Britain’s Wallace and Gromit are now stars in Royal Mail stamps. I wonder if I can get some of these.
All posts by Phil
Interactive Fiction: Is It the Future?
Keith Stuart asks if interactive fiction is the future of books. “For example,” Mr. Stuart writes, “clues could be unlocked by shaking the screen so that most of the words ‘fall off’ revealing hidden codes. Other narrative elements could be unveiled by opening the book while in a specific geographic location.” He goes on to describe what is already online for interactive fiction and why a cool idea may not work for previously published novels.
Writing Contests
Jane Friedman has a list of national writing contests with not entry fee.
You Can't Say 'Nazi,' But Us?
Political signs with Nazi words, symbols, or overtones showed up a rally during that past week, and the media yawned. Maybe they were tired from all of their outrage a few weeks ago. Larry O’Connor reports, “What is truly scandalous about the traditional media’s apparent obliviousness is the fact that unlike the Tea Parties — which are often spontaneous, unorganized events with no direct affiliation to a politician or a political party — this protest has been directly liked to Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson, and her campaign has been caught in a series of misleading statements regarding that involvement.”
Is it worse that such signs appear at an organized rally or at an unorganized one? Is it exhausting to hear outrage about one and not the other, a news cycles about one and nothing about the other?
Of course, the illustration here is not from one of the posters, but it is a curious bit of Nazi propaganda, is it not? Having they been called christians of a sort in your hearing? This isn’t a Christian poster.
Fun and Books with Jasper Fforde
In this interview from a few years ago, author Jasper Fforde, who has a new novel coming next year
Of course, one always thinks ‘wouldn’t it be great to be published?’ But I was always thinking ‘oh, it’d be great to be published but it’s not likely, but I’m having fun, so I’m going to write what I want to write.’ So when I did actually speak to people about my project, they thought it was a pile of rubbish.
Freedom–You Don't Want It
D.G. Myers criticizes the new Jonathan Franzen novel, Freedom. Apparently, the author’s idea behind the title is closer to tyranny than liberty. Myers notes how thoroughly liberal, as in the American political left, this novel is. “Franzen’s references to his title leave small doubt that he holds the Leftist view that freedom is the problem, not a political solution to much of anything,” he writes and goes on to describes scenes in which the word freedom appears. The last of these scenes refers to the freedom a pet loses when collared by its owner. (via Frank Wilson)
Buy Freedom: A Novel
By way of taking all the fun of this, look at what Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary has on freedom: “A state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement. Freedom is personal, civil, political, and religious. [See Liberty.]” That’s the summary. Much more is under liberty, explaining specifics of natural, civil, religious, political, and other types of liberty.
Plot Twist Fun
Ever thought about how a well-known story might end differently? A post on this topic could be a magnet of unwanted spoilers, but I’ll send it anyway. Throwing reality or plausibility aside, what popular story changes would you suggest?
Return of the Jedi–Yoda: Now the truth know you must. Vader, your father he is not. Solo your father, and Leia . . . gasp, cough, cough.
Luke: What about Leia? She couldn’t be . . .
Yoda: Mother.
Luke: Ewww.
Star Trek 4–Kahn isn’t dead after all, and the really old geezer will finally get revenge.
Star Trek 5–They Saved Kahn’s Brain
The Wizard of Oz–The Wizard: But this is Kansas, Dorothy. It’s been Kansas all along. You just have to know it in your heart.
Sherlock Holmes: Unsolved Mysteries–Watson: Holmes hasn’t been able to solve a single crime since the encounter with the woman. For instance, one I had to solve for him came to us on a Monday morning. . . .
Everyone's Doing It Now
Tim Challies writes about the money problems the porn industry has. In short, few people want to pay for what they can get for free or get in the context of a good story, like what’s in several HBO series. It reminds me of a comment from a reporter, which I think I blogged about at the time, expressing doubt that anyone paid for pornography anymore.
Tim says, “[P]ornography has succeeded so well that it has forced itself into decline.” And yet, this is not good news. (via Steve B on Facebook)
Tim Challies has an e-book on this topic called Sexual Detox, available on his site.
Thick Skin
The Novel Doctor has a few words to say about taking criticism.
But, as the theory goes, if you have a “thick skin,” the review won’t bother you at all. As you read how your protagonist “wouldn’t even be believable playing a stiff on a soap opera” and that your plot “drags more than J. Edgar Hoover” you’ll simply smile while the scent of lavender fills your nostrils and images of puppies and kittens frolicking in a field of poppies fill your mind.
Of course, there are a few problems with this theory, as the doctor explains. I have often thought I take criticism well, but I’m starting to doubt it. At least, I worry that I don’t take it as well as I thought I did. What I need is to put my work out there more aggressively so that more good and bad criticism comes, and I’ll have more practice handling it.
Not All About Style
Why is awful writing tolerated? D.G. Myers answers this question, saying most readers don’t care enough to complain.