tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post8982617589567044710..comments2024-03-21T18:54:06.548-07:00Comments on Old Enough to Know Better: Noble Purpose: Writing PhilosophySteve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-83191066785568611862011-05-19T18:36:29.427-07:002011-05-19T18:36:29.427-07:00I struggled in my first book, not with Noble Purpo...I struggled in my first book, not with Noble Purpose, but how descriptive to be early on. I don't think you can appease everyone, because they all want varying degrees of detail as it pertains to characters. I guess it's better to let them make it up in their head than it is to beat them over said head with specifics. <br />One of my closest friends, upon reading the first 3 chapters of Still Man Fights, was under the impression that Idle was very tall -- like 6'8". I have no idea where she got that from, but it's not necessarily "wrong." Once the reader gets an image of the character, it becomes theirs as much as it is the author's.Justinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14138545573425777067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-76379947816952739652011-05-18T09:57:21.869-07:002011-05-18T09:57:21.869-07:00Thanks Steve, you always have good advice for us a...Thanks Steve, you always have good advice for us aspiring authors--Dojo Rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12057645566330892415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-74715189592409162802011-05-18T08:52:19.149-07:002011-05-18T08:52:19.149-07:00Yeah, Bridge of Birds was great. But if it took hi...Yeah, Bridge of Birds was great. But if it took him a draft to figure out what it was about, that's okay; sometimes it has to be tuned to get a clear channel. <br /><br />I wrote eighty pages of a novel once before I realized it wa in the wrong voice and I had to go back and recast it. And there have been dead-ends.<br /><br />Summer movies are mostly fluff, but now and then, one hits better notes. Spider Man II was better than the one fore or aft. Ditto Aliens II. Or the second Star Wars movie. More heart, as they say in the biz. <br /><br />My point was that whatever the theme, you don't need to lay it out in the first chapter. (And that sitting down in advance and laying out themes and Noble Purpose can only be the most general of notions. You won't know how it manifests until you actually write it. At least I don't.)Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-31232880262747239882011-05-18T08:37:22.347-07:002011-05-18T08:37:22.347-07:00Steve-
The exact quote is at home, but I recently ...Steve-<br />The exact quote is at home, but I recently read (from memory" "A story teller only needs to focus on content when he or she is lacking in personality."<br /><br />You have, good sir, no lack in personality.Roryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08483616030072739190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-59567960945657698302011-05-18T07:25:56.542-07:002011-05-18T07:25:56.542-07:00I remember an author, Lawrence Block maybe?, sayin...I remember an author, Lawrence Block maybe?, saying that he starts his books in the middle because that's where all the fun is. The rest unfolds with the beginning and the end. <br /><br />As for noble cause... meh. Just tell the story. Make it draw them in.Joe BNYDhttp://www.bnyd.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-44130699309127949072011-05-18T04:55:19.913-07:002011-05-18T04:55:19.913-07:00Barry Hughart is one author who has IMHO grappled ...Barry Hughart is one author who has IMHO grappled successfully w/ what a book is about, and it's interesting to contrast his first draft of _The Bridge of Birds_ which is available on-line and the printed book (which is fabulous) re-written after he had decided the book would be about love.William Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12502301143571036363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-26657840484228686232011-05-18T03:10:23.907-07:002011-05-18T03:10:23.907-07:00My wife says it's a good book when I can only ...My wife says it's a good book when I can only give a mono-syllable response:<br />"Good book?" - "Yes."<br />"Time for dinner." - "Soon."<br />"Take out the garbage." - "Meh."<br /><br />Your books usually keep me there. Keep that going. And thanks.AnonyMousenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-5978698471253781602011-05-17T19:08:16.633-07:002011-05-17T19:08:16.633-07:00Noble Purpose? Yeah, right. I want 'em sitting...Noble Purpose? Yeah, right. I want 'em sitting on the edge of their seats. Staying awake until three a.m. and cursing me because they have to go to fucking work in the morning and they have to finish before they can sleep. Laughing when I want them to laugh, crying when I want them to cry, happy to have spent their beer money on the book when they are done. That's more than enough.<br /><br />Amen. I've been reading your books for more than twenty years, and it is because of those very reasons above.<br /><br />Thanks.xenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16168511483335009553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-50004712464100962772011-05-17T18:10:25.407-07:002011-05-17T18:10:25.407-07:00Funny, I hadn't even thought of that. It was t...Funny, I hadn't even thought of that. It was to early in the story to necessarily think of the noble purpose.<br /><br />Anyway, just tossed back my comments to you. Thanks for letting me play!Christian Berntsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03227734448741386088noreply@blogger.com