tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post114354576450996770..comments2023-10-31T11:37:50.028-04:00Comments on on life & other inconveniences: It's Not What You ThinkSandra Ruttanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143674565082790432006-03-29T18:22:00.000-05:002006-03-29T18:22:00.000-05:00Yeah, Stephen's comments make my posts seem short ...Yeah, Stephen's comments make my posts seem short and sweet!Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143673332455040802006-03-29T18:02:00.000-05:002006-03-29T18:02:00.000-05:00Great post, Sandra. And great novel-length comment...Great post, Sandra. And great novel-length comment, Stephen.<BR/><BR/>If I keep reading stuff like this, it'll be impossible to avoid becoming a better writer.<BR/><BR/>Thanks, guys.Daniel Hatadihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00453583064175651509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143612223675584002006-03-29T01:03:00.000-05:002006-03-29T01:03:00.000-05:00Bubble bath? And ball twisting?Bubble bath? And ball twisting?Confessions of a Starving Mystery Writer https://www.blogger.com/profile/00731772701795707624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143611263654427532006-03-29T00:47:00.000-05:002006-03-29T00:47:00.000-05:00Oh, ha...I got the point....damn bugs! Great joke!...Oh, ha...I got the point....damn bugs! Great joke!<BR/><BR/>I agree with your post...good job...'nuff said! LOLBonnie S. Calhounhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11769607640246518804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143602060356459702006-03-28T22:14:00.000-05:002006-03-28T22:14:00.000-05:00More revealing?Uh, I didn't realize you wrote that...More revealing?<BR/><BR/>Uh, I didn't realize you wrote that kind of stuff Dana.Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143601997557111652006-03-28T22:13:00.000-05:002006-03-28T22:13:00.000-05:00I tend to be more revealing in the end then have a...I tend to be more revealing in the end then have a twist. Hopefully, either way, it will surprise and please the reader.WannabeMehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15938094279274975960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143583105207619162006-03-28T16:58:00.000-05:002006-03-28T16:58:00.000-05:00G'night.I'm going to have a bubble bath.G'night.<BR/><BR/>I'm going to have a bubble bath.Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143582747967862502006-03-28T16:52:00.000-05:002006-03-28T16:52:00.000-05:00Well, I was going to say something about you being...Well, I was going to say something about you being interested in mannequins too, but then I thought people would wonder how I knew that.<BR/><BR/>Trusty satellite spy cam.Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143580546025694472006-03-28T16:15:00.000-05:002006-03-28T16:15:00.000-05:00Unless, of course, they're the ones he's intereste...Unless, of course, they're the ones he's interested in.<BR/><BR/>I recall some interesting remarks about why bother with the bedroom, just get them in the door and get on with it...<BR/><BR/>Which, of course, made ME blush.Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143580403720496422006-03-28T16:13:00.000-05:002006-03-28T16:13:00.000-05:00Seems boy Kim wants all females to be totally abst...Seems boy Kim wants all females to be totally abstemious, Sandra...Bernitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264585685253812090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143575563029895252006-03-28T14:52:00.000-05:002006-03-28T14:52:00.000-05:00Another excellent post. And I love that joke.Another excellent post. And I love that joke.Tracy Sharp - Author of the Leah Ryan Serieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12239533451929739327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143566875182520782006-03-28T12:27:00.000-05:002006-03-28T12:27:00.000-05:00Stephen, thank you, as well as Sandra.Stephen, thank you, as well as Sandra.Bernitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264585685253812090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143566101888433282006-03-28T12:15:00.000-05:002006-03-28T12:15:00.000-05:00Stephen, I completely agree with you.It's a diffic...Stephen, I completely agree with you.<BR/><BR/>It's a difficult balance between believable and lazy. But I'm glad you commented at length because I was too lazy to write my usual novel-length post this morning.<BR/><BR/>Boy Kim, am I seeing you in July? You might find out...Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143565504051540002006-03-28T12:05:00.000-05:002006-03-28T12:05:00.000-05:00Twists can be tough. Everything leading to that p...Twists can be tough. Everything leading to that point needs to be consistent and feel inevitable. By the time the reader gets to it they should be able to look back at the story and be able to say, "Oh. Of course it would work that way." Without that consistency it's just going to feel like laziness or a cheap shot. <BR/><BR/>For example, M. Night Shamalamadindong's, or whatever the hell his name is, movie The Sixth Sense. The internal consistency is such that, if you're paying attention, by the time you hit the end it all works. There are no deus ex machinas.<BR/><BR/>For me, though, the most difficult aspect of doing a twist ending isn't maintaining the consistency, it's parsing the details out to the reader such that I'm not withholding anything. It strikes me as lazy writing when an author feels that they have to hide something from the reader to make the story work. It feels as though the quality of the writing is playing second string to the twist ending, rather then the other way around.<BR/><BR/>I think it's sometimes easier to do twist endings with third person, because the reader doesn't know everything that's going on for any one character. Hints based on action or dialog can foreshadow the ending and obscure it at the same time. In the Maltese Falcon, you never know what Spade is thinking, only what he's doing. You can see where the book might go, but you can't be sure until the very end.<BR/><BR/>I tend to write first person, self absorbed narcissist that I am, and I find twist endings difficult. There's an assumption that the narrator in first person is reliable, that he or she is telling the truth. Unreliable narrators have to be that much more consistent because you're in their head.<BR/><BR/>Of course, if it's a twist that hits the protagonist as much as it hits the reader, then you don't have to worry about that. All the other characters can lie their heads off and it won't hurt the reliability of the narrator.Stephen Blackmoorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01241134280141088631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143564960561817422006-03-28T11:56:00.000-05:002006-03-28T11:56:00.000-05:00RJ, I like the way you describe twists - delicious...RJ, I like the way you describe twists - delicious and perfect.<BR/><BR/>Bernita - and I thought you'd done all the ball-squeezing you were going to already today? Well, surprise, surprise...Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143564402348855162006-03-28T11:46:00.000-05:002006-03-28T11:46:00.000-05:00You mean the one where she squeezes his balls, San...You mean the one where she squeezes his balls, Sandra?<BR/>Hadn't intended to reveal that one...Bernitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264585685253812090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143562281116920122006-03-28T11:11:00.000-05:002006-03-28T11:11:00.000-05:00Twists for the twisted...Writing in the mystery ge...Twists for the twisted...Writing in the mystery genre as you and I both do, twists are part and parcel of te fabric of mystery. It can be over used, overdone, and confusing, just like a sex scene. <BR/><BR/>I prefer the slow twist of lime in a Corona, the slow twist of a dagger in the heart , and the slow twist of female lions against my....and a plot twist the makes my head spin. ; )~Confessions of a Starving Mystery Writer https://www.blogger.com/profile/00731772701795707624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143559941044682472006-03-28T10:32:00.000-05:002006-03-28T10:32:00.000-05:00Boy Kim, what am I going to do with you?Bernita, L...Boy Kim, what am I going to do with you?<BR/><BR/>Bernita, LOL! Nope, I'm waiting patiently for your next borderline erotica post. Highly, erm, educational guys. Yes, that's the word.<BR/><BR/>Vincent, it is difficult. I think this is where a writer has to trust their gut. I'll email you with a little story that isn't for the blogs...<BR/><BR/>Erik, glad you liked the joke.<BR/><BR/>Or are you suggesting my entire post was laughable? (joking.)(i hope.)<BR/><BR/>James, you're too modest. You're excellent with the twists because yours are so subtle, AND they make sense. You sell yourself short, my talented friend.Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143554406551833162006-03-28T09:00:00.000-05:002006-03-28T09:00:00.000-05:00I'm hopeless at the twisty stuff - or at least it ...I'm hopeless at the twisty stuff - or at least it seems to me that I am. The problem is that by the time I've written the twist it's no longer unexpected to me, especially if I've spent a while setting it up.<BR/><BR/>I also think that there is a certain amount of predictability that is necessary if your characters are going to be believable (unless your book's set in a loony bin, then anything goes). The trick, as in all writing, is in striking the right balance. And however much fun you might think it is to turn your readers upside down from time to time, those twists need to be plausible - the more so, the more effective they are.JamesOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09332376784689207703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143551620291381912006-03-28T08:13:00.000-05:002006-03-28T08:13:00.000-05:00It's difficult to make a serious comment while lau...It's difficult to make a serious comment while laughing so hard. So I won't try.Erik Ivan Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05564245949077955844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143549401635733972006-03-28T07:36:00.000-05:002006-03-28T07:36:00.000-05:00In some of the later Terry Pratchett books I've fo...In some of the later Terry Pratchett books I've found myself a little disappointed with the plot twists for one of the reasons you mention. While I still believe he's a great writer, there have been incidents in his stories where he seems to have deliberately steered away from the obvious and predictable conclusion to a plot thread. The problem is, some of those threads were like the Rebus one - rightly or wrongly, I found myself expecting or even hoping a scenario would play out a certain way and then it didn't. Nothing quite as obvious as setting up a good guy / bad guy antagonism and then completely omitting any kind of showdown, but the same principle. Knowing when to employ the obvious is perhaps just as much a skill as devising a tricky twist.Vincent Holland-Keenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13620266525944160618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1143549330080337192006-03-28T07:35:00.000-05:002006-03-28T07:35:00.000-05:00Dayum, for a moment I thought you had secretly inv...Dayum, for a moment I thought you had secretly invaded my files and read my next sex scene.<BR/>Then....heeeeeeeng...slap!<BR/><BR/>Excellent point, Sandra.<BR/>~wanders off wondering if her story is too predictable~Bernitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264585685253812090noreply@blogger.com