 |
| GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE Thinking alike is the chief ingredient in poor decision making. |
Descriptions cannot copied, cut and pasted straight out of the pages of the Lonely Planet's travel guide or Wikipedia. Imagery adds texture and a vivid-brilliance to writing.
For the Blogging from A to Z Challenge I am posting idioms, proverbs and examples of figurative language.
George Orwell says:
WHEN WRITING A SENTENCE YOU SHOULD ALWAYS ASK YOURSELF:
1. What am I trying to say?
2. What words will express it?
3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
From Stephenie Meyer's Twilight:
I struggled violently, with total futility.
Alice spoke for the first time. "Edward, pull over."
He flashed her a hard look, and then sped up.
"Edward, let's just talk this through."
"You don't understand," he roared in frustration. I'd never heard his voice so loud; it was deafening in the confines of the Jeep. The speedometer neared one hundred and fifteen. "He's a tracker, Alice, did you see that? He's a tracker!"
I felt Emmett stiffen next to me, and I wondered at his reaction to the word. It meant something more to the three of them than it did to me; I wanted to understand, but there was no opening for me to ask.
I wanted to quote from Stephenie Meyer's Midnight Sun draft but it didn't seem right to take advantage of the POV experiment she wrote to help Robert Pattinson get into the role. The section where the Cullen's debate how they should deal with the situation, when Bella remains suspicious of Edward after he saved her life, is a favourite.
Morgan flavoured the atmosphere with subtle pheromones and auto-response suggestions until The Council of Six weren't like minded, they were his.
Great. The boys didn't step any closer as they moved from group to crowd to gang but when primitive urging replaced any kind of debate I could tell what they were going to do about me.
Buhll broke at least one bone in the sentinel's foot when the guard tried to stop him. His insubordination broke more than that. "I'd heard that great minds think alike. It seems that you've perfected that skill, none of you have an original thought in your heads."
WHAT IS THE CHIEF INGREDIENT IN A NOVEL?
2. What words will express it?
3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
From Stephenie Meyer's Twilight:
I struggled violently, with total futility.
Alice spoke for the first time. "Edward, pull over."
He flashed her a hard look, and then sped up.
"Edward, let's just talk this through."
"You don't understand," he roared in frustration. I'd never heard his voice so loud; it was deafening in the confines of the Jeep. The speedometer neared one hundred and fifteen. "He's a tracker, Alice, did you see that? He's a tracker!"
I felt Emmett stiffen next to me, and I wondered at his reaction to the word. It meant something more to the three of them than it did to me; I wanted to understand, but there was no opening for me to ask.
I wanted to quote from Stephenie Meyer's Midnight Sun draft but it didn't seem right to take advantage of the POV experiment she wrote to help Robert Pattinson get into the role. The section where the Cullen's debate how they should deal with the situation, when Bella remains suspicious of Edward after he saved her life, is a favourite.
Morgan flavoured the atmosphere with subtle pheromones and auto-response suggestions until The Council of Six weren't like minded, they were his.
Great. The boys didn't step any closer as they moved from group to crowd to gang but when primitive urging replaced any kind of debate I could tell what they were going to do about me.
Buhll broke at least one bone in the sentinel's foot when the guard tried to stop him. His insubordination broke more than that. "I'd heard that great minds think alike. It seems that you've perfected that skill, none of you have an original thought in your heads."
WHAT IS THE CHIEF INGREDIENT IN A NOVEL?
I really learned something to day and will keep this in mind when writing. Thanks!
ReplyDeletedreamweaver
My guess is the plot or conflict within the plot is the chief ingredient in a novel. I say "guess" because I don't read novels very often and am not too familiar with the Twilight series, other than knowing that is a popular film franchise based on the popular books. Since I like Dakota Fanning, however, I may watch the Eclipse one...which might cause me to watch the other ones since I might as well if I want to understand what's going on, lol.
ReplyDeleteThat was an interesting photo/caption that you chose for Great minds think alike!
~Nicole
Blog: The Madlab Post
@MadlabPost on Twitter
Great post, and I do love Orwell-a lot. The chief ingredient in a novel, geez, do I have to choose one?
ReplyDeleteHere are the top three:
PLOT, TENSION, CHARACTER
I'm over from A to Z. Pop on my if you like! (Catherine Stine's Idea City).
Cheers!
Interesting stuff! I have no idea what the chief ingredient in a novel is, but I suspect it's different for different novels.
ReplyDeleteChief ingredient? The ability to make the reader keep turning the page, and in the children's novels I write this seems to be the fact that something exciting, scary or funny happens on every page. :0)
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm stopping by from the A to Z Challenge. I'm looking forward to reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteGiggle, Laugh, Cry
If I have to pick one I would say an engaging plot?
ReplyDeleteTeresa
Hi...I'm hopping over from the A to Z Challenge. Lovely blog...good luck with the challenge!
ReplyDeleteDonna L Martin
www.donasdays.blogspot.com
Still working on that one! great post, looking forward to reading the rest of the posts for the challenge. Blessings, Amanda
ReplyDeleteAmanda - Realityarts-Creativity
Art Blog
The problem I have with that Twilight excerpt is that SM tells the reader that she struggles violently, with futility. She says the look is hard, but doesn't describe it, and then tells us he roared in frustration. This is all telling, not showing. And while I enjoyed her books, her writing leaves something to be desired. So maybe in this case G is simply for good.
ReplyDeleteAs for the chief ingredient in a novel, the answer is...tension! A novel is nothing without it.
Just my two cents. Not that it's worth that much. I'm a new follower via the A to Z Challenge. Nice to meet ya.
The chief ingredient must be interesting characters. They are interesting because they are involved, thus implying action, plot, motive. Dull characters who don't do anything are uninteresting.
ReplyDelete(Visiting from A-Z blogging challenge)
an ingredient that pull me in--of course not all books will appeal--so stick with what you are passionate about, and it will shine through
ReplyDeletethe chief ingredient for me is the desire to know what's going to happen next.
ReplyDeleteThe chief ingredient for me is definitely a character I care about.
ReplyDeleteSarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
hmm. I think all the elements of a novel combine to make it a memorable one. But I think the chief ingredient is a character I can relate to.
ReplyDeleteNutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Excellent post. I think the chief ingredient in a novel is voice. The exact same story can be completely different depending on the character's voice. How they see things and word things can make a story awesome.
ReplyDeleteThought provoking post. I guess I think the chief ingredient of a novel is character. If you don't like them/ believe in them, then the story can seem rather lame.
ReplyDelete