tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post84779692393904753..comments2024-03-27T23:53:59.771-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Unicorns in PajamasLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-24011687747145244652012-01-09T18:58:14.035-05:002012-01-09T18:58:14.035-05:00Hey, buddy, I may have saddled the horse . . . but...Hey, buddy, I may have saddled the horse . . . but you're the one who taught it tricks and rode it in the rodeo! Great Column!Dixon Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11220791609338404147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-88472428515279396352012-01-08T18:55:38.936-05:002012-01-08T18:55:38.936-05:00Dix, many thanks for the kind words. And yes, tho...Dix, many thanks for the kind words. And yes, those Plotnik quotes do hit the nail on the head, don't they?<br /><br />I also like the Ireland quote that you mentioned. Wouldn't it be nice to think someone'll be quoting US one of these days . . . <br /><br />By the way, I owe you thanks as well for inspiring me (via your recent column) to write this piece. Your insights on "flat writing" were excellent.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-63443857447546941422012-01-08T16:42:07.240-05:002012-01-08T16:42:07.240-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Dixon Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11220791609338404147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-29041638617654478692012-01-08T16:38:37.941-05:002012-01-08T16:38:37.941-05:00I think Mr. Plotnik hit the nail on the head with:...I think Mr. Plotnik hit the nail on the head with: “But the only authentic way to enliven a piece of writing . . . is to invigorate it at the outset." <br /><br />When writing, I sometimes feel as if I’ve grabbed onto the side of a speeding rail car; I tap into a story that just carries itself away with me. At times like these my fingers struggle to keep up with the story flow, but still strike the keyboard so quickly that Word gets jammed up and I repeatedly have to stop and wait for the cursor to recover. I call this “being in the groove,” and nothing written while in the groove is ever flat. Because, as Plotnik might put it, it’s “invigorate(d) … at the outset.”<br /><br />Knowing that this “groove” invigorates writing so much, I often feel caught when I sit to write but can’t find a catalyst to make it pop alive. I keep a quote from J. Ireland on my wall for these times, which reads: “Inspiration is what unsuccessful writers sit and wait for while successful writers are sitting and writing.” Still, I’ve long worried about the level of “life” present in words written without being in the groove.<br /><br />Since reading this article, however, I think I’ll balance that first quote by printing out another Plotnik quote to post on the wall beside it: "Readers love surprise. They love it when a sentence heads one way and jerks another. They love the <i>boing</i> of a jack-in-the-box word. They love images that trot by like a unicorn in pajamas."<br /> <br />Incidentally, I’m not surprised John picked this quote. Anyone who’s ever read his short story <a href="%E2%80%9Dwww.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson796/survival2.pdf%E2%80%9D" rel="nofollow"><i>Survival</i></a> (which you can find in pdf format by clicking on the title) will quickly recognize that these are ideas John works in strict and <i>magnificent</i> accord with. He packs more twists into that 1,000-word story than I can get into 8,000 words -- even when I <i>am</i> in the groove!Dixon Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11220791609338404147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-77094885098377902202012-01-07T23:41:01.570-05:002012-01-07T23:41:01.570-05:00Everything John (and everybody else) said! I'v...Everything John (and everybody else) said! I've reached the conclusion all modifiers are potentially evil, so I chop adjectives as vigorously as adverbs.<br><br>In mid-December, I wrote about <a href="http://www.sleuthsayers.org/2011/12/hugo-and-shakespeare.html" rel="nofollow">struggling with a dead story</a>, and I'm not certain the battle's over. Changing the PoV helped tremendously.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-1897411059348606852012-01-07T19:43:38.661-05:002012-01-07T19:43:38.661-05:00Dale, I agree with Manfred Lee on the adverbs (few...Dale, I agree with Manfred Lee on the adverbs (fewer is better), and Louis, I think too many adjectives are almost as bad as too many adverbs. But it's hard to generalize, and--you're right--too much advice from too many quarters can be confusing.<br /><br />As for feeling a piece is ready (or not) for submission, I share your pain, there. I guess all we can do is try hard as we can, and then let it out into the world to fend for itself. <br /><br />You folks have certainly sold me, on Gruber. I'll be reading him shortly.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-80218816198998481822012-01-07T18:49:42.039-05:002012-01-07T18:49:42.039-05:00Okay, John, you made me think about how to make my...Okay, John, you made me think about how to make my comment interesting.<br /><br />I don’t always immediately recognize flat writing, or writing that has no zing. I sometimes feel as I’m reading that something is not quite right about a word, sentence, or paragraph. It feels as if something is missing. This is so even when I like a story because of the plot or characters. Sometimes, I feel as if I’ve hit a dead spot in the writing. Eventually, if I go back over the piece, I find the problem.<br /><br />I write nonfiction. And I never feel a piece is ready to go out into the world. Again it is more a feeling rather than an analysis of the piece. This is true even after I think I have corrected the grammar, the punctuation, and punched up the dead sentences.<br /><br />I remember getting some confusing advise while in college. A writing instructor told me to write with verbs. An instructor in American literature told me to use more adjectives.Louis A. Willishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16563842429688123421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-80288361733523267582012-01-07T11:32:32.299-05:002012-01-07T11:32:32.299-05:00Elizabeth beat me to the punch -- I was going to p...Elizabeth beat me to the punch -- I was going to post about Michael Gruber. His prose is absolutely beautiful. There is a bit (don't want to spoil too much) in an early novel where he suckers the reader into three distinct dream sequences, each time convincing the reader that the character has awakened, only to reveal that they are still asleep. I must have re-read that sequence at least three times.<br /><br />When I used to teach writing (well, legal writing) I found that students invariably thought that their writing was improved by the addition of adverbs. By contrast, Manfred Lee's advice on writing was to finish a story and then read through it striking every single adverb. Then go back through again and see if any of them deserved a reprieve.Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-25148439022334133192012-01-07T11:30:54.955-05:002012-01-07T11:30:54.955-05:00I agree that Bill Bryson is one of the greats. Ye...I agree that Bill Bryson is one of the greats. Years ago I bought his A Walk in the Woods for one of our boys before he hiked the Appalachian Trail, and I read it before we gave it to him. One of the best nonfiction writers around.<br /><br />Good luck with the new story, Rob. Sounds as if you're taking the right approach.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-52531579392339930782012-01-07T10:58:45.508-05:002012-01-07T10:58:45.508-05:00it is funny. Just before you mentioned it I was t...it is funny. Just before you mentioned it I was thinking that my treatment for flat prose is the sentence by sentence search for dull words that can be replaced.<br /><br />i am facing another problem: a story narrated by a dull kind of guy. The solution there, I think, is to surround him with the dialog of more vibrant people (see larry blocks Matt Scudder novels.)<br /><br />as for nonfiction, I am reading a book by Bill Bryson, one of the greats. Here he is talking about an architect. "No one, other than perhaps the Luftwaffe, has done more to change the look of London than John Nash did over the next thirty years."Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-74331924397486670282012-01-07T10:42:48.694-05:002012-01-07T10:42:48.694-05:00Thanks, Liz. No, the office in the picture isn'...Thanks, Liz. No, the office in the picture isn't mine--but I do go through a lot of drafts.<br /><br />I've heard similar praise for Gruber's novels. They are now on my list. And yes, I love to read something that causes me to stop now and then and tell my wife "Listen to this!" That's happened several times with Nelson DeMille books.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-67329560301703697262012-01-07T09:25:25.995-05:002012-01-07T09:25:25.995-05:00Wonderful post, John. And I love the picture of th...Wonderful post, John. And I love the picture of the discarded drafts. Did you take it yourself? And if so, how did you get your wife to let you eschew the wastebasket for so long? Or did you sacrifice a virgin (ream of paper, that is)? My most memorable recent example of discovering a writer's fizz and flavor (without losing engagement in the story) was on reading Michael Gruber's <i>The Book of Air and Shadows</i>. His prose, perfectly juxtaposing elegant locutions with zingy descents into the vernacular, had me chuckling and grinning with delight. I was only a few pages into it when I <i>had</i> to stop and say, "Listen to this!" and read my husband choice passages aloud. For me, that's the best sign that I've spotted a unicorn in pajamas. Gruber is kind of ignored by the crime fiction community, though <i>The Good Son</i> was nominated for a CWA Steel Dagger last year. If you don't know his work, either of those I've mentioned is a great place to start.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.com