tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post7245910166257121955..comments2023-09-05T12:51:25.656-05:00Comments on edittorrent: Tales From the Slush PileEdittorrenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-86952908850103903462008-12-08T18:31:00.000-06:002008-12-08T18:31:00.000-06:00The Curse of Chalion starts with a line of narrati...The Curse of Chalion starts with a line of narrative summary - <I>Cazaril heard the mounted horsemen on the road before he saw them.</I> - before going into what is mainly description with a small dollop of action and an equally small helping of internalisation and a trace of flashback. The first line of dialogue is on page two, and there are ten words of dialogue on the first two pages.<BR/><BR/>Bujold does not lose the immediacy in all of this; and she creates a lot of tension - implicit and explicit - by describing what ought to be a fairly simple scene. <BR/><BR/>Alma Alexander's 'Secrets of Jin Shei' begins with 'It had been the hottest summer in living memory' and continues for the rest of the page, introducing a character on page two, with the first line of dialogue on page three - all five words of it.<BR/><BR/>It's a beautifully written book, which has neither conflict nor action at the outset. Maybe this sort of thing doesn't work for all genres, or all readers, but it works for these two books, and it works for me. I would hate not to have more books like these available.green_knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16499896006012152260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-37845310675759742332008-12-08T10:43:00.000-06:002008-12-08T10:43:00.000-06:00Kate Moore mentions that in Pride and Prejudice, A...Kate Moore mentions that in Pride and Prejudice, Austen relates verbatim the dialogue where there's conflict, but narratively bridges when the speakers agree. "They agreed that..." <BR/><BR/>Maybe we're thinking that we shouldn't have much agreement. :) That is, conflict is good in fiction (not in life).<BR/>AliciaEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-89430990228355400542008-12-07T21:43:00.000-06:002008-12-07T21:43:00.000-06:00Yes, Alicia, that was what I meant. When we're in ...Yes, Alicia, that was what I meant. When we're in the slush, we're evaluating manuscripts on the basis of the first few pages. <BR/><BR/>But really, even in the middle of a book, narrative summary is probably best kept to a minimum for the very same reason. Aside from transitions, that is, which are probably the best use of this narrative element.<BR/><BR/>TheresaEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-59479549170637036352008-12-07T12:59:00.000-06:002008-12-07T12:59:00.000-06:00I'd also say narrative summary in the opening of t...I'd also say narrative summary in the opening of the story might suggest I started in the wrong place. That is, if this event isn't important enough to be related more or less in real-time, is it important enough to start the story?<BR/><BR/>Later, when the reader will know the characters and the situation, we might have some scenes where there's action that doesn't show enough to be narrated in toto... but -- it's not that narrative summary doesn't have its place, but to me it would suggest that maybe there's not enough essential going on, which would be pretty deadly in the opening. <BR/><BR/>So when would you go for a scene break (with some physical break, like some characters leaving, or a change of setting) rather than a narrative bridge in the same scene? <BR/>AliciaEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-67285652365115762422008-12-03T18:40:00.000-06:002008-12-03T18:40:00.000-06:00I hope that you get through your slush pile soon.....I hope that you get through your slush pile soon... Great advice in your post. Thanks. I'm just starting a vampire novel, so its good to keep up to date on the market.Serenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04745809545249574387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-12740275698066103142008-12-03T10:23:00.000-06:002008-12-03T10:23:00.000-06:00Narrative summary is not the writer's friendI beg ...<I>Narrative summary is not the writer's friend</I><BR/><BR/>I beg to differ. Narrative summary in addition to description (static/action) or scenes (in-the-moment) increases the dynamic range of a writer's toolkit. One thing narrative summary allows you to do is to include those pesky bits that are neither important enough to get a full-blown scene nor unimportant enough to be left out. <BR/><BR/>I've just written a scene where eight characters sit around a campfire and enter into a pact. Three of them are condensed in 39 words, beginning with 'After that, the others followed' and a short characterisation for each of them. Then I segue into the next speaker, and his part is interesting enough to play out in real time again. <BR/><BR/>Large blocks of narrative summary, or narrative summary in place of scenes (a bad habit of mine) are a problem, but narrative summary per se isn't.green_knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16499896006012152260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-37240176946237663042008-12-03T09:37:00.000-06:002008-12-03T09:37:00.000-06:00Hi, Nervous,I'm pretty backed up right now because...Hi, Nervous,<BR/><BR/>I'm pretty backed up right now because I had to be out for several weeks this fall. But if you have't heard back from me in, say, the next two weeks, send me a nudge. I'm trying to clear out my backlog now, so give me a couple weeks to try to dig out first.<BR/><BR/>TheresaEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-52055915251239188892008-12-02T23:55:00.000-06:002008-12-02T23:55:00.000-06:00My tale is still in your slush pile, and I wondere...My tale is still in your slush pile, and I wondered after how many weeks I should assume my query got lost in the pile?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com