tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post1080883496770624347..comments2023-12-24T17:46:11.447-06:00Comments on Plotters & Manipulators United: The Element of Style—Blades of GlorySherry Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12313921077346721887noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-9477519774957251542007-07-17T20:19:00.000-05:002007-07-17T20:19:00.000-05:00I know this post is kind-of late, but I just found...I know this post is kind-of late, but I just found your blog, after reading your excerpt (which WAS beautiful writing) after seeing mention of your book on Kristen Nelson's blog... and I'm another kindred spirit! I am soooo picky in which books I really enjoy, and THIS is what so many authors miss! The words just don't FLOW! The sentences are full of beautiful words, but they're just not put together beautifully.<BR/><BR/>And I, too, thought of skaing... G&G's performance, too... abosolute poetry on ice, so perfect and so beautiful.<BR/><BR/>As for myself... now I have to see if I can write beatifully and get published some day, like you! Thanks for speaking up on this issue!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-43156413086084278812007-05-07T22:30:00.000-05:002007-05-07T22:30:00.000-05:00Thanks Adrian Swift and Helen Ginger for the think...Thanks Adrian Swift and Helen Ginger for the thinking blog award. I will probably get to do my tagging only after I graduate.<BR/><BR/>And even then it might not be thinking blogs. Because I like to turn off my brain as often as I can. :-)Sherry Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12313921077346721887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-89754761099570412732007-04-30T16:47:00.000-05:002007-04-30T16:47:00.000-05:00Yeah...I wanna build the Taj Mahal, too. Your writ...Yeah...I wanna build the Taj Mahal, too. Your writing is so beautiful, I KNOW you can do it. :)<BR/><BR/>I'm reading another Judith Ivory right now--The Proposition. Talk about building Taj Mahal after Taj Mahal. She's my new absolute fave.<BR/><BR/>I hope school is finishing up well for you!Catherine Avril Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02234699994063975316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-20006386128180915942007-04-30T11:37:00.000-05:002007-04-30T11:37:00.000-05:00Hi Sherry.I enjoy reading your blog and have award...Hi Sherry.<BR/>I enjoy reading your blog and have awarded you the Thinking Blogger Award and tagged you to select five thinking bloggers. You can read the details on my blog at http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/2007/04/award-for-straight-from-hel.html.<BR/>Helen GingerHelen Gingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09794759602654727110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-59844720511446921782007-04-26T07:17:00.000-05:002007-04-26T07:17:00.000-05:00Excellent post -- and another reason why, if you v...Excellent post -- and another reason why, if you visit my site, you will see that I have tagged you with the Thinking Blog Award!<BR/><BR/>Thanks for blogging, and please keep at it!<BR/><BR/>Adrian<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://adriansnovel.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">Chronicling the Novel....</A>Adrian Swifthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03531355795873701197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-26553350373247813672007-04-25T19:27:00.000-05:002007-04-25T19:27:00.000-05:00Wow. Well said and well skated.Their skating was ...Wow. Well said and well skated.<BR/><BR/>Their skating was absolutely beautiful.Jennifer Shirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16970585847385511795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-11470018809232692642007-04-24T07:40:00.000-05:002007-04-24T07:40:00.000-05:00You don't know me, but in this, at least, we are k...You don't know me, but in this, at least, we are kindred spirits.Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08504439129670380071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-7365980632318742972007-04-24T00:28:00.000-05:002007-04-24T00:28:00.000-05:00Hi Sherry, I followed CM's link to get here. What ...Hi Sherry, I followed CM's link to get here. What a beautiful and impassioned post. I loved your point about the extra work needed to make a book gleam. I appreciate the lyricism of romance authors like Pam Rosenthal, and I can't wait to savor your books. <BR/><BR/>I am a worshipper at the altar of splendid genre fiction, as well as an aspiring architect thereof. And when I buy a Taj Mahal, I recognize it, and fall to my knees.Lenora Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07841633967011035274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-83086126601734292092007-04-23T21:47:00.000-05:002007-04-23T21:47:00.000-05:00Thanks for mentioning my entreaty. You're right t...Thanks for mentioning my entreaty. You're right that quoting Fitzgerald was unfair (I think I said so in the body of the piece, too). Still, once you've tasted ambrosia it's impossible not to compare other foods to it.<BR/><BR/>I love your figure skating metaphor for genre fiction. It is so apt, because as you say, a great romance needs elements as well as artistry. I wish I could get the You Tube clip to play on my monitor, because I love figure skating, too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-2345388817212808932007-04-23T20:47:00.000-05:002007-04-23T20:47:00.000-05:00cm,My snail-crossing-a-garden-path is "He was a bu...cm,<BR/><BR/>My snail-crossing-a-garden-path is "He was a burning pyre of concupiscence in a sarcophagus of despair".<BR/><BR/>I know of no one who doesn't despair when reading that. :-)<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the post.<BR/><BR/>SherrySherry Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12313921077346721887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-69013979016083705312007-04-23T20:21:00.000-05:002007-04-23T20:21:00.000-05:00Sherry Thomas is a debut author whose book has me ...Sherry Thomas is a debut author whose book has me salivating. Ever since I read the excerpt posted on her website, I’ve been dying to know both what happens next and what came before. Her writing–or at least, what I’ve seen of it–is clear and evocative. It hits me right in the solar plexus.<BR/><BR/>She posted on her blog about beauty in writing. Part of this reminded me, shockingly, of something I’ve never quite been able to forget.<BR/><BR/>One of the most vivid memories I have is of Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov’s 1988 skating program. I was 11 at the time, and the performance still blazes in my memory. It was so vivid that I remembered the names to this date–and I’m the girl who never remembers anyone’s name.<BR/><BR/>I adore beautiful things. I love beautiful prose. Janine mentioned people who write brilliantly, and I love every single one of those authors. I especially second the Julie Anne Long mention.<BR/><BR/>I sincerely doubt there are many authors who think, “well, today I shall pen some truly dreadful prose.” I also doubt there are many writers who even think, “well, my writing sucks but at least I get sold. Why mess with success?” I suspect that everyone thinks they are an excellent writer. The real problem, I think, is that the admonition to “write beautifully” is too often taken as an admonition to write painfully unnatural prose.<BR/>It would be impolitic of me to call out offending authors, but I think we’ve all read them. The truly abysmal writing that I see (not just in genre romance) may well result from people attempting to write beautifully and failing. These are the books where the author consistently uses “brilliant orbs” instead of “eyes” and where overblown description haunts every paragraph. These are the books where dull, lifeless description plods on interminably while you wait impatiently for the story to start again.<BR/><BR/>In both figure skating and prose, true beauty appears effortless to the observer. It’s only the amateurs who think that panting and blowing, showing the world how hard they’ve labored over a sentence, shows real beauty. This is not to say that artists don’t labor; the five-minute program we see is the culmination of years and years of practice and conditioning. To the observer, it seems as natural and unstudied as a bird’s flight.<BR/><BR/>In Legalese, I wrote what I thought was an absolutely brilliant, evocative sentence. “His perpetually sweaty palm trailed a streak of slime down her cheek, like a snail crossing a garden path.” Both my critique partners read it and commented something along these lines: “Ewww!” Which was precisely the reaction I was looking for. So why did I delete the line? Because they both commented on it. They didn’t say it, but the line pulled them out of the story. It made them pay attention to the writing. It panted and puffed, shouting for attention. And so away it went.<BR/><BR/>----<BR/><BR/>And let's see if it'll let me do a link: <A HREF="http://www.courtneymilan.com/ramblings/2007/04/22/beauty-and-writing/" REL="nofollow">here</A>.Courtney Milanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03585322886111438759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-68747339464697283402007-04-23T19:22:00.000-05:002007-04-23T19:22:00.000-05:00cm,I can't get to your post. Would you mind posti...cm,<BR/><BR/>I can't get to your post. Would you mind posting it here? I don't mind unmanageably long.<BR/><BR/>SherrySherry Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12313921077346721887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-72505672013289342802007-04-22T19:36:00.000-05:002007-04-22T19:36:00.000-05:00I started writing a response, but then it became u...I started writing a response, but then it became unmanageably long. I've moved it here:<BR/><BR/>http://www.courtneymilan.com/ramblings/2007/04/22/beauty-and-writing/Courtney Milanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03585322886111438759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-6237699250174975042007-04-22T14:34:00.000-05:002007-04-22T14:34:00.000-05:00Beautifully stated.Beautifully stated.Beverley Kendallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09175915580179121447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32397002.post-50530949923599838832007-04-22T13:15:00.000-05:002007-04-22T13:15:00.000-05:00I agree with you; that's an absolutely gorgeous pr...I agree with you; that's an absolutely gorgeous program. I'm equally inspired by Sasha Cohen and Evgeni Plushenko. Just stunning examples of artistry!Spy Scribblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14299551957327543491noreply@blogger.com