tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post1793530986302048831..comments2023-08-27T04:22:55.468-07:00Comments on The Literary Lab: Writing With DepthUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-46021426467469676602011-03-09T13:45:16.698-08:002011-03-09T13:45:16.698-08:00Hmm, this confused me. I think I need more specifi...Hmm, this confused me. I think I need more specific examples or something. I do love the idea, though, and it's encouraging to me to see you talk about your writing like this. It makes me want to examine my own writing more closely and then write about it. <br /><br />One of the things I've been trying to do more in my work lately is keep the plot more simple and build on the naturally occurring themes so they go deeper. In a way, that might be what you're doing here, but I'm not sure.Michelle D. Argylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09696465137285587646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-46270435519374203982011-03-09T12:38:17.517-08:002011-03-09T12:38:17.517-08:00It all goes to depth of character, I think. All s...It all goes to depth of character, I think. All stories have a point a and must move to the point b, but the stories I find most memorable have ups and downs in the character development, not just the plot.<br /><br />But I'm a character driven writer (and reader) and while the story needs a plot, that point B' is what Im really looking for. Reasonings, motivations, changes in consciousness.<br /><br />I'm sure you have been putting these aspects of your character's into the story; you've just come to a new way of thinking about your own writing process. I've had several of those personal insights over the last couple years - those "is that what I'm doing" moments - and they help me understand my own writing - strengths and weaknesses - and help me see it in other author's works too.<br /><br />When I see a style/technique clearly in someone else's stories, it help me learn to be a better writer.<br /><br />Thanks for the diagrams. That was helpful in seeing your process.<br /><br />......dholedolorahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08715849844092553699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-38611040729060725762011-03-09T10:52:50.174-08:002011-03-09T10:52:50.174-08:00Oh that's an interesting way of looking at it:...Oh that's an interesting way of looking at it: character development as B prime and plot development as B.Aimée Jodoinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064718577605753502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-38102049996895056882011-03-09T10:35:23.291-08:002011-03-09T10:35:23.291-08:00"Does this make any sense at all?"
Abso..."Does this make any sense at all?"<br /><br />Absolutely. I swear, if I hear the phrase "story arc" one more time, I'm going to run amok. The unique thing about an arc is that it can be defined by listing any three points along its length. No matter what the arc, it can be defined as three X,Y,Z coordinates because for any such trio of points, there is one and only one arc that contains them.<br /><br />Why would I write an arc? Why would that be any better than writing a straight line? We are complex creatures, we live complex lives, and we write complex stories.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-57543397064789574022011-03-09T09:50:05.146-08:002011-03-09T09:50:05.146-08:00Hey, Scott's blog is the first thing I get whe...Hey, Scott's blog is the first thing I get when I google six words for a hat. How about that?Davin Malasarnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09385823575081492949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-65495827920858102632011-03-09T09:49:28.067-08:002011-03-09T09:49:28.067-08:00Yeah, Scott, it's hard for me to describe beca...Yeah, Scott, it's hard for me to describe because my realization is more of a feeling than a thought, but it's like I am building up instead of building out or something. It's 3-dimensional. <br /><br />Six words for a hat.Davin Malasarnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09385823575081492949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-76057026703805042432011-03-09T09:07:33.808-08:002011-03-09T09:07:33.808-08:00The shadows are great!
I like the way you've...The shadows are great! <br /><br />I like the way you've put this. I think that often writers will be aware that their stories are sort of flat, or maybe it's more <i>narrow</i>, and they try to make the plot more exciting instead of making the ideas of the story more complex and deep. I like the waters to get muddier and muddier as I go along, the way to become less clear and more overgrown, and then I like to be left in the thicket in mud up to my knees. That's a good ending, if you ask me. I don't care much for stories that point to a single idea at the end. So I'm looking forward to reading "Cyberlama."<br /><br />Also, last night the postman brought my own copy of <i>Notes From Underground</i> and it's gorgeous. So go buy a copy, whyncha?scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-13534403781392833162011-03-09T07:51:41.960-08:002011-03-09T07:51:41.960-08:00Nevets, I like the cleanliness of linearity too. M...Nevets, I like the cleanliness of linearity too. My plots used to be more complicated, but I've recently been telling much more straightforward stories, partly because I wasn't very good at telling the complicated ones yet. I think what I needed to learn was that a linear plot could still gain in depth.<br /><br />Anne, thank you. Somehow the depth, before I came to this understanding, always felt random. Sometimes my stories would have it, and sometimes they wouldn't. I can better distinguish why some of them worked and some of them didn't now.Davin Malasarnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09385823575081492949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-34621355784934938212011-03-09T07:05:45.094-08:002011-03-09T07:05:45.094-08:00I think it's what we all try and strive for, t...I think it's what we all try and strive for, the underside, if you will, of our characters. <br /><br />Whether we're writing genre fiction or great literary masterpieces, the 'depth' or the underside, although it might not hit you in the head upon first reading, is there. And after you finish reading, you find something greater to gnaw on, something that will last, with you, as reader.<br /><br />Nice post.Anne Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05816355522284492131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-39672755680404147182011-03-09T06:48:25.869-08:002011-03-09T06:48:25.869-08:00This is sort of interesting to me from a general p...This is sort of interesting to me from a general perspective, as I literally don't understand truly linear sequencing and can't quite get my mind around a non-compounding path of development.<br /><br />You actually have me intrigued about the way you used to think of it, which has a certain cleanliness to it, it seems.C. N. Nevetshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00375714948653196993noreply@blogger.com