Writer’s Mail for October 21st, 2014
He said it . . .
“As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.” – Gore Vidal, author (1925-2012)
Present: Jerry, Kashmira, Amit, Pat, Millie, Andy B, Bob, Judith and returning writer, Mike Rackey.
Amit and Kashmira read from Chapters 7 & 8. Jerry suggested to use the word, “carriage” subsequent to “victoria” which is a carriage. People liked the description of the gatekeeper as having “the coloring of dust”. Pat liked the dialogue between the servants. Andy said POV changes seem to “have a mind of its own”. There was a discussion on scent of humidity. Pat said that humidity holds scent, but does not have scent of its own. Kashmira said that Bombay is an ocean city and particularly in monsoon season holds many smells because of increased humidity.
On the subject of flashbacks, Jerry felt that large blocks of italics are hard on the eyes. He suggested that the flashbacks could be in regular print if labeled for time and place, followed by the flashback. Bob felt that large block of flashbacks tend to stop the action of the story. Pat liked the ending of Chap. 8 with the father dusting picture frames. Bob liked the beginning of Chap 7 with train ride. He wanted more description of feeling of the trip. (more…)
Tuesdays with Story 