(urth) Query
Jerry Friedman
jerry_friedman at yahoo.com
Fri Mar 5 13:09:40 PST 2010
--- On Fri, 3/5/10, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote:
...
> 3. Start with the ending of your story and then slowly work
> backwards
> to how you got there. That way your plot will tend to lead
> to a
> satisfactory end. For example, a Cinderella is a poor girl
> who marries
> a prince. How do they meet? Well, maybe he has this shoe
> and he is
> going to marry the girl it fits? Well, why should it fit
> her? etc.
That's interesting because it's exactly what some critics
and educators on literary fiction tell you not to do.
> 4. A good villain is someone who is *almost* a hero but
> falls just
> short of it. (examples given were Bill Reis and Typhon -- I
> think Wat
> is also a good example of what he's talking about)
I really can't see Bill Reis as a good villain at all.
For much of the novel he's not causing or threatening
any harm. Unless I'm missing something.
> 5. If someone asks for advice about being a writer, I
> always tell them
> "don't do it", because if they can be deterred by that,
> then they shouldn't be a writer.
...
Very Borgesian, I believe.
Jerry Friedman
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