The 700 year-old novel writing secret. ‘Thisness.’ 

That's such a good description to me. The bridge sighed then fell into the ocean like a workman meeting his bed headfirst after one of those days with his boots still on his leg

Lol are they anti metaphors also

That's such an evocative description. You were right about the writing group.

Apparently, some people just don't care for such anthropomorphism, but I don't totally agree with them. That being said, I have no idea what a falling bridge sounds like, so I have no idea if that's an apt choice or not. But I know that that a thick tree breaking has a sort of "groan" to it, so a falling bridge sighing seems plausible, at least.

I think one needs a certain sensibility to really grasp "thisness." I noticed at the beginning of the video that synesthesia is also considered thisness. Nice to have a group who gets it.

A brilliant line, but I don’t think it’s an example of hacceity. As I understand the latter term (new to me, though the concept is not), it refers to close observation or imagining of the vivid, telling detail. The silk trousers, on the other hand, belong to the genre of the tall tale. It is a brilliant bit of comical simile or hyperbole. Not unlike those moments of inspired schoolyard invention of the type, “Your mama’s so fat, her dress size is Equator.”

it's pretty dire.

I think we wear them pretty well, personally.

If I remember anything from this, its that line. Excellent advice though, i subscribed now.

@@a_rat_named_mouse If this was a Rat Roundup, Grimbeard would certainly award his highest rating of "GOOD."

underrated comment

Love this(ness)!

exactliness

😂😂Legend

I’m going to stick with the otherness for now.

We don't really know enough about Suetonius' sources. Romans wrote a lot of letters, and some of them were fairly descriptive. But it's also possible that, as well as being famous for reporting all the juicy historical gossip, that Suetonius made stuff up. OTOH, striking details associated famous traumatic/dramatic events are exactly what people do tell and retell and write down.

I think it's a bit extraneous after the "for some time" which gives some good pathos. Maybe it scans better in Latin

@@suburbanbanshee - Even though Suetonius was not there to witness the murder and its aftermath, he can surely picture how it possibly (likely?) occurred in his mind. His description helps put _us_ there, though we were not, changing from an academic event into a human one.

Nice.

Wow. Love this, thank you for sharing!

Exactly what I thought while watching this video. Love the discworld.

Me too; Pratchett 's the best! I prefer to read him in English, but the Norwegian translation was'nt half bad.

Discworld is pretty much all this.

Chuck Palahniuk has gotten me in a similar position

Ахахах, мне тоже в голову сразу пришёл старина Терри с его уморительными образами 😂 Никому не советую слушать аудиокниги по Пратчетту гуляя вечером в чужом районе. Иначе быстро найдутся люди, которым станет очень интересно - а по какой такой причине у тебя с лица не сходит эта идиотская улыбка? А кто такой этот Ринсвинд? И почему, чёрт тебя побери, слово сундук вызывает этот ехидный и гнусный смешок?! И эти люди, о, это такие люди, чьё внимание не захотелось бы привлекать даже варварам пуп-земелья, крайне неприятные типы. Лучше уж складывать 2+6, 4+4, 7+1 в храме пожирателя душ, ведь по крайней мере есть вероятность, что может случиться так, что у тебя окажется в наличии фотоаппарат с очень мощной вспышкой, который поможет тебе отбиться от щупалец Шам'гаротта! С теми ребятами это не сработает. Я пробовал. Даже наоборот, это ещё сильнее их разозлит. Нет уж, спасибо! Дома почитаю!

Hey thanks very much, I really appreciate it!

It is exactly its' best use.

'The more detail you give, the more palpable and visible the dream becomes'. Well, yes, but not exactly. There is a point of diminishing returns. The author, the artist, is required to find that point and sidle up to it yet never cross it, which would be at their peril. My rule is do enough to paint a picture, but no more. And I include kinetic motion along with it, bc I want that to be a moving picture-I want to create a movie in the reader's mind, not a painting. Once you create the picture, they have it, and they don't need more detail. More detail is unnecessary, superfluous, and can get in the way. Dashiel Hammett in the first scene in one of his novels went on and on about how a character was dressed. Really? What would be the advantage of me, the reader, learning that his tie is blue? I can already see the character. More detail gets in the way. Maybe I envision the tie as grey, or some other color. Hammett's ego correcting me only spoils the picture I already have. Just get on with the story, Dash. IOW, too much is too much. Writers like Chandler in the 40's (and he is my all-time favorite) had a tendency to overdo it, likely bc they saw the rise of their 'antagonist'-the movie industry. And they overdid it bc they were threatened by a medium with advantages the novel does not have. A ton of description pales against a camera shot. Of course a novel has advantages not available in film, such as narrative, and the fact that the reader gets to see their own 'visible dream' rather than that of the Director and Cinematographer. But The Big Sleep is now 85 years old. The threat of competing media is ubiquitous, and we can just accept it and avoid trying to battle it down. Instead, just write the best story you can (which Chandler did, over and over, despite all that).

Quite. Often, as in the example of Duns Scotus and Honeysuckle, the descriptions can be irritatingly baroque.

I agree. Too much, in this overstuffed prose. It gets boring.

So, you're saying tell me the story but don't be overly descriptive, so you can use more of your own imagination?

Why on earth are you reading a book if you don't want to hear the story the author is telling? Description is a part of that, seeing the vision they place before you is a part of that. Writers don't exist to create blank slates just so that you can impose your own fantasies onto their stories.

To me it's most important when it happens. Don't introduce me to a new character and then wait half a book to let me know they have red hair to their waist (when I have started imagine them with black short hair or something). Or let me know a house is spectacular, and then in book 2 describe it for the first time and well it's a red castle with exactly 5 towers and green roofs.

. . . most verily it doth.

Excellent guidance. Thank you.

Like everything really. Everything, even good things, need to be done in moderation. Otherwise, over-use robs them of their speciality and becomes mundane and normal.

Agree. You can’t get too heavy with the sprinkles. Raymond Chandler has just the right touch. (Though I have never cared for his plots, but I’m addicted to his sprinkles)

Agreed. Chandler’s “like a man who has just won a pie eating contest” sounds like a strong Bulwer-Lytton Contest entry.

Then it's called Literature. (Capital intentional.)

Minimalism is gay as hell.

The only thing that went through the head of the bowl of petunias as it fell was "Oh no, not again"

One of my favorite writers 😂

That spaceship brick line blew my mind the first time I read it

What an excellent metaphor. That critic sounds envious to me.

I think sometimes a writing technique can overly distract from what is happening. For instance, it a majorly dramatic and active event happens in a book, i cant help but find myself reasing faster as i get stressed with the main characters. If something is being written too indirectly at that point, it can be frustrating.

Yeah read it in school

apparently it was lost on you.

@@mrosskne Do you work for the government perhaps?

yep, you don't get what my comment was saying. try thinking.

@@mrosskne While I try to improve my thinking, you might want to consider improving your manners. Your behavior doesn't reflect well on you.

@@christerdehlin8866 No, my behavior is perfect. Worry about yourself.

Ed Hardy is an artist who work was mostly in tattoos. You can Google his name and see many examples. I think it was in the 90s or early 2000s that t shirts with his designs on them became briefly popular. Tacky and bold.

And much like the sunken ship, hardly ever to be seen again.

@@edwarddodge7937who?

That's exactly right, the reader participates in the dream rather than observes it

Didn't m.twain do this in huk fin? The scene where Huck is spreading pigs blood, nasty scene,

Wow, now I've learned that "Urine used to be a valuable commodity. In the past, some societies used it for fertilizing crops, tanning leather, washing clothes and producing gunpowder." The more you know.

I didn't know most of that!

Because of your comment I suddenly realize, as the protagonist is a friar, he might refers the 'castrated ozen' refers to the other friars, while 'this one hasn't been done yet' perhaps also refer to himself and his 'unholy' desires.

That’s very interesting, thank you for sharing!

‘kine brilliant!

Are you sure? )

You should read it again. You'll like it even more the second time :)

@@jordank1813 Yeah I'm planning to this summer!

Come now, don’t be cruel.

@@panopticon3461 He's just teaching us the virtue of patience 🥲

don't quit your day job.

Now, see, that's the problem. I would take it as a dirty blackened orange, because that's as old of a penny as I usually see. Pennies aren't really all that coppered, anymore, so they probably will never turn green. Famously, Neuromancer has the same problem. The first line is "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." So does he mean static? Or does he mean bluescreen? Or does he mean black nothing? Neil Gaiman goofed on this in Neverwhere, as have several other writers.

I hadn't thought about it, but that is exactly right. Chandler did it a lot

Agreed. They also reminded me of Douglas Adams, who loved employing such broken logic as "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."

What a lovely comment! Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

Many thanks! The moment I read your comment a line from a song came on Spotify saying 'I've been reading Browning...' (Home thoughts from abroad - Clifford T. Ward) Synchronicity!

Hey thanks!

Hey thank you! Good luck with the script.

@@TheOxfordWriter and thank you for the knowledge.

Thanks! I'll keep uploading but they quite a bit of time. Good luck with your novella.

@@TheOxfordWriter Anytime! We'll for you to upload. The quality it top-notch so it's fair to wait for it. Thanks!

Thank you too!

🤯🤯🤯

Awesome, thank you!

Any time!

Thank you for your kind words Jessica. I appreciate it.

Thanks! Welcome aboard!