Posts Tagged ‘Balzac’
Exposition Variations
From my many precious jewels of fiction quotations, I’ve selected a few that showcase different methods of doing exposition. Classic Infodump from omniscient POV Flat statement Ma KongQun suddenly let out a sigh and said, “You still can’t let go of that incident that happened twenty-three years ago at the base of Wudang Mountain?” –Gu […]
Filed under: EXPOSITION | 3 Comments
Tags: alfred bester, Balzac, exposition, Gu Long, lost illusions, philip k dick, pkd, wuxia
Deformed Cliches
A quick entry today…. And from the Stygian abyss of the past, dear reader, I bring an evangelical gospel of good news, nothing less than a divine commandment…. Receive this blog post as an omen!!! Because today at SpecTechnique we’re looking at deforming cliches, and how to bend ‘em back into shapes that are fresh […]
Filed under: WRITING STYLE | Closed
Tags: Balzac, Cliches, John Kennedy Toole, M John Harrison, Robert Silverberg, Thomas Mann
An observer might…
Happy Monday, dear SpecTechnique readers. One of the reasons I enjoy reading 19th century novels (just like I enjoy reading old-school SF like E.E. “Doc” Smith & A.E. Van Vogt) is that I like seeing devices that have now fallen out of fashion. Because after that, I can try out ways to make ‘em new […]
Filed under: EXPOSITION, VIEWPOINT, WRITING STYLE | Closed
Tags: Balzac, charlotte bronte, dostoevsky, M John Harrison, vampire hunter d
Totalizing Claims
Are you worried that your secondary-world fantasy seems too modern, enlightened, and progressive? Are your characters overly aware and critical of the ideology of their setting, creating a frame-breaking Mary Sue effect by which they act as mouthpieces for your contemporary opinions about race, class, and gender? Do you sometimes struggle to write characters who, […]
Filed under: WRITING STYLE | 1 Comment
Tags: Balzac, gene wolfe, K J Bishop, poe
