1 Reply by JLane

(53 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

C J Driftwood wrote:

Oh my god, did you read "The Blood Meridian"? What a creepy book! Great, but creepy.
I like his work too, but I have to be in the right head to read it.

I've read how disturbing that one is. I love McCarthy, but I don't want those types of images in my head. "No Country for Old Men" is my favorite. "The Road" is also a good read, but horrifyingly grim. It's a book you read once then never pick up again.

Joe.

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2 Reply by JLane

(53 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

An interesting discussion. Speaking of rules and rules breakers, I'd like to drop Cormac McCarthy's name into the mix. I love reading the man's stuff, but he drives me absolutely mad with his refusal to use quotation marks. He follows only three rules:

1. No quotation marks.
2. No semicolons. Colons are okay for lists.
3. Simplicity. Too much punctuation acts as an obstacle to the story. “I believe in periods, in capitals, in the occasional comma, and that’s it.”

If I recall correctly he doesn't use dialogue tags of any kind. Not even the word "said".

I enjoy his work but find it confusing at times. He's not great at identifying which character is speaking. Following longer bits of dialogue can be tedious. In "The Road", he doesn't give his two primary characters names. He uses only the terms "father", and "son" to identify them.

Joe

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3 Reply by JLane

(40 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sherry V. Ostroff wrote:

...what makes you like a book and want to read more?

Unanswered questions!  A million little mysteries, sprinkled like breadcrumbs throughout the narrative. Whenever possible, I leave unanswered questions about my character's motives, background, and their ability to resolve the story elements that challenge them.

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