Comments for Abigail Nussey, Writer

Comment on Good Imagery Deepens the Emotion of a Story by RJDiogenes

RJDiogenes — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:17:59 +0000

Your words are like eagles, flying, soaring, catching the updrafts between snow-capped peaks and then circling laconically, peacefully and profoundly over the rolling forests of eternal truth. Yeah, I agree. Imagery is vital. One way of looking at writing is that the writer reaches into the reader’s head, pulls out some raw material, sculpts it into his message and then puts it back. That’s just one way of looking at it, of course….

Comment on Excerpt #1: The Driftheap by Virginia May Nussey

Virginia May Nussey — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:31:24 +0000

Just read the excerpt from your book, Abby, and it whet my appetite for more!!!! You certainly have a talent for words and putting them together in the right places!!!! I know you will make the “Best Seller” List eventually!

Comment on What I learned from my college lit courses… by Abigail Nussey

Abigail Nussey — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:19:26 +0000

Phlegyas,

Thanks for commenting! I think there are a few things at work here.

The first is originality for originality’s sake. That’s what I call the ‘gimmick.’ There’s nothing wrong with gimmicks, only that the work often centers primarily around the gimmick and secondarily around the story/meaning.

The second is authorial condescension of information: the author, in his/her divine brilliance, cedes the meaning of their complicated world/structure/characters/plot only sparingly, such that it’s barely tolerable to read the book at all. That is, the author intentionally requires the reader to put in a lot of hard work that readers shouldn’t have to if the meaning is clear.

The third is about philosophy. If the author him/herself — or the voice in which he/she is speaking — intentionally rejects the rational construction of story/character/plot, then the work itself becomes irrational. Irrational works yield no firm meaning, as nothing irrational can.

It’s important to note that intentionality is key here. The above — common mistakes of novice writers — become, when wielded by the hands of an elite writer, brilliant (at least, that’s what my college literature courses taught me ).

Comment on What I learned from my college lit courses… by Phlegyas the Mindjuggler

Phlegyas the Mindjuggler — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:17:30 +0000

Does that mean that a good writer will not communicate meaning to the readers because he/she does not care to, or is it because he/she intentionally hides it?
Anyway, care to name the title of the short story? I’d be interested to study what you call “algorithmic”.
Cheers!

Comment on What I learned from my college lit courses… by Abigail Nussey

Abigail Nussey — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:21:59 +0000

I decided on this linear relationship after sitting through a literature course wherein a short story by Pynchon, a nested story within a story within a story, was hailed as “great fiction.”

Okay, so it’s algorithmic and you need to un-nest it in order to figure out what’s going on. But how is that great fiction? It’s just differently structured. A gimmick.

Also, in that same class, post-modernist fiction was considered the pinnacle of art (which was probably obvious from the Pynchon thing).

Comment on What I learned from my college lit courses… by Tiyana

Tiyana — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:44:59 +0000

Funny how that works.

Comment on Excerpt #1: The Driftheap by Abigail Nussey

Abigail Nussey — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:46:31 +0000

Thanks, RJ! I feel like I’ve worked hard to incorporate a lot more imagery in this version (I think you read the zeroth draft of three — blushes furiously). I’m hunting around for an very short excerpt for each main character, though the others might be posted after the book’s done. 20K to go, doing a lot of revising and seaming at the moment.

Comment on Excerpt #1: The Driftheap by RJDiogenes

RJDiogenes — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:41:19 +0000

Very nice. I love the style. As I mentioned with the earlier draft that I read, it reminds me of the New Wave of the late 60s and early 70s– like vintage Harlan Ellison or something from Dangerous Visions.

Comment on Lazy Villain-Building (or, How To Spice Up Your Bad Guys) by Elli Comeau

Elli Comeau — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:25:12 +0000

Nice one! I have to admit that I was an evil laughter “victim” – but hey, that was 13 years ago, when I was 15! I know better now, but it’s embarrassing that my younger sister pointed it out to me then.

As for how to spice up your bad guys: I think, at least sometimes, it’s a good idea to give your bad guy, or villain, something good. Not a good deed, or something disguised as something good while scheming something evil, but a good character trait, something that makes him “lovable” in some way, something that tears the reader apart, makes the reader wonder: should I really despise this guy? He has something good in him…

Comment on Lazy Villain-Building (or, How To Spice Up Your Bad Guys) by Some of the red flags of lazy villain-building: « Agile Writers

Some of the red flags of lazy villain-building: « Agile Writers — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:16:32 +0000

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