{"id":285378,"date":"2018-09-02T22:39:58","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T22:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2018\/09\/02\/zagreus-foxehrobot-currentlyfangirling99\/"},"modified":"2018-09-02T22:39:58","modified_gmt":"2018-09-02T22:39:58","slug":"zagreus-foxehrobot-currentlyfangirling99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2018\/09\/02\/zagreus-foxehrobot-currentlyfangirling99\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

zagreus<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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foxehrobot<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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currentlyfangirling99<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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zagreus<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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\u201cif it\u2019s not plot relevant, cut it!!\u201d is such awful writing advice<\/p>\n

if JRR Tolkien had cut every bit of Lord of the Rings that wasn\u2019t directly related to the central plot, it would have been just one book long, COLOURLESS and DULL AS DIRT.\u00a0<\/p>\n

all the little worldbuilding\/character details are what draw you in and give the central plot weight, FOOL<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I agree 100% I\u2019m currently writing a book and I tend to focus on the little quirks of the characters because it helps the readers get to know them better <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s not awful writing advice.\u00a0 It\u2019s good writing advice.\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying is that you should carefully consider each and every word.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Does this paragraph pull its weight?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Does this chapter slow the pace of the story?\u00a0 Is that what I want here?<\/p>\n

Can I merge this scene with another to create a stronger single scene?<\/p>\n

What that advice is telling you to do is to make sure what you\u2019re writing is the best it can be.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean you have to follow it 100%.\u00a0 But consider it while you\u2019re writing.<\/p>\n

I honestly feel like both Tolkien and George RR Martin would\u2019ve been served by cutting some scenes.\u00a0 HOWEVER, I like tightly paced books, not sprawling slogs through the swamps of discovery writing.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Your mileage may vary.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I mean i fundamentally disagree with you on that last part (i love a long, thick, meaty book) but you\u2019re also misunderstanding what i mean (which is understandable, this was just a ranty little post that i didn\u2019t expect much of anyone to reblog)<\/p>\n

there\u2019s a difference between\u00a0\u201cplot" and\u00a0\u201cstory\u201d<\/p>\n

there are a lot of great stories that have very little in the way of central plot (ever read the hitchhiker\u2019s guide to the galaxy? there\u2019s hardly any plot to that at all, it\u2019s just a long series of diversions and narrative blind alleys) and even in more focused stories (someone else in the notes of this post brought up Hamlet as an example), it\u2019s extraneous scenes, not directly related to the plot, that make the strongest impression on the audience and lend weight to the more central events. The\u00a0\u201calas, poor yorick\u201d scene? totally unrelated to the main plot, yet thematically essential to the story and arguably the most evocative and iconic scene from the play<\/p>\n

yes, by all means don\u2019t waste your audience\u2019s time with things that add nothing, but if you pull a hemingway and trim your story down to the bare minimum outline of the plot, i for one will find it all but impossible to become immersed in the story. The best plot ever written can be let down by a lack of narrative muscle and fat around it but even the most flimsy plot can be saved by sufficiently entertaining padding.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

zagreus: foxehrobot: currentlyfangirling99: zagreus: \u201cif it\u2019s not plot relevant, cut it!!\u201d is such awful writing advice if JRR Tolkien had cut every bit of Lord of the Rings that wasn\u2019t directly related to the central plot, it would have been just one book long, COLOURLESS and DULL AS DIRT.\u00a0 all the little worldbuilding\/character details are … <\/p>\n

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