McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Hero of their own stories in popular media
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: LizW65 on August 03, 2009, 05:36:27 PM ---Don't know as I'd consider Holden Caulfield to be a villain, or even an antagonist -- he struck me as really just a whiny, spoiled brat who can't get his act together.
--- End quote ---
There are much much better "growing up dysfunctional" novels out there if that's your thing, some of which do much better at the antihero-protagonist. (A Clockwork Orange. The Wasp Factory. Jack Womack's Random Acts of Senseless Violence.)
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Starbeam on August 03, 2009, 05:44:58 PM ---Heh...that's more than I remember. All I know is that I read the book and really didn't care for it, don't remember much else other than that. Except maybe possibly for some sorta scene in a strip club?
--- End quote ---
I don't recall that, but it's been a while (and I can't possibly be confusing it with the scene in The Graduate.) He whines about Olivier's Hamlet, which is actually brilliant.
meg_evonne:
--- Quote from: neurovore on August 03, 2009, 05:43:30 PM ---Judging what's bad and what's good with the objective of being able to do better seems to me the essence of what an Author Craft space on the forum is for, no ?
--- End quote ---
I'm embarrassed that I can't remember the name of the wonderful older author who served on several panel discussions at MileHi40, but she's won all the major awards several times over. I promise to go through my material to refresh my memory. She's also a fixture at Clarion, I believe. And now you know that my mind is not capable of holding information... CRS and all that.
Her strongest advice was to read the bad books and the bad movies. If you can figure out where they went wrong--then you are well on your way to being a good writer!
Aludra:
--- Quote from: neurovore on August 03, 2009, 05:43:30 PM ---Judging what's bad and what's good with the objective of being able to do better seems to me the essence of what an Author Craft space on the forum is for, no ?
--- End quote ---
yes - ish? Analysis does not implicitly require a judgmental attitude.
I mean when you, neurovore, refer to 'writing' what are you really referring to? There are so many aspects of writing: character development, plot development, pacing, literary devices, voice(s), etc.
And it's a taste thing, to boot.
I haven't read Mists recently enough to say if Bradley did a good job with all of those categories or not. But I enjoyed the method of presenting the story, even if I didn't love the pace. She did a good job developing most of the characters, but left some woefully in the Mists so to speak. But those characters (Merlin, Arthur, Lancelot) are the ones that everyone already writes about so it was intentional. You have to be a little more specific than "rotten writing" if you want to get me talking about a piece.
But no, I'm not going to categorize people's work as "bad" or "good" or "rotten" because there is bad and good in every piece, and it's an individual's tolerance for each thing that determines wether or not they like someone's writing.
So sorry, but I just disagree that judging is something you 'should' do in Author Craft. You can, surely, but 'should', nah. I prefer discussion to blatant dissing on people's work, personally.
Quantus:
--- Quote from: Aludra on August 03, 2009, 08:10:17 PM ---yes - ish? Analysis does not implicitly require a judgmental attitude.
I mean when you, neurovore, refer to 'writing' what are you really referring to? There are so many aspects of writing: character development, plot development, pacing, literary devices, voice(s), etc.
And it's a taste thing, to boot.
I haven't read Mists recently enough to say if Bradley did a good job with all of those categories or not. But I enjoyed the method of presenting the story, even if I didn't love the pace. She did a good job developing most of the characters, but left some woefully in the Mists so to speak. But those characters (Merlin, Arthur, Lancelot) are the ones that everyone already writes about so it was intentional. You have to be a little more specific than "rotten writing" if you want to get me talking about a piece.
But no, I'm not going to categorize people's work as "bad" or "good" or "rotten" because there is bad and good in every piece, and it's an individual's tolerance for each thing that determines wether or not they like someone's writing.
So sorry, but I just disagree that judging is something you 'should' do in Author Craft. You can, surely, but 'should', nah. I prefer discussion to blatant dissing on people's work, personally.
--- End quote ---
I have to agree. Blanket Judging (good, bad, rotten, etc) is what the Media Favorites board is for. Author Craft needs more specific detail about one thinks its bad, especially as how such relates to whatever the topic at hand is.
As far as antagonist Stories, offhand i can think of mostly tv and film:
-Darkness is a comic book series (related to Witchblade) that from the POV of a guy who is a supernatural force of evil working for the NY mob as a hitman.
-Payback is a decent Mel Gibson movie about a pretty evil dude looking to get some stolen money back.
-As mentioned before the Dexter Series (books go venture in the supernatural, tv series stays more psychological)
-The Number 23 with Jim Carey
-Fight Club (sorta)
-Some parts of Sin City
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version