Wow, that first minute and a half summed up the anxiety I've been having. I think I'm doing a good job of building natural-sounding dialogue between my characters as I free-write, but once I try to put in the proper punctuation, it starts to look cluttered and sounds awkward.
Social class, who the character is...very good stuff. Over the years, have read at least 10 books on writing, starting with Steven King, Marion Smith Roach and 2 books re writing by Chuck Palahniuk (author of "Fight Club and many other novels...low brow literary dude)....Palahniuk writes 1st person, present tense, with an emphasis on how people actually express themselves and get anecdotal. You will see this kind of dialogue in TV and movies, too. Palahniuk's books on writing do contain some of those 'rules' on 'said.' Often he uses the verb "she goes" and "he went" instead of "said." Palahniuk's biggest pet peeve is over use of "Thought Verbs" such as "Feel," "Thought," "Realized," "knew," etc. He suggests that we unpack those thought verbs into physical action and sensation.." These rules can be taken too far and are burdensome, but I do observe them when it's character specific or advances the plot. I've been wondering if you've ever read "Fight Club." Big time themes, cult favorite.
I have! Like many, I read it after the movie came out so it's been a while. Palahniuk is a great example of "breaking the rules" well. He creates a very specific storytelling style that seems both real and exaggerayed at the same time
@@nonsensefreeeditor Wow, I'm surprised! What did you think of it? I would have thought the nihilism would have been a bit too much. Recently Palahniuk wrote a book "Consider This" in which he goes over what his teacher, Tom Spanbauer, (who studied under Gordon Lish at Columbia's MFA program).. calls "literary minimalism" and sometimes, "Dime Store minimalism" because much of Chuck's content is on the low-brow and lurid side. Gordon Lish talked about something called "Burnt Tongue" where a writer mangles the English language to draw attention to a point...sort of 'the medium is the message' kind of thing. I have read 2 of Spanbauer's books and two other books that come out of that Portland, Oregon school of lit minimalism...Spanbauer's were good, but two other books were really tedious, putting style way over pace and structure. Thanks for responding gal!
Well, that's a help; my biggest struggle is talking heads and wanting the ability to add sub-details in a paragraph. So I need to add what people sometimes think when gathered in the school lunchroom. "coming of age novel"
You certainly impressed me with all your input. New fan, here. Additionally, I just downloaded the lady sherlock Holmes book. I've been searching for a good Victorian mystery fix, thanks for referring to it. If you have time, I'd like to ask your opinion on THINGS IN JARS. The same genre.
I came back to this video as a reference based on something you had mentioned, that I realized is something that is not acknowledged much in modern times: a person's "station in society "and how social class affects tone in written dialogue and shows the relationship and power dynamics between individuals. With Society being much more casual and pushing towards inclusivity and away from exclusivity, do you notice a change in the way that literature is made in response to the change in social norms? For example we don't even use the term "station in society" anymore but I'm old enough to remember hearing about it from and also reading about it. Do you think the acknowledgement of one's station in society is no longer relevant? Social class may not be a topic that is on the Forefront of our minds but I think we all know that it exists. Anyways, do you think there is less of a distinction in relationships and power dynamics in one's writing due to society's overall lack of focus on one's "station in society"
Our place in society is just as relevant now as ever, it's just that Americans like to pretend it doesn't exist. If you listen to the way Kim Kardashian talks and the way Kelly Clarkson talks, you can see multiple differences. They're both rich women NOW, but they were raised very differently, one with money, one without. One in LA, one in the south. So even though they're both rich and famous now, KK is of a higher social status than KC, and they way they talk and act reflects that. The power dynamics are also just as present but, again, we as Americans like to pretend they're not there. That pretense is good to include in our fiction, just as long as we're aware of it.
Darn. I was going to show my middle school creative writing students this video … but then you had to go and use the term “porn stache.” Admin wouldn’t approve of that.
