How This Critter Crits
Viewing comments for Chapter 9 "Intermezzo B.Y.O.B"GROWTH? ADULATION? HURRY -- CHOOSE!
81 total reviews
Comment from butchiesmom
Hmm! What you say makes sense. Dissecting anything will show you, not only, what's there but how it works. I like to write, but it's more for myself than for the purpose of being published. It's, what's that word?, cathartic. Writing about my feelings or putting down fond memories on paper, gives me a satisfaction, a feeling I can't describe but enjoy it. I'm sure most of the people on this site knows exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not a prolific writer. It takes a certain feeling when a sentence or phrase comes to mind for me to know it's worth writing. I wrote a poem, for the Valentine's Day contest. I spent most of the day, trying to write something romantic, but found each attempt stilted and not worth my time. It's when I sat down and started writing about not being able to write that blasted poem, for the actual one to emerge. It's not particularly romantic, but it comes from deep inside.
I digress. You dissect short stories to understand what makes it tick and why (I'm assuming) it appeals to the reader. I plan to read what comes next. It's always a great day when I learn something new.
Great job, jaysquires!
Gail
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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Hmm! What you say makes sense. Dissecting anything will show you, not only, what's there but how it works. I like to write, but it's more for myself than for the purpose of being published. It's, what's that word?, cathartic. Writing about my feelings or putting down fond memories on paper, gives me a satisfaction, a feeling I can't describe but enjoy it. I'm sure most of the people on this site knows exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not a prolific writer. It takes a certain feeling when a sentence or phrase comes to mind for me to know it's worth writing. I wrote a poem, for the Valentine's Day contest. I spent most of the day, trying to write something romantic, but found each attempt stilted and not worth my time. It's when I sat down and started writing about not being able to write that blasted poem, for the actual one to emerge. It's not particularly romantic, but it comes from deep inside.
I digress. You dissect short stories to understand what makes it tick and why (I'm assuming) it appeals to the reader. I plan to read what comes next. It's always a great day when I learn something new.
Great job, jaysquires!
Gail
Comment Written 05-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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Gail -- I've read something of yours, haven't I? I remember your handle. Anyway, thanks for your kind observations. If you're interested in a more specific handling of the subject of exegesis, stay tuned. you are welcome anytime.
Jay
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I've been here a few years, so you probably have read of my writing.
Comment from Jack Lewis
back up to your usual snuff -- this chapter was particularly engaging, especially the "tick-tockery as well as the hyper-clatteral and the infra-clunkery" :)
hope this bit will be making its way into the final cut: "Now... join me, won't you, as we take a longish intermission from the nuts and bolts. Take your cigarette or potty break. I'll just hang around with you and lay down some of the ground-rules for my process of deep-level analysis. Ladies, don't forget to lift the lid when you finish!"
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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back up to your usual snuff -- this chapter was particularly engaging, especially the "tick-tockery as well as the hyper-clatteral and the infra-clunkery" :)
hope this bit will be making its way into the final cut: "Now... join me, won't you, as we take a longish intermission from the nuts and bolts. Take your cigarette or potty break. I'll just hang around with you and lay down some of the ground-rules for my process of deep-level analysis. Ladies, don't forget to lift the lid when you finish!"
Comment Written 05-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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Jack, I am indeed ecstatic getting a six from you. Thank you so very, very much. It makes me want to dig into the next chapter right away... but alas! -- I have to start blitzrieg of the crit-boards so I can start earning more member bucks and be able to adequately promote it when I post. It's gonna be long, but meaty -- That's what she said! Thanks again, Jack.
Jay
Comment from H. Rebecca
Ladies, don't forget to lift the lid when you finish!
I like reading your work for its flare!
I love your "class is in, and I have transcribed the class recording" approach.
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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Ladies, don't forget to lift the lid when you finish!
I like reading your work for its flare!
I love your "class is in, and I have transcribed the class recording" approach.
Comment Written 05-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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Thank you so much H Rebecca for your kind remarks. Indeed, the class is in for the next segment. I promise it will be meaty -- but it will also be long. You'll get a lot out of it, though.
Jay
Comment from Charmane
Informative and appealing. Covers a lot of areas. Character seems to be a real critic. Passionate about writing and all that it contains. A bit different but definitely interesting and symbolic.Excellent !
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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Informative and appealing. Covers a lot of areas. Character seems to be a real critic. Passionate about writing and all that it contains. A bit different but definitely interesting and symbolic.Excellent !
Comment Written 05-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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Thank you very much, Charmane, for your kind crit. Please stay aboard for the next segment that is actually a continuation of this. But, it will go into the details.
Jay
Comment from Cleric Jack
Very well-written! Reverse-engineer a story, you say! It does make a lot of sense.
I would also add that if somebody is researching and assembling and disassembling a piece of work, they may want to pick a story that is enjoyable to them. Damn if it's the 'best' or not. Just because it was considered wonderful by the masses doesn't make it so the individual reader. Art is, after all, subjective. A writer has to find his own voice and more importantly, has to write for himself and in order to do that, he has to study works that entertain and inspire him.
Take one of my favorites, Philip K. Dick, for example. Now he is a wonderful, talented writer. (Was a gifted writer.) However, there are a few stories in his collection that are simply boring and go nowhere. I wasn't entertained. I wouldn't want to use that as a template for writing successfully. I wouldn't study "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" because, quite frankly, it did nothing for me. It was bland; it was...blah. (The screenwriter did a better job with that material than Dick did.) I mean in that story, the prose is written wonderfully. And that's great. Every writer wants to write well, at least technically, but content and how it's handled is so important too. (On this website, for example, I rate on content as well. I've noticed everyone is dwelling on prose and that is needed, of course, but it is only one part of the equation. The idea has to be cool, neat, awesome. The meat of the piece needs to make me laugh and cry and think!)
Now, I would tear apart Dick's "Second Variety" or "Paycheck" to get an idea on why it works so much for me, my tastes.
Anyway, I'm ranting. I liked your piece. It was informative and it was articulate.
Have a great day!
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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Very well-written! Reverse-engineer a story, you say! It does make a lot of sense.
I would also add that if somebody is researching and assembling and disassembling a piece of work, they may want to pick a story that is enjoyable to them. Damn if it's the 'best' or not. Just because it was considered wonderful by the masses doesn't make it so the individual reader. Art is, after all, subjective. A writer has to find his own voice and more importantly, has to write for himself and in order to do that, he has to study works that entertain and inspire him.
Take one of my favorites, Philip K. Dick, for example. Now he is a wonderful, talented writer. (Was a gifted writer.) However, there are a few stories in his collection that are simply boring and go nowhere. I wasn't entertained. I wouldn't want to use that as a template for writing successfully. I wouldn't study "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" because, quite frankly, it did nothing for me. It was bland; it was...blah. (The screenwriter did a better job with that material than Dick did.) I mean in that story, the prose is written wonderfully. And that's great. Every writer wants to write well, at least technically, but content and how it's handled is so important too. (On this website, for example, I rate on content as well. I've noticed everyone is dwelling on prose and that is needed, of course, but it is only one part of the equation. The idea has to be cool, neat, awesome. The meat of the piece needs to make me laugh and cry and think!)
Now, I would tear apart Dick's "Second Variety" or "Paycheck" to get an idea on why it works so much for me, my tastes.
Anyway, I'm ranting. I liked your piece. It was informative and it was articulate.
Have a great day!
Comment Written 05-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 05-Mar-2007
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Thank you so much, Cleric Jack, for taking the time to give me a complete in-depth crit of this piece. You'll love the next part, I guaran-doggone-tee you. Lots of meat to it. I wanted it included with this, but it would have been so long that you and one or two others would have completed it. So, please stay aboard.
Jay
Comment from In Memoriam
Hi there Jaysquires!
Just when I thought the critter was on vacashon. Truth? This installement didn't get me me until the last two and a half paragraphs. I'm not deducting for two reasons: one) I can't quite pin down the reason why it just didn't sink in and two) the style of the previous chapters is there. You have a knack for taking the long way around an explanation and still making it a worthwhile explanation.
Go Mildred!
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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Hi there Jaysquires!
Just when I thought the critter was on vacashon. Truth? This installement didn't get me me until the last two and a half paragraphs. I'm not deducting for two reasons: one) I can't quite pin down the reason why it just didn't sink in and two) the style of the previous chapters is there. You have a knack for taking the long way around an explanation and still making it a worthwhile explanation.
Go Mildred!
Comment Written 04-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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Julia, you are too funny. How the guy does talk, eh? Please don't give up on me, though. This chapter and the next were supposed to be one, albeit gigantic, chapter that I would have considered myself lucky to have had 2 people read. The next one -- I solemnly promise -- will be the meaty one, and who the hell is Mildred? Thanks, girl.
Jay
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Is that any way to treat Mildred Bain? Tsk. Tsk.
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Oooops. How soon I forgot!
Jay
Comment from WriterDebi
Very well written piece. I have to agree with all that you said and more people should try it. I use several colors of hi-lighter to show different things and that works for me.
Debbie
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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Very well written piece. I have to agree with all that you said and more people should try it. I use several colors of hi-lighter to show different things and that works for me.
Debbie
Comment Written 04-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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That's right, Debbie -- The important thing, as I see it, is to make the story your own. By the time you finish studying it you have a concept of it that is as fresh and true as the writer's. Thanks for your kind comments.
Jay
Comment from Lois Delaney
Very good writing Jay. I love the humour and satire you instill in your work. Actually, you are quite competitive with the best writers on the site. Great job and can't wait for NEXT TIME!!!!!!!!
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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Very good writing Jay. I love the humour and satire you instill in your work. Actually, you are quite competitive with the best writers on the site. Great job and can't wait for NEXT TIME!!!!!!!!
Comment Written 04-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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Whoa! Thanks, housemaid, for the compliment. I so much appreciate your input. I hope you stick around for the sister installement to this. I'll post it as soon as I have accumulated enough bucks to promote it adequately. Materialism! Ain't it grand?
Jay
Comment from Guy Anthony De Marco
The format you've chosen makes it a bit tough to read. It looks like there are blank lines between each sentence, which is fine for a manuscrupt, but difficult to track on a monitor, especially for old farts like me :)
Reads almost like a prologue, so I can't wait to actually get into the meat of the essay. This is a good sign, you've hooked me into continuing.
Nice work, read more for content than for spags.
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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The format you've chosen makes it a bit tough to read. It looks like there are blank lines between each sentence, which is fine for a manuscrupt, but difficult to track on a monitor, especially for old farts like me :)
Reads almost like a prologue, so I can't wait to actually get into the meat of the essay. This is a good sign, you've hooked me into continuing.
Nice work, read more for content than for spags.
Comment Written 04-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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Thank you Guy Anthony for your commentary. Yes, it reads like a prologue, because it turned out to be one. Actually, it was going to be one chapter but I found that if I were to do a thorough job with the exegesis of the short story it would have been so long I would only get a few diehards read it. I had to break it up into two parts. Consider it the appetizer. Meal to follow. Don't know yet about dessert. Thanks again, friend.
Jay
Comment from Lokman
And we grow...
Makes me wonder how many stories sat forgotten on shelves, rough drafts probably, rejected likely, while the writer continued to expand his repertoire, learn from failure, and hopefully pick up that one piece he thought had been great, only to realixe just how many faults it contained.
Lokman
But then he rewrote it.
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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And we grow...
Makes me wonder how many stories sat forgotten on shelves, rough drafts probably, rejected likely, while the writer continued to expand his repertoire, learn from failure, and hopefully pick up that one piece he thought had been great, only to realixe just how many faults it contained.
Lokman
But then he rewrote it.
Comment Written 04-Mar-2007
reply by the author on 04-Mar-2007
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"But then he rewrote it." Ha! I thought, at first, what you were driving at was I should wait to write the exegesis until after I write MY story. First do, then tell how to do. I know that wasn't what you meant... but had you, you wouldn't have been far off the mark. Microcritting seems to have possessed me.
Hey, friend, stay aboard. The next one promises to be meatier -- I promise you.
Jay