Comments on: Castle Rock Ramble, John Gardner’s “Art of Fiction” http://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/2006/03/23/castle-rock-john-gardners-ithe-art-of-fictioni/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:32:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: David Stewart Zink http://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/2006/03/23/castle-rock-john-gardners-ithe-art-of-fictioni/#comment-8850 David Stewart Zink Tue, 17 Apr 2007 05:58:31 +0000 http://www.rudyrucker.com/wordpress/?p=105#comment-8850 dude, as I read you, you got it backwards: "Turning, she noticed two snakes fighting in among the rocks" is omniscient author POV. "She turned. In among the rocks two snakes were fighting" is third person subjective. That's because what's in the consciousness (or most people) is not the act of observation but the thing observed. "she noticed" is what someone outside her is thinking; she's all "hey! those snakes are fighting!" IMHO postsingular you don't need unity of viewpoint so much as unity of _something_. So pick something else. Unity of object. That's why unity of time or unity of topic or unity of mood are so popular. Even unity of weather. You do it all the time, it's how you make flashbacks or multiple pov work. And don't forget that you can broaden or narrow your field of view as the action changes from contemplative planning to panicked action. dude, as I read you, you got it backwards: “Turning, she noticed two snakes fighting in among the rocks” is omniscient author POV. “She turned. In among the rocks two snakes were fighting” is third person subjective.

That’s because what’s in the consciousness (or most people) is not the act of observation but the thing observed. “she noticed” is what someone outside her is thinking; she’s all “hey! those snakes are fighting!”

IMHO postsingular you don’t need unity of viewpoint so much as unity of _something_. So pick something else. Unity of object.

That’s why unity of time or unity of topic or unity of mood are so popular. Even unity of weather. You do it all the time, it’s how you make flashbacks or multiple pov work. And don’t forget that you can broaden or narrow your field of view as the action changes from contemplative planning to panicked action.

]]> By: j e liebenau http://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/2006/03/23/castle-rock-john-gardners-ithe-art-of-fictioni/#comment-7020 j e liebenau Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:24:28 +0000 http://www.rudyrucker.com/wordpress/?p=105#comment-7020 [John Gardner on Science Fiction.] Gardner, John. ON BECOMING A NOVELIST. 1983. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. 94-95. For another kind of writer, the most valuable course of study may be one of the hard sciences. This is especially true, obviously, of the serious writer whose chief literary love is sophisticated sci-fi. Though it is true that most science fiction is junk, some of it is excellent. Certain books spring immediately to mind – some of Ray Bradbury’s work or Kurt Vonnegut’s, certain modern classics like BRAVE NEW WORLD and 1984, not to mention works of obvious high-class intent, such as Thomas Pynchon’s GRAVITY'S RAINBOW, William Burroughs’s THE TICKET THAT EXPLODED, or the work of major writers outside of America, like Kobo Abe, Italo Calvino, Raymond Queneau, or Doris Lessing. The number of aesthetically valuable works of science fiction is greater than the academy generally notices. One finds intelligence and emotional power in, for instance, Walter Miller’s A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ (mentioned earlier), the fiction of Samuel R. Delaney, some of Robert Silverberg, Roger Zelazny, Isaac Asimov, and, when he holds in the fascism, Robert Heinlein. One finds a fair measure of literary merit in Algis J. Budry’s MICHAELMAS or the work of Robert Wilson, whose novels (for instance, SCHRODINGER'S [sic] CAT) out-Barth John Barth without sacrificing the primary quality of good fiction, interesting storytelling. And science fiction is the domain of one of the greatest living writers [sadly now deceased], Stanislaw Lem. ***** jella [John Gardner on Science Fiction.]
Gardner, John. ON BECOMING A NOVELIST. 1983. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. 94-95.
For another kind of writer, the most valuable course of study may be one of the hard sciences. This is especially true, obviously, of the serious writer whose chief literary love is sophisticated sci-fi. Though it is true that most science fiction is junk, some of it is excellent. Certain books spring immediately to mind – some of Ray Bradbury’s work or Kurt Vonnegut’s, certain modern classics like BRAVE NEW WORLD and 1984, not to mention works of obvious high-class intent, such as Thomas Pynchon’s GRAVITY’S RAINBOW, William Burroughs’s THE TICKET THAT EXPLODED, or the work of major writers outside of America, like Kobo Abe, Italo Calvino, Raymond Queneau, or Doris Lessing. The number of aesthetically valuable works of science fiction is greater than the academy generally notices. One finds intelligence and emotional power in, for instance, Walter Miller’s A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ (mentioned earlier), the fiction of Samuel R. Delaney, some of Robert Silverberg, Roger Zelazny, Isaac Asimov, and, when he holds in the fascism, Robert Heinlein. One finds a fair measure of literary merit in Algis J. Budry’s MICHAELMAS or the work of Robert Wilson, whose novels (for instance, SCHRODINGER’S [sic] CAT) out-Barth John Barth without sacrificing the primary quality of good fiction, interesting storytelling. And science fiction is the domain of one of the greatest living writers [sadly now deceased], Stanislaw Lem.
*****
jella

]]> By: emilio http://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/2006/03/23/castle-rock-john-gardners-ithe-art-of-fictioni/#comment-7019 emilio Thu, 23 Mar 2006 18:47:08 +0000 http://www.rudyrucker.com/wordpress/?p=105#comment-7019 Best entry ever! :-) What about having the Pig be the one the reveals the inner thoughts of the characters? She can even jump between characters in a single paragraph showing how there thoughts are actually connected through her. Best entry ever! :-) What about having the Pig be the one the reveals the inner thoughts of the characters? She can even jump between characters in a single paragraph showing how there thoughts are actually connected through her.

]]> By: MarcL http://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/2006/03/23/castle-rock-john-gardners-ithe-art-of-fictioni/#comment-7018 MarcL Thu, 23 Mar 2006 18:40:01 +0000 http://www.rudyrucker.com/wordpress/?p=105#comment-7018 That Gardner book is the best I've read on writing as well. The collection of techniques are extremely powerful (as well as fun) and help you cut through the stale crust of writing in the same old way for too long. That Gardner book is the best I’ve read on writing as well. The collection of techniques are extremely powerful (as well as fun) and help you cut through the stale crust of writing in the same old way for too long.

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