The ADVENTURE of WORDS
source: http://io9.com/5558810/in-praise-of-seat+of+the+pants-storytelling
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- remanns
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In praise of seat-of-the-pants storytelling
---People act like the worst accusation you can hurl at storytellers is "They made it up as they went along." As if having a Master Plan is the same as good storytelling. In fact, it's frequently the other way around.
Often the best storytelling is improvisational, like jazz or chess. Whether you're talking about books, television, movies or comics, the cleverest and most fascinating stories often come out of a writer's desperation in the face of a roadblock. Obviously, when it comes to television, or a series of movies, these roadblocks may come from outside — an actor can die, get pregnant or quit, or a studio executive may demand more shiny robots — but these roadblocks exist in every medium.
Even if you're a novelist working in absolute isolation, you'll eventually have to try and publish your book, and you'll be faced with feedback on your carefully honed story. But also, the roadblocks may come from inside you — maybe you've decided that one of your characters would turn out to be a worm living in a synthetic human skin, but when you come to write that startling revelation, you discover that it doesn't work. It doesn't make sense, or it doesn't jibe with what you've already established about the character. The synthetic human skin no longer fits.
More---------
http://io9.com/5558810/in-praise-of-seat+of+the+pants-storytelling
---People act like the worst accusation you can hurl at storytellers is "They made it up as they went along." As if having a Master Plan is the same as good storytelling. In fact, it's frequently the other way around.
Often the best storytelling is improvisational, like jazz or chess. Whether you're talking about books, television, movies or comics, the cleverest and most fascinating stories often come out of a writer's desperation in the face of a roadblock. Obviously, when it comes to television, or a series of movies, these roadblocks may come from outside — an actor can die, get pregnant or quit, or a studio executive may demand more shiny robots — but these roadblocks exist in every medium.
Even if you're a novelist working in absolute isolation, you'll eventually have to try and publish your book, and you'll be faced with feedback on your carefully honed story. But also, the roadblocks may come from inside you — maybe you've decided that one of your characters would turn out to be a worm living in a synthetic human skin, but when you come to write that startling revelation, you discover that it doesn't work. It doesn't make sense, or it doesn't jibe with what you've already established about the character. The synthetic human skin no longer fits.
More---------
http://io9.com/5558810/in-praise-of-seat+of+the+pants-storytelling
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