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Old 06-24-2012, 07:10 AM   #61
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The door is open because it was designed to open automatically and will do so again.
Apart from the use of future tense, how is this different from my 'book review' example?
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Old 06-25-2012, 11:50 AM   #62
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There's a difference between taking on board opinions which differ from one's own, and talking to people politely. It is possible (and, dare I say desirable?) to be able to hold civilised conversations even with people who do hold differing viewpoints.
Starting from the assumption that I'm right, and that the effort required to convince someone they are wrong will be more work than can ever be justified, I tend to mischief. The majority of people lack the comprehension to even know when they're wrong - but I don't need to tell you that. I've often felt that we share a very similar mindset and a strikingly similar disdain for wilful ignorance.
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Old 07-07-2012, 03:12 AM   #63
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With a legal background, I was guilty of wanting to get facts and explanations just so- no room for argument. I think I've cured myself of that after lots of internal struggles.
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Old 07-07-2012, 11:17 AM   #64
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I come from the computer/technical world and have done a lot of programming, so being long winded, and highly descriptive comes into play there a LOT. Especially since you always have to tell the computer EXACTLY to the letter what you want it to do. I remember in the early days taking up to five chapters to describe a 5 minute action scene. Now I can take a half hour battle and cram it into two paragraphs if need be. The simple solution was a suggestion by a forum member on another writing site. He said, "Tell only what they absolutely need to know. If they don't need to know it, don't tell it, period, no matter how awesome you think it sounds. If it's not directly relative to the story or the narrative, it's dead weight." I forget what the guy's name was, but at the time he was on the NYT best seller list, so I listened. ^_^
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Old 07-07-2012, 08:44 PM   #65
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[...]He said, "Tell only what they absolutely need to know. If they don't need to know it, don't tell it, period, no matter how awesome you think it sounds. If it's not directly relative to the story or the narrative, it's dead weight." I forget what the guy's name was, but at the time he was on the NYT best seller list, so I listened. ^_^
I've read this advice before from several sources. I think it is good advice, except for the fact that it's not literally true - is it? Or not in any simple sense.

I mean, if you told only what was absolutely necessary to reveal a story, then most books would be over very quickly indeed - and no one would bother to read them. An author tries to put character, scene and plot together so that the reader will care about the story they are trying to tell. It is not a simple matter of picking what is absolutely necessary, it is a subjective process of picking what best supports the overall intention: enough to make it work, not too much, but not too little.
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Old 07-07-2012, 08:50 PM   #66
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I've read this advice before from several sources. I think it is good advice, except for the fact that it's not literally true - is it? Or not in any simple sense.

I mean, if you told only what was absolutely necessary to reveal a story, then most books would be over very quickly indeed - and no one would bother to read them. An author tries to put character, scene and plot together so that the reader will care about the story they are trying to tell. It is not a simple matter of picking what is absolutely necessary, it is a subjective process of picking what best supports the overall intention: enough to make it work, not too much, but not too little.
Yeah... see Lord of the Rings, and other great works. Many best selling authors talk about showing more then just the min. The problem I think is finding the best balance.
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Old 07-08-2012, 04:02 AM   #67
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Well, what I took from his statement is that if you can't find a useful purpose for something in the story, don't add it. He wasn't saying to strip out everything but the most essential stuff for the exact reasons you listed, gmw. I think what he was after in his suggestion was to get writers to strip out all the useless rabbit trails and technobabble that add nothing to the story except empty filler. So if it's got a purpose, add it. If not, leave it out. That's my take on it.
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Old 07-08-2012, 07:36 AM   #68
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Yep. Like I said, it's good advice as long as you don't take it too literally. Like a lot of such advice it tries to sound simple and inspiring, whereas in truth it over-simplifies a complex subject. Yes an author should strip out what doesn't add to the story, but there's the rub: what adds to the story is subjective. Stephen King has some wonderful asides in many of this novels and they were often very good at revealing something about the character in the main story, but sometimes they are annoying and ultimately pointless. Even a master like Stephen King sometimes gets it wrong, or wrong in the eyes of this amateur - which is what I mean about them being subjective. It's great advice only after you learn what it really means.
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