I can’t (in spite of myself) shake the idea that 2008 is going to be a good year. It seems to me that any year in which you’re able to fix the usual beginning-of-the-calendar problem of writing the wrong date in the checkbook, by just making a squiggle on top of the mistaken digit, has to be a good one.
Hey Phil, you live close to Tennessee. Did the recent storms knock out all the phones? It’s book ordering time at the bookstore, and I got “all circuits down” messages when I tried calling both Thomas Nelson and one other house (I forget which. I was thinking it was Moody, but that’s in Chicago, isn’t it? But maybe Chicago had storms too. I should follow the weather news more closely).
Roy Jacobsen of Writing, Clear and Simple, suggested, in a comment on my last post, that we talk about the question of Good Writing vs. Good Story.
It’s possible for a writer to be a poor stylist but a good storyteller—grabbing your attention with his narrative and invention, even as he appalls you with his writing technique. It’s also possible for a writer to be an elegant stylist but a lousy storyteller (this, I think, is a good way to be nominated for literary awards).
Any examples from the audience? Authors (or works) you can lift up as examples of Good Storyteller/Bad Writer, or Good Writer/Bad Storyteller?
I collect the books of Paul Gallico and Neville Shute Norway; both men are incredible story-tellers. But I fear that if these men were submitting their manuscripts today, most editors would pass them by for not being snappy enough writers. And that would be a mistake
Neville Shute Norway? I’ve heard of Neville Shute…
Same man. I should have put Norway in parentheses. Most of my Neville Shute (Norway) books are ex-library copies, formerly filed by Shute.
I heard there were tornado warnings in Nashville, which is where the publishers are. That probably did it. Moody in in Chicago, as you said. Zondervan, maybe?
Deborah, I’m still intrigued. What does Shute have to do with Norway?
Oh Lars … I’m a little slow 🙂
Which reminds me: what goes on at a Viking Age Society meeting?
Generally Viking Age (Club &) Society meetings are snooze-fests. They’re essentially meetings of the Syttende Mai Lodge of the Sons of Norway, of which we are a sort of subsidiary. The interesting things are the events, where we go out strangely dressed among the public and show off our arms, accoutrements and crafts. Also the Viking Feast, coming up later this month, in which we dress up, bring what we pretend are authentic foods, and eat them. And drink mead. And live with the consequences.
Ah. Well, men must do manly things, even if it means an aching head the next day.
Apparently Shute’s last name was Norway :=) At least that’s what Wikipedia says.
Amazing. I never knew that. I never knew anybody’s last name was Norway.
When I suggested this topic to Lars, I had one book in mind: Galactic Odyssey by Keith Laumer. I have a battered old paperback copy that I bought on a whim after finding it in a used-book store. (You can read it online here: http://www.baen.com/library/0743435273/0743435273.htm)
The writing is only OK–pretty standard space-opera stuff, with bizarre aliens, and ships with “superdrive auxiliaries”–but the story itself keeps bringing me back over and over.
I believe C. S. Lewis had a similar opinion of David Lindsey’s Voyage to Arcturus. Poor writing and bad philosophy, but it left him with a feeling about space travel that he never forgot.
What Lars describes in his penultimate paragraph above is clearly the truth. There are plenty of interesting stories which aren’t written well. They are written and publish, though, and they find an audience of some kind. That’s what Christian fiction has been criticized for over the years. The reverse (great style, poor story) is also true. E.L. Doctorow may be a good example.
I remember an intellectual criticizing a certain award-winning book–if not award-winning, it was highly praised in literary circles–which he said was simple pulp eroticism with a few big words and lit. references. And Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code was a poorly written story that captured many readers’ imagination. Two examples of lousy books that connected with people.
I think there is no balance b/w good writing and good story, b/c a book needs degrees of both and other things to find readers at all. A good story can be undermined by horrible writing, so the writing style must be good enough to carry the story, and the story must be good enough to overcome any obstacles in writing. Then on the good story side, characters must be real and appealing enough, the plot must be understandable and compelling enough, the setting must be interesting or realistic enough to work together with everything else. Sometimes good writing and fascinating characters are enough to overcome a nonexistent plot.
I think I’ve rambled enough.
My eldest daughter, Tish (an aspiring writer), had an interesting comment about Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy during the recent hubbub surrounding the release of The Golden Compass. I’m paraphrasing, but she said she enjoyed reading them, and thought the writing was pretty good overall, but she has never felt any desire to re-read them.
I haven’t asked her specifically about it, but in light of this discussion, I have to wonder if the underlying reason is that the story just isn’t all that appealing or compelling.