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Athelstone replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
There are degrees to this and a dependency on the type of book being written. I am not searching for an artificial precision in moral culpability. I am not saying that there are some absolute rules at play. I am saying that if you bend the truth to suit your story, while at the same time maintaining that what you write is authentic, then there are…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
Athers, I’ve not read Boyne, so took the passage you quote as from a fantasy novel which, in my understanding, means anything goes in the way of made-up words and facts.
On the subject of ‘proper’ research; at Newcastle Noir a couple of years ago, one crime writer told of being asked how many specialists he had on call to help him with research,…[Read more]-
There’s an article in today’s Telegraph referring to this, and mentioning it seems to apply less to film-makers, e.g. Braveheart where kilts were worn 500 years before in use “because they looked better”. Artistic licence, innit?
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Doug replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
Stephen King, who’s described himself as a lazy researcher, has related the letters he’s gotten from people who caught him in research errors. The tone of the letters, he said, was invariably gleeful. I wonder if Boyne has gotten those too? “Hee-hee, you got this wrong, and that wrong!”
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Athelstone started the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
This is a lightweight blog.
I was just settling down after reading about the astonishing performance by George R R Martin at the Hugo awards, when my son approached brandishing his phone.
‘Look at that,’ he said.
I looked. My son has been a fan of the Zelda video games since he was little. I played a few along with him in the last few years,…[Read more]
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I didn’t gasp – too world weary – but I can see why you’re annoyed, Ath. On a lighter note I was disappointed, having hoped to learn something more about nightshade! Woody nightshade grows in our garden, is pretty and you could imagine the berries being used for dye. It’s also poisonous. But when I got a bit further I’d have switched off if you h…[Read more]
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Here’s a review of the book https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/06/a-traveller-at-the-gates-of-wisdom-by-john-boyne-review-an-ambitious-era-hopping-epic
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Thanks, Libby. A really interesting review. I hadn’t realised that the Zelda mistake was one amongst many. Aside from characters deep in history musing about their peers in the language of C20th psychology, we have ‘…kimonos and obis to the Chinese, igloos to the Norse Icelanders, and steel and horses to pre-Columbian South Americans. Potatoes…[Read more]
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That makes me flippin mad! All the hard work we put into our MSs, and he just… 😫
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Absolutely agree. I accept that the ‘worlds’ we base our stories in have a lot of the unlikely and improbable in them but there is a big difference between that and not bothering to do proper research.
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Squidge posted an update 5 years, 9 months ago
SO sorry, folks – had completely forgotten to check in on the monthly comp! Have no excuse other than I’ve been rather focused on Tilda 3 recently and got carried away.
As it’s already the 4th August, and there were only three entries, does anyone object to it running through this month too? Hopefully get a few more folk having a go?…[Read more]
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I’m happy with your suggestion to extend, @squidge
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No probs.
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I’m happy with that.
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Andrew Bruton replied to the topic The ultimate story/narrative arc in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 9 months agoOnce again thank you to all of you for giving your thoughts on this. I feel immediately guilty as I have close to no experience and not much to offer by way of my own conclusions.
I agree with those of you who say that the shape of your various elements (character arcs, plot lines etc.) needs revision between drafts, and it reminds me that the…[Read more]
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Squidge posted an update 5 years, 9 months ago
Any more for any more on the July comp? Not going to be inundated for judging this time unless there’s a last minute flurry…
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Doug started the topic 5 Tips to Help You Write Imperfectly in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 9 months ago
This article really helped me, what with self-doubt, not liking my own writing, etc. Some of the advice made me smile & nod. I think it’s worth sharing.
Cheers
~Doug -
Doug replied to the topic The $2,000,000 Guitar in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
Such a great story! As a guitarist who at one time owned a Les Paul, I found it fascinating. I’d also like to add that, for one of the greatest all-time guitar leads–the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”–Eric Clapton knocked it out in one take, with a red Les Paul he called Lucille. Wonderful stuff.
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Mad Iguana replied to the topic The $2,000,000 Guitar in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
I saw that and thought of your post, and your memories.
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RichardB replied to the topic The $2,000,000 Guitar in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
Sadly, I have heard today that Peter Green, without whom this blog wouldn’t have been written, has died at the age of 73.
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Doug replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 9 months ago
An update. I’ve continued the revisions, but slowly, slowly. I’m now a hundred pages from the end, and I’ve decided enough of the nonsense, I’m getting all through it <i>this weekend</i> come hell or high water. Feel free to hold me to it.
Will check back in Sunday night, one way or the other.
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Good luck, Doug. I’ve got the same goal.
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So have I! Something in the air this weekend.
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Got it done! I got all the way to the end, and backed it up on Gmail. Seemed to take forever to get through that draft. I feel like celebrating now! Thanks for your support.
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Congratulations!! I nearly did it. Just 10 pages left to go but I made the decision to look at them with fresh eyes this morning.
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Finished it and emailed off for a book doctor report. After which I’ll probably have to start again!
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Well done, Doug. And Jane and Kate too.
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Doug replied to the topic Positive thoughts in the forum
CoronaMo 5 years, 9 months agoI’ve been fortunate that I could keep going to my job as usual (I work for the state of Rhode Island). Though there are all kinds of safeguards, and Army & Air Force personnel about.
An acceptance last week for a new short story, reminds me that life goes on.
And a wise old saying reminds me that “This, too, shall pass.”
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RichardB posted an update 5 years, 9 months ago
Something to celebrate on a grey, miserable day – at least it is where I live.
Some of you may remember me posting not long ago about the explosion that destroyed (and I mean destroyed) a house in Seven Sisters, just down the road from me, and how the neighbours (one of whom happens to be a retired firefighter) went in straight away, before t…[Read more]
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Such things as this are good for my own disillusioned heart to know as well. I can never be reminded too many times, people aren’t all bad. Thanks for sharing.
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Janette replied to the topic Monthly comp: July 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 9 months ago
Looking For Paradise
The mossy church bench had no kids fighting around it. No grumpy, obstinate husbands, or house-din. Just bliss. I breathed deeply as I listened to the trees above, its branches whispering and swaying in a gentle breeze, stirring birds into song. A squirrel wriggled up rough bark and disappeared into the foliage, minding its…[Read more]
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JaneShuff replied to the topic The ultimate story/narrative arc in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 9 months agoI think most writers are also great readers and have acquired an instinctive grasp of story structure. That doesn’t mean a bit of conscious knowledge won’t help. But sometimes you have to trust your unconscious.
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RichardB replied to the topic Richard's Literary Byways: The Beginning Place, by Ursula K Le Guin in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
Not too challenging, Kaz, if you do what I did and go to abebooks.com. When I looked there were quite a few copies available from various sources.
As for fantasy speaking to human reality, a lot of the tide of stuff that’s come pouring out since LOTR opened the flood-gates simply doesn’t. As a matter of interest here is Le Guin herself’s rather…[Read more]
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KazG replied to the topic Richard's Literary Byways: The Beginning Place, by Ursula K Le Guin in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
Thank you Richard – sorry, my original reply has also slipped through a portal. I hadn’t heard of this book and as a HUGE admirer of Ursula le Guin I will do my best to remedy that (might be a challenge, from what you say). Thank you for a fascinating blog and for highlighting so clearly how fantasy can be just as powerful, if not more so, at…[Read more]
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RichardB replied to the topic The ultimate story/narrative arc in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 9 months agoI’m another one whose eyes glaze over at charts, grids, questionnaires and all the rest of it, and find the idea of forcing a story into a set framework very inhibiting. I’d come to suspect that lack of a coherent framework in my writing was one reason I’ve never got on the road to publication, but when I applied the 7 Cs to my last effort it…[Read more]
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