![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Slow Saturday
So, I slept in a little bit this morning; Trooper assisting by sleeping on my face, which gives you some idea of how very, very asleep I was.
Spent some parts of the morning trying to locate my set of Steve's car keys, which I lost sometime during being ill, when I needed to move the cars for the plowman. All the pockets in the house are clean, as is the couch, my bag, Steve's bag, the cars, the driveway, the kitchen table (my keys, which I would have used at the same time, and for the same purpose, are on the kitchen table, right where they belong), the Mencken Table, my desk, and the catch-all drawer in my office -- all, all are keyless. I'm going to have to admit defeat at this point.
After I combed Trooper and Sprite, I gave the rest of the day over to totaling/closing the 2014 accounts (I still have two that need last bits of information before I can close them), since our accountant was kind enough to make sure the accounting packet reached us on Christmas Eve.
In a moment or two, I'm going to go do the dishes, and then retire to the sofa with When Gods Die to keep me company.
Before I sign off of the interwebs for the evening, though, I'm going to revisit something, because it still. . .fascinates me.
WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ "THE NIGHT DON'T SEEM SO LONELY"
S
T
O
P
H
E
R
E
Back a few weeks ago, when a portion of the internet went stupid because I had used a Bad Word in "The night don't seem so lonely," someone involved in that conversation took advantage of it to critique the story, in order to show me how (1) I could have completely avoided using Bad Words and (2) written a stronger story that they would have liked better. (Yes, this is exactly as breathtakingly rude as it sounds, but never mind that.)
The person in question would have improved the story by throwing away the first scenes in the story-as-published, opening with Moss on the beach, alluding to his adventures on the road, and his reason for being there, in very brief one-or-two sentence flashbacks, and finishing with an epiphany of destiny. Which...OK, that's a story; it's not the story I wanted to write, but let that go, too, because there's an even more interesting assertion in the reason for restructuring the story in this manner, which was this:
The opening scenes, sayeth the critique-person, risk losing readers who may decide that they don't want to read about these characters. By opening with the scene on the beach, readers *immediately know* that Moss isn't "just some drifter" but a person they should care about.
This notion of "risking" the loss of readers fascinates me, but, then, I tend to assume that readers are reading for character, rather than plot. In the case of Moss, I began the story where I did so that the reader could get a brief taste of what his reality had been for the last while, and to maximize the punch of relief for the reader when someone, finally, takes an honest interest, while at the same time feeding the uncertainty -- is this really going to work out, then? So much has gone wrong for this kid. . .
And back around I come to this idea that you will lose readers if you force them to interact with characters. What a strange, strange notion.
So -- what grabs you in a story, and forces you to keep reading? Character? Dialog? Plot? Setting? Bad Words?
Discuss.
no subject
I may be an exception, but every element you mention keeps me reading. I want to find out what happens.
no subject
Plot holes don't bother me as much if I have that though I hate when a character is made to do something stupid so that the plot can advance.
And once I know and like an author, I will pretty much read anything they write.
I loved Moss and feel that the introduction was essential to his character. If that is going to lose a reader, the reader probably isn't going to like much that you write.
no subject
When I first started with Carpe Diem, I'd also started with Asaro's Skolian series. You guys put together fascinating sentences and dialog, and I had to have more. More, more, more! I lost interest in the setting, characters, and writing, and never finished her series ...
I'd keep a scrapbook of critiques like that just to read when I was down and needed a good laugh ;)
And keys - I have 2 vehicles and have a tendency to leave things like keys in unpredictable places. So I have 4 sets of keys (actually I also have a key hidden under each vehicle which I only had to use once) - one set for each vehicle, one set for all vehicles on my main going-out keyring, and one set for all vehicles on my working-around-the-house keyring. It's rare I'm locked out of a vehicle after having provided all those keys, but, as mentioned above, it did happen once, at 2 am in Parachute, CO when I locked both sets of keys in the truck at a gas station when I went in to pay for the gas. Even knowing where that hidden key was, it still took me half an hour to tease it out where I could actually grasp it. But I did get it, unlocked the truck and all was saved!
As a wise someone once told me, "Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy!" ;)
no subject
no subject
what grabs you in a story
It is very difficult to enjoy a story if the character is not believable.
In truth I think being believable covers all the bases here.
A writers failure in any one of those categories is likely to kick a reader out of a story.
A really good writer can grab and keep a reader with any of them.
The bad news is that not all readers are going to be believers.
no subject
I used to be a sucker for particular plot or plot/character tropes, but that seems to have become less true; there have been too many books that sound like something I expect to like but then I don't.
no subject
Perhaps you need to take a large frozen swordfish and repeatedly poke them with it.
no subject
All I need do is remember their name.
no subject
no subject
Everything, with less emphasis on bad words
Unbelievable
Keys
Re: Keys
no subject
no subject
Don't like long info-dumps, things have to hang together and be believable. Can be strange but need to be consistent and believable.
I had no problem with the introduction. Nothing gratuitous but set the character up very well - I do need something to grab me in the first chapter or even a great opening line like 'The person who was not...'
no subject
As an aside, I just got my copy of Carousel Seas from the ever-reliable Mr. Blyly. It was inhaled at one sitting, stopping only for stirring the soup and other necessities. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and thank you for it.
The arrogance...
1) Rape
2) torture
3) child molestation.
None of which are ever going to be in your stories, so I think we can safely assume I'll buy and read pretty much whatever you write. I certainly read for plot (all the characterization in the world won't help if there isn't at least some plot movement), but I primarily get drawn in by the characters and their situation.
In this story, I absolutely agree that starting where you did was an important part of the story's effectiveness. And as for the bad word? Oh, please, folks. Just get over yourself.
no subject
Character and plot are the two things that are most likely to grab me at the beginning of a story. Dialog and setting have been to do so too, but not as often. Bad words don't grab me but I don't object to them being used in ways that are appropriate to the story. Too often they're used gratuitously and that can turn me off pretty quick. I don't think you've ever been guilty of that.
no subject
As far as the missing keys, I recall that Sprite had a nocturnal adventure spilling stuff off the table. Have you checked the farflung reaches of the floor, in case said keys were tossed aside and slid under something? Just a thought.
no subject
no subject
I've had epic fantasies that were recommended to me where after I had read 100 or so pages, I stopped because the main character wasn't very interesting and didn't have anything that they seemed to be trying to achieve. My friend assured me that the magic system and the world building were really cool, but... I just don't get excited about setting very much. Anyway, for me, show me someone trying to achieve something, trying...
As to why we keep reading. I think some of it's a desire for meaning, for a world that makes sense, for wonder and beauty. Books and stories can do that. Instead of the daily grind of semi-meaningless random events, we get to see a sequence tied together by the main characters driving towards their goal.
So I guess for me, I would say the hook is someone trying to achieve something. The thing that keeps me reading is the promise that there is going to be a resolution, poetic justice, a climax where good wins and evil gets punished.
On the keys...
no subject
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJRg5wVJgVM