled as he
tossed snow from his sidewalk. The notes came out yellow. Argyle Mennisir
paused to stare.
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mary rosenblum
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We see this bit of
action...Perlon tossing snow, and Argyle staring.
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ducky
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Well, isn't the whole idea of
writing a story an attempt to create a movie in the reader's mind?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, but you would be amazed
how easy it is to leave that out...
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mary rosenblum
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because YOU see it so clearly
in YOUR mind.
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mary rosenblum
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It is one of the most common
weaknesses I see in novice stories...
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mary rosenblum
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endless narrative or lengthy
dialogue with few or not beats of action.
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mary rosenblum
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It is part of 'show, don't
tell'...not ALL of it, but one aspect.
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mary rosenblum
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And those beats are necessary
even in first person and limited third.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about beats today. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question to reach me.
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tory
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Mary, is that something you do a
lot on first draft? Or do you find yourself adding a lot of beats in
rewrite?
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to put most of them in
in first draft just because I'm aware of the flow of action and dialogue as
I draft...
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mary rosenblum
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but I always tweak them in
revision...
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mary rosenblum
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and it's nothing to worry
about in first draft.
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mary rosenblum
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Just write the story.
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mary rosenblum
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If they're not there, you can
add them in draft two.
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tory
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Mary, your example is striking.
The contrast between the gray of the sky, day and souls with someone
"tossing" and "whistling".
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mary rosenblum
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Aha, Tory, I did that on
purpose. Becauase beats are not just to keep the reader aware of the
scene...
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mary rosenblum
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but to add to the piece,
either deepening the tone or...as in the example I did...dropping blobs of
verbal 'color' onto the page to accentuate the gray.
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kungfumama
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So the whole idea is to drop
just a few descriptive things, and let the reader's mind paint the rest,
right?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, kung...that's true in
general and what makes prose distinct from visual media.
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mary rosenblum
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You are stuck with the
director's version of reality in a movie...
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mary rosenblum
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but in a book, YOU create the
reality.
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mary rosenblum
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YOU being the reader.
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mary rosenblum
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Your job as author is to
provide the reader with the correct foundation for the scene and let the
reader fill in the rest.
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tory
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Yes, makes me want to know why
someone is so carefree in such a dreary place.
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ducky
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Like when I read that passage, I
saw an immediate potential for conflict between those two characters?
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mary rosenblum
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Me, too, Tory. LOL And yes,
ducky, that was my intent...
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mary rosenblum
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and this is where beats are
more than just filler.
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mary rosenblum
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You use them to enhance
tension or add contrast or draw the reader's attention to something that is
important.
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mary rosenblum
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Narrative tends to become a
monotonous drone if it goes on without breaks.
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mary rosenblum
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Beats provide those breaks and
offer you a lot of 'color options' at the same time.
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mary rosenblum
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Winter in Narrow Crossing
dragged in gray and and remained gray. Dirty snow, charcoal trees against a
grimy sky, gray permeated the residents' souls. On this frozen morning,
Bartlett Perlon dragged himself down the ugly gray sidewalk. ARgyle
Menniser nodded and slogged past, a shopping bag of celery swinging from
his hand.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the same narrative as
before and notice that this time, I used different beats.
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mary rosenblum
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They don't provide much
contrast.
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mary rosenblum
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About the only color is the
celery.
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mary rosenblum
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Here, the beats merely keep
the scene refreshed in the reader's mind's eye.
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kungfumama
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It seems a lot like music
composition, really. Composers always add sidenotes to the theme.
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mary rosenblum
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Very much so, Kung! Writing is
very similar to composing music, I think...
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mary rosenblum
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many of the same things
apply...tone, rhythm, melody, counterpoint.
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mary rosenblum
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You do it
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mary rosenblum
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by ear when you first start
writing, but as you become more aware of the process of what you do, you
vary it intentionally.
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ducky
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Ain't nobody happy in this one.
Real dark tone.
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mary rosenblum
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Real gray tone, right?
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mary rosenblum
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And I could have added some
beats of real darkness to it.
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mary rosenblum
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That would darken it more than
that mere gray.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about beats today. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question to reach me.
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tory
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This is opening up a new level
of writing for me, Mary. So often I think my beats are just filler: she got
glasses from the cupboard,... she poured iced peppermint tea... This idea
of deeper information will turn them into something totally diffeent..
Thanks.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, that's where you start,
tory.
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mary rosenblum
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At first they're just that...a
way to keep the reader in mind of where we are.
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mary rosenblum
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Then you begin to realize what
you can do with 'em...
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mary rosenblum
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and how you can vary the
scene.
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dub cooper
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In the first example Pelon risked
being stoned as a heretic.
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dub cooper
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In the second he was a
co-conspitator.
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly...
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mary rosenblum
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your expectation of the entire
implied story changed, right?
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kungfumama
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Made me wonder what he was gonna
do with the celery. Chicken soup?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes...and it sort of pointed
out attention to that celery, didn't it?
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mary rosenblum
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As I said...that is the one
spot of color in that scene.
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ducky
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It's like the difference between
telling a reader it's raining, and making them feel that cold rain, making
them feel the atmosphere.
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mary rosenblum
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It is...and beats allow you to
do it with tiny bits of action rather than narrative...
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mary rosenblum
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which has much less impact on
the reader.
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mary rosenblum
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Show, don't tell, remember.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about beats today. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question to reach me.
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lore alley
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And sometimes the mundane
"filler" beats can add contrast to the conflict that's raging
through the character's head. Like counterpoint...
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mary rosenblum
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Sorry, lore...
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mary rosenblum
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I had a screen freeze and your
comment didn't post..
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mary rosenblum
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But what Lore said was that a
beat can contrast with an internal conflict in your character's head...
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mary rosenblum
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And it can and
cannot..depends.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember that if you're in
limited third or first person...
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mary rosenblum
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that beat will be filtered
through the character's pespective...
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mary rosenblum
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so it has to be something that
he/she would notice, not something that the author points out.
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paja
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Mary, I came in late. Beats are
the small actions that keep narative from being boring? Sorry to be so out
of sinque.
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mary rosenblum
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Hi, paja.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, they are the small bits
of action that keep the reader aware of the scene...
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mary rosenblum
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but do much much more.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about beats today. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question to reach me.
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ducky
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Yeah... like... He looked across
the room at her fingers tapping on the desk and her eyes glaring at him.
God, if she were a cat her tail would be switching like crazy.
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tweaked
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Is this a good example of using
beats: "The thought of lighting a fire danced through my mind, but I
decided it would be too much work. Besides, my desk is too far from the
fire to feel any warmth and, like a beast encased in polar ice, my soul is
too cold to care."
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mary rosenblum
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These are both excellent
examples of internal narrative...yoru MC is thinking.
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mary rosenblum
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A beat would be an action
breaking up that internal narrative.
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mary rosenblum
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He looked across the room at
her fingers tapping on the desk and her eyes glaing at him. Looked away.
God, if she were a cat her tail would be switching like crazy.
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mary rosenblum
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The beat is 'Looked away'.
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mary rosenblum
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That choppy bit of action
implies that he is uncomfortable, not curious or entranced or attracted.
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mary rosenblum
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Beats are a great way to add
emotional tone to your characters' thoughts or words.
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mary rosenblum
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The thought of lighting a fire
danced through my mind, but I decided it would be too much work. I hunched
over the keyboard. My desk is too far from the fire to feel any warmth and,
like a beast encased in polar ice, my sould is too cold to care.
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mary rosenblum
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Here, the beat is "I
hunched over the keyboard'.
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mary rosenblum
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Nice pair of examples of third
and first internal narrative, thanks!
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tweaked
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OK. So add some sort of motion
to the scene...right?
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kungfumama
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Can beats be something more
physical? For instance, an MC putting hands behind their back and clenching
them?
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mary rosenblum
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They can do both of these.
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mary rosenblum
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In the above example, the
beats show us the body language of the MCs.
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mary rosenblum
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And that helps deepen our
sense of their emotional states without any narrative interference at all.
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mary rosenblum
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And the beats can add motion
to the scene, too.
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mary rosenblum
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Ouir MC in the 'cold' example,
might have gotten up to pace...
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mary rosenblum
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or throw open a window and let
the cold sting his face...
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mary rosenblum
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or done something else to add
activity to what might have been a pretty static and internal scene.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about beats today. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question to reach me.
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paja
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So, beats show what the
unconscious inner feeling looks like or perhaps what undercurrent of
external plots are coming into the present?
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mary rosenblum
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Or they add a 'color contrast'
in terms of tone, paja..I gave an example of that in the very start of this
forum...
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mary rosenblum
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you can take a look at it on
the transcript, after. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Mostly, when you start
writing, you use them as a place holder...
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mary rosenblum
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go ahead and do that on the
first draft, but when you can take the time to pay closer attention to a
scene...on your second or third draft...then think about what you can do
with those beats.
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mary rosenblum
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Add them where needed, use
them to create contrast or reveal emotions.
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kungfumama
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Seems to me beats break up the
rhythm of the writing just enough to add interest and underscore the
important element of the scene.
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mary rosenblum
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They do both those things,
kung.
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mary rosenblum
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And completely apart from what
they convey, the serve to vary the rhythm of your words.
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mary rosenblum
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The actual rhythm of syllables
is part of what makes prose strong or weak...it's a subtle...
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mary rosenblum
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aspect of the whole process.
But there are times I'll chose one word over another...
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mary rosenblum
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because the different accent
on the syllables suits the rhythm of the paragraph better.
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mary rosenblum
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Again, it's like music...
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mary rosenblum
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sometimes you want a flowing
adagio and sometimes you want a brief stacatto.
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mary rosenblum
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What you do not want is a
monotonous and unvarying rhythm.
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mary rosenblum
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You lull your readers to sleep
and it dampens any drama that your words themselves create.
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mary rosenblum
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Realize that these are
advanced aspects of writing...
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mary rosenblum
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and don't feel discouraged if
they are not something you've ever consciously contemplated. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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You'll DO this long before
you'll be aware of WHAT you are doing.
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mary rosenblum
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You write what 'sounds' or
'feels' right to you.
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mary rosenblum
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Eventually, you begin to
understand WHY that sounds or feels right...
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mary rosenblum
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and that gives you more
control.
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mary rosenblum
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You can make it happen every
time rather than just being pleased when this story works so well. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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And that's how you move from
amateur, who writes something really cool once in awhile...
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mary rosenblum
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so a pro level when you can
produce something that is at least good every time.
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mary rosenblum
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But nearly everybody does
craft before they understand craft. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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That's why it's so important
to point out what is good in a story or article when you critique it.
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paja
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Painting with words and beats
are tiny dabs of intense color that highlight and direct the eye of the
reader to see what could have remained unseen.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, indeed paja...
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mary rosenblum
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and that is one of their
excellent uses...to direct a small, narrow-beam spotlight on a detail
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mary rosenblum
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If you're writing mystery for
example, you can use beats to direct reader attention away from clues that
you are planting.
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mary rosenblum
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A bit of sleight of hand.
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mary rosenblum
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For example, a character might
be rambling on to your POV and in that ramble lies an important clue that
your POV will remember later...
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mary rosenblum
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but as that character is
rambling, you insert a strong beat that directs the readers' attention to
something else...
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mary rosenblum
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and thus diminishes the
importance of the ramble.
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mary rosenblum
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Or, your beat can direct
reader attention to something important that will come up later.
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mary rosenblum
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That bit of direction cues us
to remember this detail.
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mary rosenblum
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We know it's important, we
just don't know why yet.
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mary rosenblum
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Beats are...in my
opinion...most difficult to use in first person...
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mary rosenblum
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because our first person POV
has to have reason to mention the action.
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janecj333
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don't readers begin to detect
these techniques and weary of them?
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mary rosenblum
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Only if you overuse them,
Jane.
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mary rosenblum
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Story is a dynamic between
author and reader...it is interactive art.
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mary rosenblum
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If readers have NO
expectations, you have to do a LOT more explaining than a story may
support.
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mary rosenblum
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But readers DO 'know the
rules' and when you point out a detail through a beat...and do it subtly...
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mary rosenblum
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it allows the reader to make
the scene work where that detail matters...
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mary rosenblum
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But anything can be overused
to done with a sledge hammer!
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mary rosenblum
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That's why you write, write,
write, practice, practice, practice...
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mary rosenblum
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You don't play a Beethoven
Sonata the first time you sit down at a keyboard.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about beats today. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
|
Ideally, your reader doesn't
notice that small direction until that detail is needed...then you give
that reader the 'aha' moment. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'm highly intolerant of
fiction where the 'seams show'...
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mary rosenblum
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If I start seeing the author
pulling the strings, I"m out of there.
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mary rosenblum
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And I know all the tricks,
remember, so when I read something that continually sneaks past me and
surprises me, I'm in love.
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janecj333
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I'm all for subtlety, and pretty
cautious of 'writerly technique' :)...I do hate to read, esp in sf, a
writer who has a row to hoe thinjking the reader won't get it unless he's
absolutely transparent in explanation/detail
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mary rosenblum
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And there' s major difference
between writing and really good writing...
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mary rosenblum
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in really good writing, the
techniques do not show.
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mary rosenblum
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And you get there on your own,
seemingly, without seeing the wires and scene settings that guide you right
to where the author wants you to go.
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mary rosenblum
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That is the difference between
powerful and not.
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mary rosenblum
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And there are many writers who
are not at all aware of how they do what they do...
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mary rosenblum
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and they probably couldn't
tell you HOW if their lives depended on it. They just do it.
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kungfumama
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You've given me a lot to think
about, Mary. Thanks.
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mary rosenblum
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The more you write, the more
you realize there are many many layers to writing...
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mary rosenblum
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and you begin to see why some
work is more powerful than other.
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mary rosenblum
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And the more you understand
the 'how' of what you do, the more you are able to stretch and grow as a
writer...
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mary rosenblum
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well after you start
publishing regularly.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember that mere plot and
idea are only the skeleton of a finished work...
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mary rosenblum
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and the craft of turning that
skeleton into a fully fleshed story will determine its final quality.
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mary rosenblum
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One of my favorite workshop
exercises is to give every person in the workshop the same story to write..
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mary rosenblum
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same character and story
idea...
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mary rosenblum
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and you never get two stories
that are even close to being the same.
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mary rosenblum
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THAT is what craft is all
about.
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mary rosenblum
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And that is why you don't have
to worry one second about 'It's been done'.
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mary rosenblum
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Doesn't matter.
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janecj333
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I'm thinking about the savants
whose ability to recreate exactly the natural world, on a canvas, can't be
taught to the rest of us
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mary rosenblum
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Well, there are layers and
layers of ability, jane...and a lot of 'art' is very teachable.
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mary rosenblum
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The old issue of 'can art be
taught' is going to be around forever...
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mary rosenblum
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and while the artist's ability
to see the essential nature of that landscape or face, or the writer's
ability to imagine a story...
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mary rosenblum
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are things that come out of
us...the ability to turn that innate comprehension into something that compells
the viewer or reader..
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mary rosenblum
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is indeed taught. NOne of
those masters stood at an easel and created that masterwork on a first try.
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mary rosenblum
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They LEARNED how to make light
and shadow work, how to catch the shimmer of sunlight on a dewdrop...
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mary rosenblum
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how to make the brushstrokes
add to a scene (much as beats do!)...
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mary rosenblum
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Nobody leaps fully formed from
Zeus's forehead, so put that out of your mind right now. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It's a huge and daunting myth.
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mary rosenblum
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And there is no 'all or
nothing' in the arts either.
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mary rosenblum
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Everyone finds their level of
ability. THere is a wide range of published prose and collectable art. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Craft allows you to become as
good as you possibly can.
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mary rosenblum
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That's why the more you write,
the more words you put down, the better you will be.
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mary rosenblum
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It is never (one of my rare
NEVERs) an issue ofwhat you are born with...
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mary rosenblum
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and you know that on day one.
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mary rosenblum
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It is an issue of how far you
can take what you are born with...and you will not be at that point on day
one, believe me!
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mary rosenblum
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Well, we have indeed strayed
off the path of 'beats' haven't we? :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But that 'art can't be taught'
thing nearly always will get me up on my soapbox.
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mary rosenblum
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It's such a great reason to
give up after one rejection! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Excuse, I should say.
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mary rosenblum
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Anyway, back to beats...
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mary rosenblum
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They begin as a way to keep
the reader connected to the scene of the story...
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mary rosenblum
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and are especially important
in long passages of internal or external narrative and dialogue...
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mary rosenblum
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but you can use them for much
more.
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mary rosenblum
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They orchestrate the rhythm of
your words so that you don't end up with a monotonous drone...
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mary rosenblum
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and they can add hints of
emotion, contrasts, enrich the tone of the scene, add a foreshadowing of
events...
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mary rosenblum
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misdirect readers or direct
reader attention.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't worry about them much
during your first draft.
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mary rosenblum
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But on a later draft, after
you have done all the 'big fixing' you are going to do...
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mary rosenblum
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go through your scenes one at
a time and really look at what is going on...
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mary rosenblum
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and then see if you need to
add beats or if you can make those beats do more than they originally did.
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gwanny
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So, it makes sense then if,
using music as an example, I think in terms of verse, chorus, verse,
chorus, when I write? Of course I would not repeat the same chorus, but you
see what I mean?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, maybe...but do beware of
using music too closely as an example...they have some similarities and
many differences!
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mary rosenblum
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In terms of verse/chorus...I
can see some similarities in that...
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mary rosenblum
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you need to keep returning to
your plot or the main conflict that drives the story...
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mary rosenblum
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even as you add action,
subplots, what have you.
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randi-lee
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Having talking head syndrome is
what happens when you don't add beats, correct?
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mary rosenblum
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Absolutely, randi.
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mary rosenblum
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When you have line after line
of dialogue with no beats of action...
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mary rosenblum
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the effect is of two
disembodied heads hanging in gray mist, jabbering at each other!
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mary rosenblum
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The beats of action in a
dialogue scene can reveal the characters' emotions thorugh their body
language and add tone.
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mary rosenblum
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If the mood is explosive or
tense, sharp, 'hard' actions accentuate that feeling.
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mary rosenblum
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Characters stomp, bang doors,
chop...
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janecj333
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Mary, I think what gives me
pause abt specific use of technique is that novice writers may use it as
substitute for story...and worry that until they have enough schoolin' they
can't write what they mean
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mary rosenblum
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Well, jane it works both ways
in the first part of your concern. Generally, novices think that a good
plot idea is all you need...not realizing what a huge role craft plays in
it.
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mary rosenblum
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And as you learn technique you
tend to overuse it. We all do that.
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mary rosenblum
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But that's part of learning.
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mary rosenblum
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And part of the reason I
discourage students from doing creative writing degrees is exactly what you
say...
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mary rosenblum
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you get told that until you
can write like a master you can't.
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mary rosenblum
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I have lost some talented
students to creative writing grad programs, alas.
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geezer
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Mary, I'm beginning to think you
are a telepath. You always come up with the discussion I need just when I
need it.
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mary rosenblum
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LOL geezer...you must be
sending.
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randi-lee
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I had a very bad problem with
that at one time without realizing it till it was pointed out in my
writer's group.
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mary rosenblum
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Talking heads, randi?
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mary rosenblum
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I see that quite a bit.
Screenwriters syndrome. :-)
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janecj333
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I remember what you said about
writers competing with others who write similar work, and it still sticks
in my craw. If we unpublished are all writing similar work with similar
learned technique, then the 'novel' work that editors beg for is going to
be out of our reach...we have to be different, think differntly, create the
NEW to compete effectively
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mary rosenblum
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Well, you know, Jane, there's
a reality here and a mistake.
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mary rosenblum
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You ARE compeiting with other
writers...publishers can only publish so many books a year...although you
can publish your own book and then you are no longer competing with anyone.
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mary rosenblum
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BUt if you want Random House
or Tor or Putnam to publish you...they have 3000 ms and cannot publish 3000
books.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT..it is not technique that
SELLS a book.
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mary rosenblum
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Techinique may COST you a
sale.
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mary rosenblum
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But it is your story...how
powerfully IT communicates to the editor/reader that sells your book...
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mary rosenblum
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and that is a combination of
your vision and your craft.
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mary rosenblum
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Your vision may be wonderful,
but if your craft is poor and you cannot communicate that vision to the
reader it will not move those readers.
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mary rosenblum
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An idea is worth nothing until
you bring it to life.
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mary rosenblum
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THat is what you use technique
for.
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mary rosenblum
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Technique is HOW you bring
that story to live, whether it is Romeo and Juliet in a new form or
something much less familiar.
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mary rosenblum
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Idea alone won't work.
Technique alone won't work.
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mary rosenblum
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It is the magic when they come
together that works.
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randi-lee
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Is talking heads in
screenwriters syndrome because they write in the description of the area
differently?
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mary rosenblum
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Ah, randi, it's just what I
call it. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Because it reminds me of a
screenplay, with the dialogue and braketed stage directions.
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mary rosenblum
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Talking heads is what it's
usually called.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour.
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mary rosenblum
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When you get to your second
draft or so, think about those beats...those insertions of action.
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mary rosenblum
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See what else you can make
them do. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Don't fret about 'em on the
first draft...
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mary rosenblum
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that's where you tell your
story and nothing else, remember !
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mary rosenblum
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This is really a very advanced
concept here...and one that, as I said, you will do long before you figure
out exactly WHAT you are doing. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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We mostly learn to play by
ear. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Have a good week, all!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcript in
the usual place...
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mary rosenblum
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Writing Craft: Forum
Transcripts.
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mary rosenblum
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And do join us tomorrow for
our casual chat.
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mary rosenblum
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Same time same place, no
topic.
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mary rosenblum
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We just talk writing.
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