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Post by vilechylde on Nov 19, 2009 17:58:45 GMT -5
I loved the Neverending Story. That was one of the best books I have ever read (and the movies were okay too).
I got a suggestion from a friend of mine which really made my horror novel scary even for me. All the times where you watch the world from the surreal point of view of the psychopath, it's all in present tense.
I know this makes people uneasy, but that's the point. I want to draw them into the head of this whimsical nutcase. Is that an alright thing to break the rules for a purpose or would that still turn off the literary world?
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Post by courageforever on Nov 19, 2009 21:23:20 GMT -5
You won't get a complaint from me, since "A Star Curiously Singing" is both in present tense and addresses the reader directly. It is usually not recommended, though. I kid Jeff that I'm now the author he has to apologize for when he does writers workshops. (:
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Nov 25, 2009 9:39:42 GMT -5
I kid Jeff that I'm now the author he has to apologize for when he does writers workshops. (: Yes, I'm sure I'll get comments. But the facts are that everyone should learn to master the fundamentals in the traditional way. When you do that, you'll know when and how to break the rules and still make the thing work. Hero, Second Class is another one that does a lot "wrong" but completely works. |
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Post by dragonlots on Nov 25, 2009 11:00:41 GMT -5
I'm another writer who knows the rules and breaks them. Makes for a better story with twists and turns no one is expecting. I'd say how in my MS but it's in the premise contest. Let's just say I used first and third person, magazine articles, diary, journal and computer entries and have multiple characters telling the story. Not the normal way someone would write.
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Post by Kristen on Nov 25, 2009 18:38:12 GMT -5
I want to draw them into the head of this whimsical nutcase. Is that an alright thing to break the rules for a purpose or would that still turn off the literary world? If you know which rule you're breaking and why, go for it. Over in Anomalous Readings, dizzyjam posted part of a story ("Rescued") where the first scene is present tense. It totally works in that context. |
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Post by vilechylde on Nov 26, 2009 10:31:08 GMT -5
It's a horror novel... I WANT people to be uneasy and on edge. The book also uses the advantage of the "dark but cute" where normal horror items are kind of adorable (such as the Christmas hat Chuthulu plushie that I once saw at a gaming store...). It's twisted but cute in some areas, and then the fangs lash out.
I've been busy rewriting it for a more Christian audience because I read some of the tips on this page. Because I thought I was "bearing false witness" against the world, and half the book was at Riker's Island prison, I had swearing. I'm realizing now, unless the entire point is to show that cussing is a bad thing, that a writer of true skill can tapdance the dialog and let the imagination roll.
There are a couple other of his tip rules for Christian fiction of Jeffs that I am tapdancing because they aren't done in the average "kumbaya, let's hold hands and praise the Lord" type of way. Part of me almost wants to mock the stereotypical Religious fiction. If you look at Christianity through the point of view of the world... we are very weird. We touch people and they heal? We believe in talking donkeys and invisible friends? When you put the power of faith (be it belief and acceptance of Satan or Christ) in absolute terms... things that shouldn't happen in the natural world happen. That... can be very very scary.
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miquan
Junior Member
Posts: 77
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Post by miquan on Nov 29, 2009 13:06:35 GMT -5
I'm with you Vilechylde. Even in the Bible, the bad guys are REALLY bad. They do bad stuff, and they come to gruesome ends. Look at Jesabel. She was tring to seduce a young conquerer, and he threw her from a tower and trappled her with horses, for dogs to eat. Christianity comes with angels and demons. You can play those cards into an insane and gripping novel. But the unsaved won't read it because of the angels, and the saved won't read ot because of the demons. Even in the movie "Angels and Demons", there wasn't a single angel or demon anywhere in the story. I'm with you---real Bible is a scary place without Christ. But that's where we come in, with His goodness to pull the reader back from the abyss.
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