Wednesday 7 November 2012

The Artist Unleashed: IF YOUR STOMACH CHURNS, I'VE DONE MY JOB, by Sarah Fine

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12 comments:

  1. I try and do all that! I will read all the physical description when it's unique and the writing is good. And I think when it is relevant to the tone and emotion. That's because I want to soak in those details. It's when it rambles on with seemingly no point that I skip.

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  2. You did a great job with this aspect, Sarah.

    Too much setting description is when I skip over it. I prefer it when the character interact with their setting. Then it becomes part of the story.

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  3. Setting description is too much when it doesn't show me or relate to the character: his/her reaction to it, likes or dislikes, fears or hopes or dreams. I definitely use setting description; actually, it's one of my favorite elements to write. But I have to remind myself that it must have purpose.

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  4. Great guest post. I concur completely.

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  5. Great post, Sarah! I had to work on finding the right balance with setting, too--for the same reason. (I thought if I didn't tell EVERYTHING, I was "doing it wrong.") In TTAF, I used the town's name as sort of reflective of what was going on in it--Shadow Falls is neither shadowy, nor has waterfalls. In ROUGE, I kept going back and sprinkling in a little more NOLA. I was extremely sensitive of doing too much and making it like all those cartoons of the city. I think it ended up being about right... :p

    I LOVE the idea behind how you set up the Shadowlands--a continuation. Can't WAIT to start reading SANCTUM! <3

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  6. My first book included heaven and hell. It was challenging trying to give the reader a feel of something in a spiritual realm.

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  7. That's it exactly: paint your world with subtle brush strokes. More than a couple lines at once, and -- unless you're one of the rare few whose prose is transcendent -- I'm skipping ahead to the next bit of action, emotion, or dialogue.

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  8. I'm still a sucker for a lot of description, as long as it's well done. It's why I still love the McCarthys and the Tolkiens of the literary world. That said, I know most editors will never allow it. Especially in a YA novel.

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  9. Well, Matt, your descriptions are very good! But yeah, like Nate said, you have to weave it in rather than offering up large chunks of description, because most readers' eyes glaze.

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  10. I'm a bare bones writer, so I add description later, and it's still usually not that much. Had more fun with my second book, as it's set on a desert planet, and there is a lot you can do with a desert setting.

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  11. I always know you'll write something worth reading, and you didn't disappoint. I struggle with this issue, offering up more than needs to be said and having to cut stuff in the editing process. One perfect word is better than ten mediocre ones, but it can take a lot of work to find that one.

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  12. Thanks for this! It's a great thing to keep in mind, especially when revising. I think it's easy to fall so in love with our settings that we want everyone else to see them - or forget about our settings entirely in favor of our plots and characters. This is a great reminder to sprinkle in just the right amount of detail.

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“I'm using my art to comment on what I see. You don't have to agree with it.” ~John Mellencamp

“Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a wonderful social grace” ~Judith S. Marin

“I don't ever try to make a serious social comment.” ~Paul McCartney

“I'd make a comment at a meeting and nobody would even acknowledge me. Then some man would say the same thing and they'd all nod.” ~Charlotte Bunch

“Probably what my comment meant was that I don't care about the circumstances if I can tell the truth.” ~Sally Kirkland

“We're not going to pay attention to the silliness and the petty comments. And quite frankly, women have joined me in this effort, and so it's not about appearances. It's about effectiveness.” ~Katherine Harris