Well... Allll-righty!
What would you call subtle?
This is why we have the segue. Experienced writers know they will have to say the same thing three times three different ways.
Why are you arguing with this purported "friend"? I've decided not to support this cause at this time. End of it.
Cormac McCarthy. He'd mostly finished his work before he started getting recognition and I'm pretty sure some literary critic started it just to make a name for themselves. McCarthy is what I call a competent and readable writer, but he's hardly an enjoyable read.
George Saunders comes to mind... rather quickly. I'm in a book club and several members absolutely gush when his name is mentioned but ask them WHY?? they like him, and it's crickets... He's just so good, he leaves you speechless.
Yeah, a lot of S/S writers do this purposefully... I hope. They're a proving ground of sorts and a place where explaining is not necessarily required. Short stories are also the darlings of the award circuits, probably for that very reason.
X-Files, even in the creative writing circles of MFA programs, stands out as an exemplar
Long swaths of interiority and we don't even know if it's daytime or night. Lack of orientation and blocking.
I love short stories (most of them, anyway) because you don't get bogged down in any pretentious literary allure and if that starts to creep in (I can think of a few authors who still can't behave), the investment is small and the story gets moved quickly to the "Meh" pile.
Always, ALWAYS, read the cliff notes first.
Did he? I thought he loved the creature from the onset, it was, in fact, why he took him far, far away.
I write best when I just write and don't think about the commercial outcome.
Just because the story's written in First Person, doesn't mean you can't kill the narrator. Many writers clarify that the narrator is not the "I" in the First Person narrative, but the person the "I" character has entrusted to relate the[ir] story. I've noted in many books that I am not the character saying "I", but the one "I" told it to for posterity.
In that pic, this was a trend back in the '80s. Patina'ed this and that. It's actually kinda nasty, being that's layers of oxidized "air" with all kinds of bacteria and shit in it.
The Paris Review if you want to be current on "Works". Poets and Writers if you write and need marketing. Publisher's Weekly for the self-pubber and those wanting to stay up-to-date with the trends.
One of my good friends says a page of orientation as to past events is fine... A -one- page. She suggests calling it a Prelogue if you must.
I work two or three long days (12-14hrs+) at a time and produce on average a decent income. It's feast or famine, but I've had time to build up a cushion. If you are relying on a regular source (of income), it might be hard/frustrating/scary. But I've always preferred to work for myself, so the uncertainty doesn't bother me. Also, it's just me; I'm not feeding a family or even another.
In speaking with several... maybe two dozen, native/first peoples, the consensus I've found is that it is the preferred way to bring a native person/tribe into a work of fiction. There are exceptions, of course, but generally speaking.
A one-carat diamond ring was found behind a bathroom vanity when we pulled it out. The property had been abandoned for 10-15 years. Oddly enough, we found an owner from the 1950s - over fifty years after the house had been built and nearly 40 years before we purchased - we spoke to a granddaughter. She didn't remember her grandparents ever living there. Maybe the "weirdest" was the house with the little closed-off attic room whose floor had been covered (10' X 20' space) with model railroad tracks (HO) gauge. A neighbor said three owners back had worked for the Metro Transit Authority and drove a long-defunct streetcar in town. The craziest had to be the bedroom where someone had painstakingly painted the entire battle of Gettysburg on the walls. Each wall, a different day. The last wall listed the timeline.
Just say you write. Or, "I write a little" for those yet published. "I do some writing" if you have an agent and are published in hardback with a dust cover.
This is shockingly good advice. But it's also important for anyone wanting to market creative work to be aware of norms and conventions... no matter [how] you decide to craft your specific work. But it's true, there is very little canon in the world of art.
Rolls Royce
What has lost its prestige in recent years?
AskReddit