Gwenda

Wednesday Hangovers

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Tuesday Hangovers

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Whisper Don’t Laugh

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John Crowley posted about the dangers of writing as if you’re transcribing a movie in your head. In an exchange in the comments, he says:

It may be a skill thing indeed. Writers of the "show-don’t-tell" school have to find a way to tell without seeming to tell. They have given up the deep richness Tom Disch talked about and yet because it’s a necessary and central part of fiction they have to win it back by other means, often at great effort. It’s part of the reason why that directive can produce bad writing, or is at least not unambiguous as a prescription. Wayne Booth famously pointed out that the distinction is hopeless: there is nothing in fiction that is shown and not told — it’s all told.

And later:

If you could make mental movies like Hitchcock made actual ones, you would be in a different mode. And the "layered way" IS the glory of fiction and not available to film; it is the way that books are made as rich as the best films. But many inexperienced writers try to skip that step, proceeding directly form mental image to recounting. "I come in the room. The mangy dog is standing by the refrigerator. His eyes are on me. I hear a noise behind me, and turn. An even mangier dog is standing in the doorway. Turning to the window, I see a face looking in at me. Fear takes over my body, and I run to the left of the mangy dog, past him and out the door. Scenery rushes past me as I flee down the dark street," etc. Even good or potentially good writers who have fallen into this trap and are faced by their own production of stuff of this kind and know it’s no good don’t always see the reason, which I called Mental Movie Transcription.

It’s worth reading the whole thread.

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Tiptree Fan Letter

3 Comments / Scientifiction / By /

Tiptreeemshwiller72lgGavin has just put up a scan of a truly remarkable literary artifact — a gushy fan letter that James Tiptree, Jr., wrote to Carol Emshwiller in 1975. (And which Carol* graciously donated to the Tiptree Auction this year.) If you just want readable text, you can find it here. The opening’s a peach:

May a stranger make known how much your book, JOY IN OUR CAUSE has been enjoyed? Weak word, meant to include admired, goggled at, occasionally genuflected to, been rivetted in entrancement by, and, not least, suffered  suicidal inferiority-convictions from.

But before I go on, please—do  not, I beg of you, feel that this letter must be acknowledged, etc. etc.—I should hate to think that I had robbed your time. I’m also a writer of minor sorts and I know what a curse unsolicited communications can be. So just pop this in the round file and  know that the pleasure of expressing pleasure completes the  act. (It does, you know; strange thing this impulse to say, how good, how good.)

At Wiscon, Carol said that the letter was so flattering, she was never able to respond. She put it away, and wasn’t even sure if anyone would be interested when she brought it to Madison. Interested!

*It feels weird and fairly inappropriate to throw around Carol, but after serving on the Fountain Jury together, it’d be far too weird to go with the impersonal Emshwiller.

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Monday Hangovers

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Oh, the Places You’ll Go

6 Comments / Nattering / By /

Pwcover One of my most teeth-gnashing deadlines this past month involved talking to lots and lots of people in travel publishing about their extremely fascinating segment of the book biz, and particularly about publishing guidebooks on emerging destinations. This week’s Publishers Weekly cover story is the result. Check it out, if you’re so inclined.

Since I was starting from less than scratch, I did lengthy interviews with many, many gracious publishers; there was so much good stuff that ultimately space for everything just didn’t exist. This especially includes an interview with English-based publisher Hilary Bradt, whose Bradt Guides focus on countries in turmoil or recovering from war or other types of catastrophe. I may run some of her comments here early in the week, inspired by Ron’s (and Sarah’s) example.

After one interview, I’d be convinced we must immediately start saving to go to Dubai; the next day, not so much. Here are some certainties though: Go to China now. No one thinks Bulgaria is that hot. Eastern Europe in general, on the other hand, is. Ditto Vietnam. There’s still juice in Latin and South America. Oh, and Lanzarote’s one of the Canary Islands.

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Happy Friday

Musical / By /

Still sick, but you’ll feel better if you mosey over to the most excellent Noise for Toaster blog and avail yourself of Shan’s commentary and three amazing tracks from Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton’s Knives Don’t Have Your Back (out later this month). So good. (Emily Haines = Metric lead singer.)

Also, does everybody already know about The Lipstick of Noise poetry MP3 blog? Addictive; so much better on sick-couch than The View.

Why yes, I did spend much of the morning making a new folder for music blog feeds, why do you ask?

Nice weekend, everybody.

p.s. If you follow the link to the Hype, you can also get the drop-dead gorgeous "Crowd Surf Off a Cliff" and "Reading in Bed." (And more.) What an album.

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Thursday Excuses & Hangovers

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I’m home with some sort of truly nasty crud, currently watching an episode of the A-Team on Sleuth, which bears the following description: "The team works from a pub to stop a loan shark from terrorizing small businesses; guest Wings Hauser." (The commercials they show on this network are terrible, sad and funny.) Next I’ll watch Rosie on The View. A few things:

Now I go back to collapsing. Emails I owe you will come soon. Promise.

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