tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636551448925651520.post5475517515444289017..comments2024-03-06T07:09:01.566-08:00Comments on KITCHEN TABLE WRITERS: Plot Junkie or Characterphile?Nina Miltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109010528418687212noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636551448925651520.post-3722974966042808802015-10-15T00:32:42.263-07:002015-10-15T00:32:42.263-07:00That is a really good point, Mark. I was actually ...That is a really good point, Mark. I was actually including the idea of 'notion' within the broad band of plot junkies, as I was going for the idea that once you have your notion you are going to think more towards the way the story would work, but by including Carver's and Rhy's works, you're changing my mind; they are very character based in their structures.<br />Interesting! And not cut and dried at all!Nina Miltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03109010528418687212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636551448925651520.post-62330178957002644882011-10-21T11:13:44.938-07:002011-10-21T11:13:44.938-07:00Hello Nina, what an interesting post, and I think ...Hello Nina, what an interesting post, and I think you capture the essential thrust of most writing, especially in relation to popular fiction.<br /><br />But I do think think there is a third way - writing that is driven by neither character or plot - and the best word I can use to describe it is' notion'. That's quite similar to your concept of 'idea' except it doesn't develop into plot in the conventional sense. For example, Raymond Carver's short stories seem to me to about an uneasy tension more than any traditional idea of characterisation and certainly not plot. Jean Rhys's novels set in Paris seem to me to be of a similar vien. And they are both gut wrenchingly brilliant.<br /><br />I have no idea if there's any real validity in what I'm arguing here; all I can say is that I never think about characters and I avoid plot like the proverbial plague. But you may be absolutely right and deep down I'm sub consciously developing one or the other.<br /><br />Many thanks for really making me think; great post.The bike shedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05195882998271591934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636551448925651520.post-71616277377566543192011-10-17T12:14:06.246-07:002011-10-17T12:14:06.246-07:00I think I'm a plot junkie but I try to bring m...I think I'm a plot junkie but I try to bring my characters alive by doing freewrites about them, about what they look like, what things they like, hate, their fears etc, that way I get to know them better.Jacki Draycotthttp://jacquera.webs.com/noreply@blogger.com