tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post3811135914140917388..comments2024-02-05T10:41:31.777-05:00Comments on I Saw Lightning Fall: Story Structures: Beads on a String (C.S. Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)Loren Eatonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-8907647282189341232012-11-05T16:40:58.702-05:002012-11-05T16:40:58.702-05:00(It is also great for that wonderful scene you wri...(It is also great for that wonderful scene you write without knowing where it fits in--since each scene can be moved around with a couple of clicks.)Chestertonian Ramblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01550643992523840950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-16722459617893349342012-11-05T16:40:10.998-05:002012-11-05T16:40:10.998-05:00Patti--
I may be too eager to recommend unnecessa...Patti--<br /><br />I may be too eager to recommend unnecessary technological solutions, but have you considered checking out Scrivener? It is an OCD's best friend, but rather useful for the rest of us. It kinda sorta replaces your word processor, allowing you to divide your story into scenes and chapters. It was useful for me to see how many scenes I had per chapter, which perspective characters I used at which times, when I might want to move things earlier or later, which details I want to exclude/include. (As a bonus, it lets me save a final form of my story either with Italics or underline--great for submitting proper manuscript format to official places, and reasonably normal format to friends.)<br /><br />Honestly, I'm often like Loren--I want to write my story to fit into an outline (which changes), and Scrivener allows me to do so in a rather literal way. But I imagine it could work equally well in reverse, since you could see your story in its entirety, look at its outline, and figure out how to better connect its various elements.Chestertonian Ramblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01550643992523840950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-26903651299913270352012-11-04T15:48:36.019-05:002012-11-04T15:48:36.019-05:00Patti,
Honestly? Picking out these structures is ...Patti,<br /><br />Honestly? Picking out these structures is often the only way in which I can write. I have such a hard time getting started.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-22229682458964953132012-11-04T15:48:12.650-05:002012-11-04T15:48:12.650-05:00CR,
I can see how you'd like those two, espec...CR,<br /><br />I can see how you'd like those two, especially given your preference for more expansive narratives. Myself, I like things pretty cut and dried, although I'll admit this means I miss out on some good stuff from time to time.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-79679760597764152562012-11-01T12:35:54.616-04:002012-11-01T12:35:54.616-04:00I need to pay more attention to this sort of scaff...I need to pay more attention to this sort of scaffolding. As a ss writer, I am too inclined to just let it sweep me away without paying to much attention to form and scene. <br />And when I tried to write a novel (twice) I found I could pretty much take it apart and make it into stories. So I wasn't doing it correctly. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-91707003301126908742012-10-31T21:11:29.298-04:002012-10-31T21:11:29.298-04:00My career is to debate tastes--though this is an o...My career is to debate tastes--though this is an odd thing. The Last Battle and The Silver Chair are my two favorites. Obviously, I've always had a bit of a dark streak, so I loved the two about death and despair, respectively. <br /><br />Prince Caspian has both one of my favorite scenes and the most striking. Favorite = the starlit lesson in Narnian history, given by the half-dwarf professor. Most striking = the duel, because it was the first I read that played up realism over glamor. (To wit: they strick at each other's legs, and jumped.)<br /><br />The Horse and His Boy, we all can agree, is the most <i>fun</i>. And has the most non-evented interracial marriage I can think of, which is refreshing.<br /><br />But in the case of <i>Dawn Treader</i>, I really do think it's because I had a very specific idea about fiction. Each scene was great--again, some of the most memorable in the series--but the "and then" structure kept me from being able to follow a "plot." The question "what are they going to discover next" is less engaging for me than "how are they going to save Narnia" or "how are they going to infiltrate/escape the dark underground caves?" I admit, it may be a flaw in my own tastes--this is why I love Doestoevski (whose books run from premise to its explanation) but find it very hard to get into Tolstoy (whose book is much more structured around a series of events.Chestertonian Ramblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01550643992523840950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-28458629615086268332012-10-31T20:58:17.863-04:002012-10-31T20:58:17.863-04:00Funny! Because Dawn Treader vies with A Horse and ...Funny! Because <i>Dawn Treader</i> vies with <i>A Horse and His Boy</i> for the top spot in my affections amongst all the Narnia books. <i>Prince Caspian</i> and <i>The Last Battle</i> duke it out for the least liked position.<br /><br /><i>De gustibus non est disputandum</i>, eh?Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-63881737273954893882012-10-31T19:06:28.828-04:002012-10-31T19:06:28.828-04:00I'm not sure how much C.S. Lewis actually succ...I'm not sure how much C.S. Lewis actually succeeded. Dawn Treader has some of the most fascinating scenes and set-pieces of the Narnia series: the sea of dreams (read: nightmares), Eustace as a Dragon, the river that turns people gold, the crisp waters at the end of the world ... I really could go on and on. Nonetheless, I came to my true appreciation of that book late. Not incidentally, it was about the same point in time when I gained an appreciation for the short story collection.<br /><br />There's a reason why the recent film version (however ineptly) stuck in a frivolous plot about swords and some Generic Nameless Evil--the book as is is too dissolute in its plotting to satisfy modern tastes, unless read as allegory (where there is some deliberate moral progress throughout.)Chestertonian Ramblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01550643992523840950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-31581440056287813552012-10-31T19:05:32.226-04:002012-10-31T19:05:32.226-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Chestertonian Ramblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01550643992523840950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-18327394713721084502012-10-31T10:01:47.426-04:002012-10-31T10:01:47.426-04:00Ben!
Great to hear from you! What you been up to?...Ben!<br /><br />Great to hear from you! What you been up to?<br /><br /><i>This format of course also allows us to ramp up the tension</i><br /><br />Yup, I think you're right. The irony of this sort of structure is that it gives the author a lot of freedom. You already know roughly where you're going; now you can let your imagination run (mostly) wild.<br /><br />And the "short story" novel rarely works in my very humble opinion. Even <i>The Martian Chronicles</i> (which is pretty awesome) feels disjointed because of its structure. Of course, Bradbury admitted that he simply cobbled together a bunch of shorts because he needed a novel-length manuscript.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-59122105174894198972012-10-31T09:55:11.861-04:002012-10-31T09:55:11.861-04:00F.T.,
Yes, "sequences" sounds right. I ...F.T.,<br /><br />Yes, "sequences" sounds right. I knew there had to be a more technical term for it, but I couldn't think of it for the life of me! Myself, I really <i>need</i> a structure like this when I write. Otherwise, I find myself floundering pretty quickly.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-6913563811754254872012-10-30T23:16:07.136-04:002012-10-30T23:16:07.136-04:00I really enjoy the apparent simplicity of this kin...I really enjoy the apparent simplicity of this kind of episodic structure where, as you've observed, it's all been identified up front: <i>Here's the seven episodes you can look forward to. Ready? Let's go!</i> This format of course also allows us to ramp up the tension, since each lord is found in even weirder circumstances than the last (I mean, hey, the first encounter is amongst slave traders: Compared to later it's almost mundane).<br /><br />How many times (and usually about now, on the eve of nanowrimo) has some forum post asked <i>Hai gusy, can I write a novel made up of a series of short stories?</i> To which the inevitable reply is Well, it <i>can</i> work, but...<br /><br />Because it does work - and work especially well, in cases such as Dawn Treader, where character arcs and a story problem tie it all up. With string.Ben Mannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03237990156034508963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-13506983729140277482012-10-30T17:44:45.517-04:002012-10-30T17:44:45.517-04:00I like that beads-on-a-string structure. I've ...I like that beads-on-a-string structure. I've heard it referred as sequences in script writing, where you have about ten sequences, I believe.<br /><br />I use this structure myself. Makes things easier, but you're right: it takes work to keep it from getting dull.YA Sleuthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12371132883359264412noreply@blogger.com