Barbara Neville's Blog - Posts Tagged "smartass"
There's more than one way to skin a cat
I read a lot of writing advice. Have been reading it for years. My opinion is take it all with a grain of salt. The latest round of up-to-the-minute writers fashion seems to be dialogue tags and character action.
They say to never use anything but said (or says, in present tense). Not even ask/asked. Because, you can say a question, too. True, Robert B. Parker would say a question, even leaving off the question mark. By his own admission, he wrote fast and scrappy; leaving the editing to his publisher's editing crew. So, intentional? (Pardon the question mark).
Another writer, Paul Loh, published a list of said/says alternatives on FB recently. There are tons. He uses them. Someone commented that he shouldn't. It's out of fashion, apparently.
There it is: dogma. If we all follow all the 'rules' because the fictional reader, who we all love to stereotype, hasn't the brains to read: 'she grumbled, chanted, implied or abjured' without being drawn out of the book. Only use any unusual tags twice in your book. Like fuck. Only use it twice. Well, fuck that.
Just how stupid is 'fictional reader'? To hell with that. Challenge my reading ass. Stretch my brain muscle.
I usually do use say/said. It's easy, but there is ambiguous language, sometimes, I'm not sure if the speaker is serious or ironic. Tags help. The other thing is after tags. As in: "Wait," she said, reaching for a cookie. "Let's think this over.
In addition to only 'said/says' as a dialogue tag, now we can't have our characters do anything while talking. Our characters have to give up cookies!
My examples here are Craig Johnson (of Longmire fame) and, once again Robert B Parker and the heir to Parker's Spenser series, Ace Atkins. Their character's fix meals in dialogue tags. Okay, exaggeration, but the movements they perform, often explained in some detail; set the scene. These are not random. They display each character's social standing, self worth, political beliefs, whatever. Their soul.
They, and smartass dialogue, are the key to the books. The guts that suck us in and keep us coming back for more. The mystery is an aside. A book without character is a book with no readers. My last bit of advice? Be a rebel. Ignore my advice. Do your own thing. Fuck 'em all.
They say to never use anything but said (or says, in present tense). Not even ask/asked. Because, you can say a question, too. True, Robert B. Parker would say a question, even leaving off the question mark. By his own admission, he wrote fast and scrappy; leaving the editing to his publisher's editing crew. So, intentional? (Pardon the question mark).
Another writer, Paul Loh, published a list of said/says alternatives on FB recently. There are tons. He uses them. Someone commented that he shouldn't. It's out of fashion, apparently.
There it is: dogma. If we all follow all the 'rules' because the fictional reader, who we all love to stereotype, hasn't the brains to read: 'she grumbled, chanted, implied or abjured' without being drawn out of the book. Only use any unusual tags twice in your book. Like fuck. Only use it twice. Well, fuck that.
Just how stupid is 'fictional reader'? To hell with that. Challenge my reading ass. Stretch my brain muscle.
I usually do use say/said. It's easy, but there is ambiguous language, sometimes, I'm not sure if the speaker is serious or ironic. Tags help. The other thing is after tags. As in: "Wait," she said, reaching for a cookie. "Let's think this over.
In addition to only 'said/says' as a dialogue tag, now we can't have our characters do anything while talking. Our characters have to give up cookies!
My examples here are Craig Johnson (of Longmire fame) and, once again Robert B Parker and the heir to Parker's Spenser series, Ace Atkins. Their character's fix meals in dialogue tags. Okay, exaggeration, but the movements they perform, often explained in some detail; set the scene. These are not random. They display each character's social standing, self worth, political beliefs, whatever. Their soul.
They, and smartass dialogue, are the key to the books. The guts that suck us in and keep us coming back for more. The mystery is an aside. A book without character is a book with no readers. My last bit of advice? Be a rebel. Ignore my advice. Do your own thing. Fuck 'em all.
Spenser, HItch & Cole, Jesse Stone & Sunny Randall
I just found this today. Interesting that I write like my favorite author did. Maybe the mental process affects the tone of the outcome. Some call it pantser (as in seat of the pants) as opposed to planner. I prefer to call it the shotgun approach. All I know is that my fingers often, indeed, do the thinking:
"Between 1973 and 2011, Robert B. Parker published nearly 70 books. Almost all of them were bestsellers.
"He started each of his books with a very brief sketch of an idea—a sentence or two, sometimes more. There was never a detailed outline. As he wrote, Bob usually wasn't sure what would happen until it did.
"He would sit down to write five and, later, ten pages a day. Once he was in his "groove," the words flowed easily, frequently leading him and his characters in unanticipated directions. Bob loved to write, and he always wondered at how his fingers often seemed to do the thinking for him." From the official website: robertbparker.net
"Between 1973 and 2011, Robert B. Parker published nearly 70 books. Almost all of them were bestsellers.
"He started each of his books with a very brief sketch of an idea—a sentence or two, sometimes more. There was never a detailed outline. As he wrote, Bob usually wasn't sure what would happen until it did.
"He would sit down to write five and, later, ten pages a day. Once he was in his "groove," the words flowed easily, frequently leading him and his characters in unanticipated directions. Bob loved to write, and he always wondered at how his fingers often seemed to do the thinking for him." From the official website: robertbparker.net
