tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post2598290621874948494..comments2023-11-03T05:49:10.841-04:00Comments on Storytelling Rules: AmbitionMaureen McGowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00494408580378817045noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-4637737346280625102011-11-30T01:45:43.046-05:002011-11-30T01:45:43.046-05:00It's the start on reaching one goal. Every sma...It's the start on reaching one goal. Every small steps counts.ohio dentisthttp://ohiodentistry.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-15458081586543821722011-11-29T11:49:43.025-05:002011-11-29T11:49:43.025-05:00I feel like a very inept boss, Steph. Like maybe D...I feel like a very inept boss, Steph. Like maybe Dilbert's boss.Eileenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09803986849921870941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-12220617818645204432011-11-29T11:05:10.811-05:002011-11-29T11:05:10.811-05:00Both of you can totally do it!! I did it on only m...Both of you can totally do it!! I did it on only my third manuscript. The second I actually finished. But I was too green back then to have a plan. The structure kind of happened by accident. If I'd set out to do it, I probably would have been terrified.<br /><br />I think at the time I'd recently read Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake (which I loved) and although I didn't plan to alternate timelines I think her book's structure was in my brain.Maureen McGowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00494408580378817045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-22085487040247571622011-11-29T10:56:01.832-05:002011-11-29T10:56:01.832-05:00Eileen - you are a professional writer. Of course ...Eileen - you are a professional writer. Of course you are up to the task.<br /><br />I say this to boost your confidence as well as my own - becasue I too am a little bit scardy cat when it comes to doing big ideas.<br /><br />But why? We are the boss of the book! We can do anything!<br /><br />I believe it!!!! (Mostly sort of)Stephanie Doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448686465587131952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-60892886751817495642011-11-29T10:35:58.158-05:002011-11-29T10:35:58.158-05:00Great point about Time Travellers Wife, Molly. Tha...Great point about Time Travellers Wife, Molly. That book in chronological order would not have had the same (if any) impact.<br /><br />The Night Circus is another recent one I've read that has a non-chronological structure. Other than that the short 2nd person descriptions of each tent are scattered through the book... I'm not actually certain what the structure was. I'd have to study it a bit to see if there was a "plan". It went back and forth in time a lot and nearing the climax that was super effective, but earlier in the book... I'd have to think about it some more. I was constantly flipping back to the start of a chapter, then back to a few more, to figure out when the section was taking place and remind myself what was going on at that time. But loved the book. Loved.Maureen McGowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00494408580378817045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-64054005384526051562011-11-29T10:31:43.851-05:002011-11-29T10:31:43.851-05:00I think you're right. I think I'll have to...I think you're right. I think I'll have to at least try it and see if I'm up to the task. I also think two timelines are plenty. Although there was a sneaky third one in Sister, but it was sneaky and subtle and you didn't totally get it until the end. <br /><br />Also, yes on Lost and Heroes. Loved loved loved those first seasons and then they fell apart for me. Of course, I felt that way about Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy and, right now, about Chuck.Eileenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09803986849921870941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-41334861969672691942011-11-29T10:22:37.863-05:002011-11-29T10:22:37.863-05:00Anytime structure can enhance a story, then perfec...Anytime structure can enhance a story, then perfect, but a lot of people get caught up in structure and lose characterization. <br /><br />See Heroes....<br /><br />Eileen, I'm with Stephanie on this, sometimes you have to write it to figure it out...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-19700092718236171542011-11-29T10:05:20.425-05:002011-11-29T10:05:20.425-05:00But I too love books with different structures. On...But I too love books with different structures. One of my WF had two timelines that both moved fwd and then collided at the climax of the book where you (and the heroine) basically found out the truth about what happened before the story started.<br /><br />I loved writing that book.Maureen McGowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00494408580378817045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-81566897671624999402011-11-29T10:03:30.357-05:002011-11-29T10:03:30.357-05:00For me it wasn't Lost, it was Heroes. I got to...For me it wasn't Lost, it was Heroes. I got to a point when I had no freaking idea what was going on and what parallel version of the future we were in.Maureen McGowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00494408580378817045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-22244466335633323142011-11-29T09:24:47.275-05:002011-11-29T09:24:47.275-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Molly O'Keefehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15171236688541657736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-27499876798770179402011-11-29T09:24:42.925-05:002011-11-29T09:24:42.925-05:00I agree to biting off more than you can chew - I t...I agree to biting off more than you can chew - I think with all the fun tricks of POV and timeline they have to be relevant to the story. It can't be a trick for trick's sake. I keep thinking of The time traveller's wife and how without the tricks of the timeline it was just a simple a story. IT needed those tricks.Molly O'Keefehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15171236688541657736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29864506.post-89816625083596107042011-11-29T08:59:01.069-05:002011-11-29T08:59:01.069-05:00Uh hello... Lost anyone?
That first season was br...Uh hello... Lost anyone?<br /><br />That first season was brilliant - but I think they just got a little too cute for their own good. By the end I just stopped caring.<br /><br />Unfortunately - I think you have to comitt fully to biting off more than you can chew - and sometimes that might go overboard - or it's going to be brilliant. <br /><br />You're probably just going to have to write it to figure it out.<br /><br />I'm also planning on a 2 timeline book - scares the crap out of me - but writing wouldn't be as much fun if it didn't every once and a while.Stephanie Doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448686465587131952noreply@blogger.com