tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post1579968581473234891..comments2024-02-19T11:46:58.965-05:00Comments on alien romances: The TV Shows "Leverage" and "Psych"Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-14472097381680512182011-07-13T07:35:24.312-04:002011-07-13T07:35:24.312-04:00Leverage is one of the best show ever. Its funny, ...<a href="http://leverage.otavo.tv/" rel="nofollow">Leverage</a> is one of the best show ever. Its funny, smart, engaging show, with terrific characters. I watch this show on weekend.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-45777492800934224462010-02-12T17:22:17.960-05:002010-02-12T17:22:17.960-05:00Victoria:
Thank you for the link to the article on...Victoria:<br />Thank you for the link to the article on Cloud Computing.<br /><br />That's another one writers aren't going to have a choice about. We ride piggy-back on Big Business as we do with having access to a Word Processor (which were invented for secretaries not writers). <br /><br />We just leverage the tools big business offices adopt. We have to figure out how. <br /><br />Your analysis though is correct. Commercial Fiction and Good Fiction are diverging farther than they ever have.<br /><br />Yet on the third hand, really good artists can leverage the commercially generated trope to get their own unique points across.<br /><br />What seems like an irrational restriction of form can become the vehicle or showcase that facilitates communication with the reader. <br /><br />It's going to be a wild decade, that's for sure.<br /><br />Jacqueline Lichtenberg<br />http://www.simegen.com/jl/Jacqueline Lichtenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613040740264804278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-15303120117326456012010-02-12T15:28:03.789-05:002010-02-12T15:28:03.789-05:00Jacqueline, that's a kind thought that you'...Jacqueline, that's a kind thought that you'll be able to reach the unprepared writer before they get to me! But the truth is they're struggling so hard to become whom the marketers and promoters tell them they <em>can</em> that they have a heck of a time finding real information on what that exactly <em>is</em>.<br /><br />Except for those who've published before, they're all unprepared. I think things are going to be very different after a few years of independent publishing teaches them the hard way what's really meant by both "craft" and "marketing."<br /><br />Yes, there are guidelines to craft. Some are simple ("don't bore your reader"), and some are complex. But they're all about the quality of the work--the compellingness--which is not by any stretch of the imagination the same thing as the marketability. <br /><br />I think you are correct that it is the marketing, not the quality, that sells fiction these days. Marketing has simply become that intensely powerful of a tool in the hands of people who thoroughly understand it.<br /><br />Writers need to know the difference and decide for themselves, "Am I writing because I love fiction and want to craft it as beautifully as possible? Or am I trying to use writing as a way to make lots of money?"<br /><br />Good luck on that second one.<br /><br />As far as cloud computing, my husband wrote an <a href="http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-thin-client-cloud/index.html" rel="nofollow">article</a> on that for IBM's DeveloperWorks site last summer. It's an interesting concept for fiction, but keep in mind that it allows the owner of the server to retain ultimate control over the product. Last summer Amazon got in all kinds of hot water for retracting sold copies of certain e-books. There's the same potential scenario in cloud computing.<br /><br />best,<br />VictoriaVictoria Mixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14827327915488642631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-59060948939271991032010-02-11T14:21:19.376-05:002010-02-11T14:21:19.376-05:00The convergence of all the mechanical elements of ...The convergence of all the mechanical elements of the Fiction Delivery System may be in this Cloud Computing model that's developing so fast.<br /><br />Note this news story Jean Lorrah pointed me at:<br /><br />http://www.thewrap.com/blog-entry/deces-common-file-format-makes-sharing-possible-13907<br /><br />And for those who are interested, you can now follow me on Google's new aggregator called Buzz.Jacqueline Lichtenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613040740264804278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-77598900190724384712010-02-11T14:17:56.802-05:002010-02-11T14:17:56.802-05:00Steve:
Thank you for adding your excellent though...Steve:<br /><br />Thank you for adding your excellent thoughts. There are a lot of issues connected with that "compelling" observation I found on an Agent's blog. <br /><br />And yes, my posts are all way too long for BLOG posts. That's a whole subject for a very long blog post! <br /><br />Jacqueline Lichtenberg<br />http://jacquelinelichtenberg.comJacqueline Lichtenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613040740264804278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-74211908506574054012010-02-11T03:43:49.271-05:002010-02-11T03:43:49.271-05:00Okay,
Once I got over into the comment page with ...Okay,<br /><br />Once I got over into the comment page with black type on a white background, I found I actually could read the rest of your post. (Although I didn't follow the links). <br /><br />And I must both agree and disagree about "compelling" stories. Yes, compellingness is a quality of the reader - or rather of the reader's interaction with the text. <br /><br />Interestingly there are "writer advice" sites that give FORMULAS for stuff like "putting tension into every scene", "maximizing tension". "structuring the rythym of a scene", etc. Now I regard this stuff as disgusting and reprehensible. But I can't deny that it works. <br /><br />Compulsion (the noun form of "compelling) is closely related to "addiction" or "obsession" which in turn are related to neurochemistry. "Tension" is intimately connected to "attention". <br /><br />So the real issue is what gives tha reader continued squirts of adrenalin, or norepinephrine, or dopamine (depending on genre, of course). And I believe the people who say this can be produced by formula are (sadly) correct. It may well be crap - but it will sell like hotcakes. <br /><br />All that being said, of course different folks have different conceptual triggers for their neurochemical events. The "compelling" story is one that excites triggers in a broad enough demographic to be well-salable. <br /><br />Just a thought,<br />-SteveStevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14268198647826751175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-43120186391930354222010-02-11T03:20:30.951-05:002010-02-11T03:20:30.951-05:00Sorry.
I probably misread the Analog item. On clo...Sorry.<br /><br />I probably misread the Analog item. On closer reading it appears to imply that Fourth Floor will develop conetnt FROM Analog for other media, not develop content FOR Analog. <br /><br />(Huge sigh of relief)<br /><br />I had visions of Analog being taken over by media sci-fi. Fighters that go "whoosh" in the airless void of empty space. (Never watched Star Wars, never will). <br /><br />Sorry for the confusion,<br />-SteveStevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14268198647826751175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-38480182459029810802010-02-11T03:07:15.551-05:002010-02-11T03:07:15.551-05:00Jacqueline,
Sorry I could not read your post in ...Jacqueline, <br /><br />Sorry I could not read your post in full - too much to digest quickly. But the news about Analog jumped out at me. I've been reading Analog since the mid-sixties, and have rarely missed an issue. Even when I was down and out on the streets of Boston, I'd eat at the free food programs and panhandle for my Analog money. <br /><br />Now I wonder if there's any point any more. I'd stare at a calendar, and try to make the date read April 1st, but I know it wouldn't help. This news is way too bizarre to have been made up. <br /><br />Will Stan Schmidt stay on? What would he do? <br /><br />This is a sad day for old-school SF. <br /><br />-SteveStevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14268198647826751175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-2066929492388787272010-02-10T12:52:50.237-05:002010-02-10T12:52:50.237-05:00Victoria:
Thank you, and I have been aiming thes...Victoria: <br />Thank you, and I have been aiming these posts on the craft and business of writing at those who have not yet reached your desk. <br /><br />I know what you're up against, and the last thing you need is a tussle with an unprepared writer.Jacqueline Lichtenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613040740264804278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-31357546708305350092010-02-10T12:28:52.982-05:002010-02-10T12:28:52.982-05:00Jacqueline, you have blown me away with your detai...Jacqueline, you have blown me away with your detailed, in-depth analysis of the industry of selling fiction.<br /><br />All the aspiring fiction writers who come to me hoping to break into publishing need to read this and understand exactly what they're hoping to break into.<br /><br />Thank you!Victoria Mixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14827327915488642631noreply@blogger.com