“The Bear”: Another show I haven’t seen. (I don’t subscribe to Hulu.) Okay, let’s see what fun I can have with this one.
“…exposition is just the instant ramen of the writing game: Easy and flavorless.” WOW! A great expression.
You say brunoise, I say mirepoix. Let’s call the whole thing off.
“I literally have no idea what these folks are talking about for the first episode and half.” Have you visited a neurologist lately?
“…distrust of your audience is a prime driver of the shitty expository writing that plagues the world.” I can’t agree with you more. I absolutely HATE it when description is larding up a good book. Unless it’s absolutely germane to the story, I don’t care if What’s-her-name is a willowy sun-kissed California blonde with legs like a thoroughbred’s and breasts the size of small cantaloupes. One word descriptions are perfect, like Large Marge. Large is all you need, even if you haven’t seen “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.”
Also, some writers will write a sentence of dialog and then interrupt with description. Then another line of dialog with more description to follow. Just give me the damned conversation without interruptions!
Next week: “Stranger Things” … Another show I will not have watched.
Having spent a third of my life in kitchens, either as a cook or kitchen manager, gotta tell ya, it's a bitch. Also, re #13, it's best not to tempt fate in that manner. I've SEEN what goes on in the back. Cheers, 👨🍳
I've been racking my brain wondering who the actor who plays the lead in this reminds me of, and I finally figured it out. He reminds me of the actor William Fichtner who plays Adam on MOM.
This is one of the reasons I love A Gentleman in Moscow so much...so little exposition. It jumps years at a time, with the main character in brand new situations that you never see coming (within the hotel, of course) and Towles never bothers to explain how it came about. It's the best case of trusting your readers that I've ever seen.
As for footnote #4 umm...isn't that what we writers do? Actually, most of us would be happy to net $20k every year....
Love that novel! And you are absolutely right about it. The difference between running a brick-and-mortar business and being a self-employed writer, I thiink, are the number of afternoon naps I get to call "part of the writing process."
Miss me?
“The Bear”: Another show I haven’t seen. (I don’t subscribe to Hulu.) Okay, let’s see what fun I can have with this one.
“…exposition is just the instant ramen of the writing game: Easy and flavorless.” WOW! A great expression.
You say brunoise, I say mirepoix. Let’s call the whole thing off.
“I literally have no idea what these folks are talking about for the first episode and half.” Have you visited a neurologist lately?
“…distrust of your audience is a prime driver of the shitty expository writing that plagues the world.” I can’t agree with you more. I absolutely HATE it when description is larding up a good book. Unless it’s absolutely germane to the story, I don’t care if What’s-her-name is a willowy sun-kissed California blonde with legs like a thoroughbred’s and breasts the size of small cantaloupes. One word descriptions are perfect, like Large Marge. Large is all you need, even if you haven’t seen “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.”
Also, some writers will write a sentence of dialog and then interrupt with description. Then another line of dialog with more description to follow. Just give me the damned conversation without interruptions!
Next week: “Stranger Things” … Another show I will not have watched.
Regarding the road trip, I'm in. But NO TOUCHING.
I agree to this condition only because I know by the end of the trip you will change your mind.
LOL
Having spent a third of my life in kitchens, either as a cook or kitchen manager, gotta tell ya, it's a bitch. Also, re #13, it's best not to tempt fate in that manner. I've SEEN what goes on in the back. Cheers, 👨🍳
They might think he's ordering hands.
Bear claw, hand of ginger...
After reading this, I slid back into my manuscript and deleted "my sister" and "my little brother." They'll figure it out.
They will!
I've been racking my brain wondering who the actor who plays the lead in this reminds me of, and I finally figured it out. He reminds me of the actor William Fichtner who plays Adam on MOM.
There is a resemblence, yes!
This is one of the reasons I love A Gentleman in Moscow so much...so little exposition. It jumps years at a time, with the main character in brand new situations that you never see coming (within the hotel, of course) and Towles never bothers to explain how it came about. It's the best case of trusting your readers that I've ever seen.
As for footnote #4 umm...isn't that what we writers do? Actually, most of us would be happy to net $20k every year....
Love that novel! And you are absolutely right about it. The difference between running a brick-and-mortar business and being a self-employed writer, I thiink, are the number of afternoon naps I get to call "part of the writing process."