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Post by cousinlou on Dec 22, 2020 10:43:10 GMT
For some time I have been thinking of writing a book/series of short stories which would be autobiographical although largely not about me.
Because of intensive travelling and an adventurous, curiosity driven lifestyle when I was younger, I have met a lot of 'characters' that I would like to portrait. Partly for the exercise of doing it and partly to leave some of my memories tangible for later use.
One of the points is that a lot of the material would be anecdotal, things they were saying, doing, aspiring to etc.
Although I have been close to most, it's not like I have been having deep talks with all of them to get an idea about their inner thinking processes. ( in some cases, I doubt they even had those).
Quite a few of these anecdotes are very entertaining in their own right but I am wondering if that is enough without the benefit of knowing why they did what they did and how they came to do that?
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god
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Dec 22, 2020 12:50:04 GMT
I guess it depends if you use 1st, 2nd or 3rd person author omniscient point of view
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Post by cousinlou on Dec 22, 2020 13:16:38 GMT
I guess it depends if you use 1st, 2nd or 3rd person author omniscient point of view The latter I had imagined but as I said, the omniscient point of view would be problematic as some of these I have only known for a relatively short while and even of those I knew longer I know virtually nothing of their inner worlds or full background.
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Dec 22, 2020 13:21:02 GMT
I guess it depends if you use 1st, 2nd or 3rd person author omniscient point of view The latter I had imagined but as I said, the omniscient point of view would be problematic as some of these I have only known for a relatively short while and even of those I knew longer I know virtually nothing of their inner worlds or full background. I guess you would have to decide if the anecdotes are the whole story or if they are grist for a bigger story. Is this to be fiction or nonfiction?
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Post by sloopjohnc on Dec 22, 2020 15:23:39 GMT
Rayge can probably help with advice better than I can since he's written some stuff that's been published.
But before writing, I'd think about exploring the drama or tension in your stories for the readers or decide where you want them to go. There has to be something in it for the readers besides portraits of people or anecdotes. My two cents.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2020 15:43:45 GMT
Is there any dragons, wizards or hobbits in it? Is Stephan fry doing the audio book?
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god
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Dec 22, 2020 15:50:19 GMT
write it all in 2nd person, at least that way it will be considered novel
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Post by sloopjohnc on Dec 22, 2020 16:06:08 GMT
write it all in 2nd person, at least that way it will be considered novel I remember reading Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City. It was the first novel I read all in 2nd person.
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Post by cousinlou on Dec 22, 2020 17:31:43 GMT
write it all in 2nd person, at least that way it will be considered novel I am not a huge fan of that, it’s like the writer is talking to himself
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Dec 22, 2020 17:33:00 GMT
write it all in 2nd person, at least that way it will be considered novel I am not a huge fan of that, it’s like the writer is talking to himself In the end we all are
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Post by cousinlou on Dec 22, 2020 18:19:49 GMT
I am not a huge fan of that, it’s like the writer is talking to himself In the end we all are Yes, you may be right. Anyway, back to my Bookerprize idea. Any tips?
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Dec 22, 2020 18:42:14 GMT
Who is your readership?
Just remember the Valley is not the same thing as Hollywood if someone calls for the film rights.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2020 19:25:02 GMT
Anyway, back to my Bookerprize idea. Any tips? Yeah a boyz from brazil type story only it's about an english teacher traveling around trying to create little replicas of himself, you could call him "Sean".
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Post by cousinlou on Dec 22, 2020 22:51:40 GMT
Who is your readership? [. The Nobel committee, principally
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Post by sloopjohnc on Dec 22, 2020 22:53:26 GMT
Who is your readership? [. The Nobel committee, principally Steinbeck, Nabokov, Cousinlou.
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