Comments on: Are you a generous writer?

By: cynthia

cynthia — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:03:20 +0000

page 1-ha!
: )

By: Christi Craig

Christi Craig — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:47:20 +0000

I would love, love, love that.
Where do we start?

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:02:58 +0000

I didn’t quote enough of Gardner’s book to do him justice, I’m afraid. The full scenario he presented did support his reasoning that it would be cheating the reader to not reveal the father-daughter relationship.

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:58:36 +0000

Cynthia, I'm attempting your challenged on Dimensions. I've printed it out, but haven't had time to read it yet.

By: jenniferneri

jenniferneri — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:38:51 +0000

I have not read this book. Interesting viewpoint. I had to say though that I think the first scenario of us not knowing Frank is the father could work really well as well. Depends how it’s done. Caring about a character is first and foremost for me as a reader and a writer.

By: cynthia

cynthia — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:47:46 +0000

We could do it together : )

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:03:13 +0000

I did a quick search and it looks like there are a fair amount of discussions and analysis of that story online. It’s a start.

By: Christi Craig

Christi Craig — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:57:17 +0000

I mean the short story by that name. Though I haven’t read all of her works, the stories I have read all have the same style to them.

In fact, in reading Cynthia Newberry Martin’s series on taking a story apart, I wonder about looking at Flannery O’Connor’s stories. That would require me to sign up for an MFA program, though, or at least find a good mentor. I couldn’t break down Flannery O’Connor alone.

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:14:58 +0000

I’m not sure you can’t get a little involved in flash. It’s harder to write that in, for sure. But certainly it should be there in a novel.

Do you mean O’Connor’s story by that name or the whole collection by that name? I read that book a few years ago, and do remember the title story, but don’t recall a surprise at the end … well, not the very end. Maybe you didn’t mean that. I’ll have to look again.

By: Christi Craig

Christi Craig — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:11:27 +0000

I love this discussion about generous vs. non-generous. I think Judy brings up a great point with flash fiction. To add to that part of the discussion, in flash fiction there simply isn’t time to get to know the characters in an emotional way. But, with a novel, I think we (the writer) do want the readers to become more attached, slip into the mind of one or other of the characters. That seems to happen with slow reveals more often than a surprise at the end.

Talking about surprise endings, Flannery O’Connor often shocks the readers at the end of her stories (or she always does me). Yet, she makes it clear who the villain is right away. Have you read “A Good Man is Hard to Find?”