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mary rosenblum
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Hello all!
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you've had a good week!
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and tonight we're talking about
mixing action and narrative. I've published seven novels and more than 60
short stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me!
Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if
that works better for you..
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about this
particular craft issue tonight, because it's one of the enduring problems
that novice writers have to deal with.
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mary rosenblum
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While action carries your
story forward and keeps the reader engaged...
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mary rosenblum
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you will constantly be feeding
information to the reader...
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mary rosenblum
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from visual details to plot
and character information.
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wolf122
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It seems that some authors have
a paragraph of scene setup followed by conversation/action/etc. Is this a
formula to follow, or just a good example?
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mary rosenblum
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I'd have to see an example of
what you're describing, wolf, but it doesn't sound like a particularly good
model to me.
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mary rosenblum
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Ideally, your story flows
smoothly.
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mary rosenblum
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Think of it as a stream.
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mary rosenblum
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In some sections the stream
widens out and the flow is slow and languid...
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mary rosenblum
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and in other sections the
banks narrow and the stream rushes along, tumbling over rocks.
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mary rosenblum
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It is much more interesting
than a flat canal with water that never changes its pace.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...
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mary rosenblum
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it keeps flowing.
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mary rosenblum
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It does not stop.
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mary rosenblum
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What you may be describing is
something like that...
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mary rosenblum
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where some scenes have more
narrative (our languid stretches) and then the next scene might have more
action (water tumbling down a cascade).
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mary rosenblum
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And yes, THAT is the idea, and
that is pacing...
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mary rosenblum
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and...
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mary rosenblum
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pacing is mostly generated by
your mix of narrative and action.
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mary rosenblum
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Generally speaking...and there
are exceptions...but generally speaking...
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mary rosenblum
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the more action, the faster
the pace, the more narrative, the slower the pace.
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wolf122
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Yes, that was more what I was
trying to get at. . .
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mary rosenblum
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That's what I guessed.
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mary rosenblum
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And yes...
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mary rosenblum
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remember dramatic arc! It's
not a smooth hill, it's a rising series of peaks and valleys that peak at
your climax..
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mary rosenblum
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and your narrative/action
changes help orchestrate those peaks and valleys.
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barbg
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is it a good or bad idea to have
one chapter fast paced and the next slower?
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mary rosenblum
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It's a VERY good idea, barb.
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mary rosenblum
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You don't have to get
formulaic about it, but generally, if you have a slow chapter with lots of
back story and not much drama...
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mary rosenblum
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a second slow chapter might
just send your reader looking for something better to read...
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mary rosenblum
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especially if that happens at
the beginning before readers have bonded with your characters.
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mary rosenblum
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I critiqued a very promising
novel for someone at a writers conference last year...
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mary rosenblum
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but her start was very
problematic. She had two LONG (like 20 plus pages) that were nothing but
information, characaters, setting details.
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mary rosenblum
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NO dramatic peak to be seen,
and no obvious plot element.
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deb1234
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What about with a short
short--say under 3,000?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, deb, it depends on how
many scenes you have in it. If your entire story is a single scene, it will
build to that climax point...
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mary rosenblum
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and it will probably have at
least a bit of 'peak and valley' tension and release...
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mary rosenblum
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even if that merely takes
place in dialogue...
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mary rosenblum
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And if you have two scenes in
this story, you'll have two main peaks of tension...the higher as your
climax of course.
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speckledorf
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Would this be where a good
reader might help by letting us know if we have too much of one or the other?
Or do we go by our "gut" so to speak?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, you will learn to know
just how much of both to include, but as you start out, yes, by all means,
give it to readers.
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mary rosenblum
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This is one of those things
that are MUCH easier to see in someone else's work at first!
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mary rosenblum
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The problem is we LIKE our own
words...or we wouldn't try to foist them on others!...and we tend to like
our narrative.
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mary rosenblum
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And of course, the flip side
of this are the writers who ONLY want to write action, and forget the
details!
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mary rosenblum
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So listen to your readers.
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mary rosenblum
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Ask them, when they finish the
story, if there were places that the story seemed to be all detail and no
action...
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mary rosenblum
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or if there were places where
they weren't sure about what was going on.
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tory
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Mary, I tend to think of
"narrative" as non-dialogue. Seems maybe it is something
different--the telling rather than showing--which we should keep to a
minimum, right?
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mary rosenblum
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No, you're right. Although to
be more precise, you can split it into exposition (non-told details) and narrative
(told details).
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mary rosenblum
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Narrative does mean someone is
telling those details.
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mary rosenblum
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Now of course, you the author
are telling the entire story!
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mary rosenblum
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But we work hard to make the
reader overlook that!
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mary rosenblum
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But at times, stories do
include the author's narrative voice as part of the story.
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deb1234
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Can you give examples?
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mary rosenblum
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Yep.
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mary rosenblum
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Hang on a sec here.
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mary rosenblum
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Saul leaned his bike against
the perfectly pruned azaleas next to the front door. Landscapers, he
thought, noticing the flawless green velvet of the lawn and the weedless
flower beds, planted with blooming annuals. He wondered if Peter had paid
for them, too, along with the house in this expensive neighborhood. Across
the street, a pudgy man in LL Bean khakis and expensive running shoes
stared at him grimly as he hosed down the blue BMW in his driveway.
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mary rosenblum
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Adult visitors clearly did not
show up on bicycles. Saul evaluated his faded, tie-died t shirt, Levis and
worn, black Converse high tops. Not dressed for the neighborhood. He gave
the BMW washer a jaunty wave, watched the man flush and turn back to his car.
Rang the doorbell. Counted to twenty. Silence. Rang it again. Counted to
fifty this time. Shrugged and untangled his bike from the azalea. Head
games? He wasn't playing.
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mary rosenblum
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This is an example I'm
currently working on for the novel course...so it's handy.
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mary rosenblum
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This is exposition rather than
narrative.
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mary rosenblum
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The details are written to
seem as if they are Saul's perceptions rather than my voice telling you
what is going on.
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mary rosenblum
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They are meant to come across
as paraphrased thought.
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mary rosenblum
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I can do this in narrative,
too.
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mary rosenblum
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Saul leaned his bike against
the azaleas. The yard was professionally landscaped, the turf neatly mowed,
the gardens planted to...
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mary rosenblum
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petunias and gerbera, weed
free, and expensively maintained to suit the neighborhood..
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mary rosenblum
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with its SUVs and BMWs. A
neighbor across the street was watching Saul suspciously, clearly wondering
what this unkempt man on a bike was doing here, where he clearly didn't
belong.
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mary rosenblum
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The above is the same
information, but I'm TELLING you.
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mary rosenblum
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And if you notice, by putting
the details, the exposition, into Saul's POV, we also get a bit of
characterization as he reacts to the BMW guy.
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mary rosenblum
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He doesn't react angrily or
guiltily, he waves and makes the man feel a bit of embarassment for
staring.
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mary rosenblum
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If you look at the difference
in the words I used, I simply used words that Saul himself might have
used...
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mary rosenblum
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if he had been talking to
himself.
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mary rosenblum
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And notice, too, that in the
first example..
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mary rosenblum
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action is mixed equally into
that exposition.
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mary rosenblum
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In the second example, I
simply break in to tell about the fancy neighborhood and neighbor and
NOTHING HAPPENS.
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mary rosenblum
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And THAT is the key to using
exposition and action effectively.
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mary rosenblum
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Mix well.
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marly
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Is it necessary to have
narrative at all in a short story?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, narrative, no.
Exposition, yes. :-)
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speckledorf
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So exposition is better...limit
the narrative?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't use narrative at all.
I tend to try and make every detail in my fiction seem as if the character
is thinking it..
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mary rosenblum
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which makes it DARN difficult
at times to get the right information to the reader...
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mary rosenblum
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but it makes your reader feel
as if they are in the story...
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mary rosenblum
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they forget you're telling a
story, they live it.
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speckledorf
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bangs head on desk...sighs.
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mary rosenblum
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LOL speck, you do quite good
exposition...
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mary rosenblum
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Hang on a sec...wolf asked me
this a while ago.
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wolf122
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Will editors notice/care about
chapter lengths that might be disproportionate in number of pages
(novel--one chapter 20 pages, the next and previous at 31 pages), or not
care as long as the flow works?
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mary rosenblum
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Not as long as the story
flows. If you get an editor who has a bee in her bonnet about even chapter
lengths, she'll help you work it out.
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mary rosenblum
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Just do what works.
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mary rosenblum
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For your story.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and tonight we're talking about
mixing action and narrative. I've published seven novels and more than 60
short stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me!
Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if
that works better for you..
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deb1234
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So how can one do this and stay
within your word count?
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mary rosenblum
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Aha, my dear, that's where
practice practice practice comes in!
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mary rosenblum
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I do it in about half the
number of words I did it when I first started publishing.
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mary rosenblum
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But I'll let you in on a
secret. Scott Card told me this and he was right...it was when I was
struggling to master this technique.
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mary rosenblum
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He said, 'if you learn to do
this, you'll start selling everything you write'.
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mary rosenblum
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And he was correct. I did and
I did. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It reallyWILL make your work
stand out in the slush pile...
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mary rosenblum
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because so few writers do it.
It's hard. It's much easier to just get in there and do what I did on that
second example and tell readers what you want them to know.
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owlybear
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What about in the first
person..you tend to get more narrative.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, by definition, first
person IS narrative, owly.
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mary rosenblum
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And that's part of the reason
I feel third limited is a stronger voice for fiction.
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mary rosenblum
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Your first person POV is
telling the story. Your reader can feel that they're tagging along...
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mary rosenblum
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but that narrator is still
telling it. And sometimes you NEED that.
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mary rosenblum
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My most recent first person
story...and I use first rarely...was selected for the Year's Best SF
collection this year...
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mary rosenblum
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and it would not have been, I
am sure, if I had used third person.
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madhatter
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So, is there ever an average
length per chapter?
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mary rosenblum
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Nope, mad. Although the
younger your readers, the shorter the chapters tend to be.
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mary rosenblum
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But for adults..it's up to
you.
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mary rosenblum
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I usually do 20 - 25 page
chapters. Mike Moscoe, my SF writer critiquing buddy, writes 10 page
chapters. They both work.
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sweett
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Description of setting should be
woven into the exposition, right? If done successfully, it is better than
narrative.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, description IS
exposition. Gosh the words get slippery when you're talking writing, don't
they? :-)
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mary rosenblum
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You have three types of
writing: dialogue, action, exposition.
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mary rosenblum
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Now you can create setting
with all three.
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mary rosenblum
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But description is exposition.
It is not action, nor is it dialogue.
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owlybear
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It's more difficult to make
interesting isn't it??
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mary rosenblum
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What, owly? First person?
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mary rosenblum
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It's boring unless your
character has a strong and intersting voice!
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mary rosenblum
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Nothing worse than someone
droning at you!
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jac
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Mary, what do you mean by
"third limited" (is a stronger voice for fiction)?
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mary rosenblum
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third limited is the he/she/it
perspective, but limited to the perceptions of your POV character only.
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mary rosenblum
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Essentially you plant yourself
inside this character's skull..
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mary rosenblum
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and you only use the details
that character sees, thinks, hears, touches, tastes...
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mary rosenblum
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Every word is filtered through
that character's POV.
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mary rosenblum
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Makes for VERY strong
characterization.
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ling630
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In my stories I seem to have a
lot of insignificant details. Is there a secret to knowing what is
significant and what is not?
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mary rosenblum
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Readers will help you, ling.
Tiny details may not be insignificant.
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mary rosenblum
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You are striving for
verisimilitude, so detals that make this scene unique rather than generic
are important.
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mary rosenblum
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It's like this:
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mary rosenblum
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She stopped at a cafe and ate
lunch.
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mary rosenblum
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Basic info, yes?
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mary rosenblum
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She stopped at the Neopolitan
for a plate of proscutto and fresh figs under one of their red, green, and
white umbrellas.
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mary rosenblum
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She stopped at a cafe and ate
lunch.
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mary rosenblum
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Which gives your reader a real
street to look at?
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mary rosenblum
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And aha...another example of
exposition and action.
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mary rosenblum
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She stopped...that's the only
real action...
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mary rosenblum
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but it propells the reader
through that lunch and just as readers will now see a table with that
plate...
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mary rosenblum
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of food on it, they'll imagine
her eating it...
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mary rosenblum
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One image leads to another
here...
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barbg
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is that why category romances
are good? Because we're in the head of the hero and heroine?
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mary rosenblum
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well, barb, you're in the head
of the main characters in most fiction.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and tonight we're talking about
mixing action and narrative. I've published seven novels and more than 60
short stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me!
Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if
that works better for you..
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madhatter
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How do I combat the
"talking heads" snydrome in dialogue?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, use action tags, mad.
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mary rosenblum
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"I don't know." She
grabbed the phone book and stared leafing through it. "Oh,
heck,." She flung it at him. "If you want to use a different
service, YOU find one!"
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ling630
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So then insignificant details
are things that do not add to the story or push it along. Right?
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mary rosenblum
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That's it lingo! and alas,
often the details we love are insignificant. Readers help. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But details DO matter.
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mary rosenblum
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Those details about figs and
proscuitto and the color of the umbrella are probably not important to that
plot..
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mary rosenblum
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but what they do is to create
an entire sidewalk cafe and give that street a certain character in a VERY
few words...
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mary rosenblum
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and just as I told you that
the details about the food would propell readers to imagine her eating it,
the details of that cafe will get most readers to fill in the street with
...
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mary rosenblum
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buildings that seem to belong
with a sidewalk cafe like the Neopolitan.
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mary rosenblum
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Details are like seeds.
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mary rosenblum
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They grow flowers in your
readers' mind, but too many of them sort of choke your story. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Few readers want you to make
them to ALL the work of creating the world to look at...
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mary rosenblum
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but they'll happily grow those
detail-seeds into a nice garden without much help.
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madhatter
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So, editing is like weeding? I
like the analogy!
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, that's lovely, mad!
Perfect analogy!
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mary rosenblum
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And it's fine to fill your
first draft to overflowing with details.
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mary rosenblum
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You can weed out the extras
later.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...
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mary rosenblum
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remember that exposition
alone...details alone...without action, turn your story stream stagnant...
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mary rosenblum
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and the story stops.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and tonight we're talking about
mixing action and narrative. I've published seven novels and more than 60
short stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me!
Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if
that works better for you..
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mary rosenblum
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What I see a lot of...a LOT
of...is a nice action scene that carries us along...
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mary rosenblum
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until the reader needs to know
something...often back story...
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mary rosenblum
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and the writer drops the
action and spends one or two or three or ten paragraphs...
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mary rosenblum
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filling us in on that back
story. And
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mary rosenblum
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nothing
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mary rosenblum
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happens
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mary rosenblum
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This stops the story utterly.
NOT a good thing to do, no matter how much you think the reader MUST know
all this right now!
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madhatter
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How do you add in the
background? Bit by bit, then?
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mary rosenblum
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Yep.
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mary rosenblum
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Readers as a group are
skillful people and good at assembling jigsaw puzzles in their heads.
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mary rosenblum
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A piece here, a piece
there...aha..a patch of sky...and those must be trees! woohoo...it's a LAKE
in a FOREST
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mary rosenblum
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Remarkably few details of back
story will allow your reader to guess...
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mary rosenblum
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and as long as that guess is
pretty close to YOUR reality, you're fine.
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speckledorf
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So instead of describing a
dreary room, character could comment on the dust, lack of color or that a
plant would make things look cheerier?
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly.
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mary rosenblum
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And the reason this is so
important is...reality.
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mary rosenblum
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How do YOU decide a room is
dreary?
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mary rosenblum
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Does a voice whisper in your
head...'that room is dreary'.
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mary rosenblum
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Or do you notice the dusty
blinds, the dead philodendron, the week's worth of newspapers and the dingy
carpet?
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mary rosenblum
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And YOU think dreary!
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mary rosenblum
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So you want the reader to
THINK...dreary.
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mary rosenblum
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You don't want to whisper it
in her ear.
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senicynt
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Hi Mary, Change of topic - When
will the novel course be available? I don't see anything on the website
about it.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh Pam is sitting on Marketing
and not allowing them to advertise the course before it's ready. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It should be up and running
this summer.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't worry. It'll be
advertised!
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mary rosenblum
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The reason that you hear 'show
don't tell' every time you turn around...
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mary rosenblum
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and blending action with
exposition is just another form of SDT...
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mary rosenblum
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is that it allows the reader
to learn what is going on on his/her own.
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mary rosenblum
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You allow the readers to watch
Jack yell at his kids and kick the dog and the readers decide Jack is a
jerk.
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mary rosenblum
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It's simpler to say "Jack
was a jerk' in narrative..
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mary rosenblum
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but then your reader is taking
your word for it. Or not.
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mary rosenblum
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And not experiencing it the
way we do in reality.
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mary rosenblum
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Mimic reality and your readers
will forget it's a book.
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ling630
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what is SDT?
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mary rosenblum
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shorthand for Show Don't Tell,
ling.
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madhatter
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Is it too confusing to mix in
two or more POV's?
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mary rosenblum
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Only if you make them
confusing mad. You have to make it VERY clear to the reader when you switch
POV.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...caveat...
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mary rosenblum
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Every time you switch from one
POV to the other you distance your reader from that person.
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mary rosenblum
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In a plot driven story, that
can work. If it's a character driven story, it is much harder to pull off.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're not sure about a
scene you wrote...
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mary rosenblum
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as far as exposition versus
action, then go through it and use a highlighter pen.
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mary rosenblum
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Highlight the action. If you
see a huge blank spot in the middle of the scene...maybe more need to
happen there.
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wendys
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wouldn't you have to switch pov
if you're in a scene without the main character?
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mary rosenblum
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Or you can simply not use a
scene without the mc, wendys.
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mary rosenblum
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If your POV isn't there, you
won't be in his/her POV! :-)
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ling630
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For arguments sake: How do you
show jealousy? That one is hard to show.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh you can do it, ling. If
your POV is jealous, he/she can simply think jealous thoughts...
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mary rosenblum
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...is she looking at him? Does
she like him? That sort of thing.
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mary rosenblum
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Otherwise, you show jealous
behavior. The jealous person asks the loved one where he has been, who did
he talk to, how come it took so long to get home?
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mary rosenblum
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He can spy into his lover's
purse, read her email. She can smell his clothes, searching for traaces of
perfume.
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mary rosenblum
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How else would you describe
this behavior except jealous?
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ling630
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I tried for an exercise in a
writing class but everyone thought I was angry. That is why I am asking for
an example.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, jealousy and anger are
very similar on the spectrum of emotion, ling..
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mary rosenblum
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and often in class exercises,
when you're limited to say...nothing but action...
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mary rosenblum
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it can be hard to demonstrate.
But in a story, when you can add whatever details you need, it's much
easier.
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deb1234
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TV can give good examples of
this
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mary rosenblum
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Weeelll...maybe, but I've seen
a major lack of good acting on TV...you're better off looking at real
people, deb.
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mary rosenblum
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TV is rarely a good research
tool, nor are movies.
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mary rosenblum
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Hollywood has never been
overly concerned with reality.
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geezer
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What would be jealous body
language?
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mary rosenblum
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You'd have to put it into
context, geezer. Body language without context is hard to read.
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mary rosenblum
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But if the couple is say, at a
party...
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mary rosenblum
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and as she smiles and chats
with a young man, a stranger, and we see his body get tense, his fists
clench.
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mary rosenblum
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What would YOU think is going
on?
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geezer
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He's going to kill/
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mary rosenblum
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Well, again, that's going to
depend on the context of the story.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember, in a story, you're
building layers of back story and clues as you approach the climax.
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mary rosenblum
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If the story you have built
suggests that he might be the serial killer who vanished ten years ago...
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mary rosenblum
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then we'll read that tense
posture as perhaps her death warrant.
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mary rosenblum
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But if he's Mr. Corporate and
they're at the country club and there's no hint that he's violent, then
nearly every reader will see this...
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mary rosenblum
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as buiding jealousy that will
probably erupt as an arguement or a fight later.
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mary rosenblum
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Or sooner if he's had a few
drinks. :-)
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madhatter
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Family reunions are, though!
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, family reunions are a
FOUNT of marvelous character and body-language research! LOL
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mary rosenblum
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If my family members ONLY
knew, heheh.
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mary rosenblum
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And so are food courts at the
mall...waiting areas at the airport..
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mary rosenblum
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Actually, really and truely,
before airport security happened, when you could still wait around for
incoming passengers in the gate areas...
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mary rosenblum
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I used to arrive at the
airport a couple of hours early for flights and just character watch.
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mary rosenblum
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You see people tired, arguing,
resigned, upset...the whole range of human emotion all over the place in
droves.
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mary rosenblum
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WAtch how people greet a
friend. Watch how they greet a stranger, watch for subtext...they greet the
family member and you KNOW this has just ruined their week!
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barbg
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lol, Mary. Now just stand
OUTSIDE security and you'll see the fights
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, and there's no place to
sit, either!
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deb1234
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I don't know about men, but in
women's restrooms and bathroom, you can hear some strange stuff
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deb1234
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That should be restrooms and
dressing rooms
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mary rosenblum
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Better than in men's, guys.
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mary rosenblum
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Several of us writers got
together at a conference...
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mary rosenblum
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and compared what men talk
about in bathrooms and locker rooms and what women do.
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mary rosenblum
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We won. You guys don't hold a
candle to what goes on on OUR side of the wall.
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gbeesley
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what about stuck in rush hour
traffic and all the honking LO
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mary rosenblum
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Depends on how well you can
look into cars, gb. Me, I love people who don't draw the blinds after dark.
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mary rosenblum
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I figure as long as I stay on
the sidewalk, they're fair game.
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mary rosenblum
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Binoculars are NOT a good
idea.
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ling630
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Then a grocery store would also
be a good place to people shop too.
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mary rosenblum
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It is...and while I'm saying
all this lightly, it's a serious reality.
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mary rosenblum
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Learn to look at the people
around you.
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mary rosenblum
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Learn to analyze what they are
saying with their bodies.
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mary rosenblum
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When you see that dad on the
little league field get set to punch out the ump who sidelined his son...
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mary rosenblum
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look at how he holds his
shoulders and what he's doing with his hands, arms, face, head.
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mary rosenblum
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Body language is a universal
and if you get it right...
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mary rosenblum
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your characters will feel
right to readers...they'll feel real.
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deb1234
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I worked in a doctor's office
for years and it's a good place as well
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mary rosenblum
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Yep...talk about stress!
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madhatter
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How much do you need to describe
minor characters?
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mary rosenblum
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Just enough so that they seem
vivid to the reader.
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mary rosenblum
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And be specific.
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mary rosenblum
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As with our lunch versus the
figs and proscuitto...
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mary rosenblum
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a very few vivid details
starts a chain reaction and the reader builds a rich character.
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mary rosenblum
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The tall waiter approached.
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mary rosenblum
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Not much there.
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mary rosenblum
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The server waded through the
mob, peering down at them like a heron about to spear a frog.
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mary rosenblum
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Most readers will see someone
tall, gangly, stooping at the shoulders, maybe peering down a long nose.
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mary rosenblum
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And that 'waded' reinforced
the heron image.
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madhatter
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...reminding her of Ichabod
Crane in a tux.
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mary rosenblum
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There you go...I did think of
Ichabod Crane as I was thinking this up.
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ling630
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so what is an unreliable
character? How can you make it reliable?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, an unreliable character
is a character who lies to the reader, and usually you do it on purpose,
ling.
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mary rosenblum
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It might be the detective who
at the end of the mystery admits that he's the murderer.
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mary rosenblum
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That may not be quite what you
meant.
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mary rosenblum
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mookie, you can send me your
comment in short chunks. I want to hear the end of it. :-)
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ling630
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but what if you are not lying
and it just comes out as lying anyway?
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mary rosenblum
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That's a characterization
problem most likely, ling. We need to believe in your character to believe
what this character is saying.
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mary rosenblum
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You may not have created a
character who seems to be the person that characater claims to be.
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mary rosenblum
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If your character kicks
puppies out of his way and doesn't know the names of any dog breeds, will
you believe him when he tells you he LOVES dogs?
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mookie
|
One time when I was at
Starbuck's this gal yelled at
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mookie
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the gal yelled at this guy for
cutting in front of her.
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mookie
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but it was an accident. She
didn't budge even though he
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mookie
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said that he was sorry.
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mary rosenblum
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And that's a good episode to
remember, mookie.
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mary rosenblum
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When you need a character
who's obnoxious and won't admit she's wrong...there you go...
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mary rosenblum
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remember this person and use
her as the template to create that character or write that scene.
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diamond2007
|
-- a little off topic mary, but
I am writing a story, where I need my MC to read a letter left for him, how
should I go about doing that? like show what the letter says as a seperate
paragraph? or in italics? or?
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good quesiton,
diamond. A lot of new writers struggle with it.
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mary rosenblum
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You can do it a couple of
ways. If it's a short note, just write out the text of the note and
underline so that it will appear in italic on the page.
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mary rosenblum
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If it's long, let the
character paraphrase it for us.
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mary rosenblum
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Jeremy picked up the note. His
eyes widened as he read. Leaving? Forever? What happened? Yesterday she'd
said she loved him.
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mary rosenblum
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We don't know exactly what she
said, but we get the gist.
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mary rosenblum
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Maybe later, Jeremy will quote
from it or she may later on...
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madhatter
|
Is that most often used in
mysteries?
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mary rosenblum
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What's that, mad?
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madhatter
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The MC not being what he
appeared...
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mary rosenblum
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Oh ...yes, it is...or
thrillers, and often in horror.
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mary rosenblum
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It shows up in every genre at
times.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, we're at the end of our
'Oregon hour'. You all had good questions tonight!
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madhatter
|
like the twist at the end?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh yes, it can be part of a
twist end...
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mary rosenblum
|
or we can become aware that
the POV is lying to us as the plot unfolds.
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mary rosenblum
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Do join us sunday for our open
chat.
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mary rosenblum
|
It's at the same time as the
Friday forum..
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mary rosenblum
|
I may be a bit late...I'll be
down south at a dog show...
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mary rosenblum
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but hopefully not TOO late.
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mary rosenblum
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Have a good weekend all.
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mary rosenblum
|
I'll post the transcript of
this in Writing Craft: Forum Transcript.
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mary rosenblum
|
Thank you all for coming! Have
a great weekend!
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mary rosenblum
|
Night!
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