(no subject)
Saturday morning at WFC--I'm down in the lobby with tea and borrowed laptop so my roommates can sleep.
A lot more stuff, some very intense--the sort of thing writers desperately need: frank talk with other writers as reality check, especially about the business, (especially right now), but which are not sharable. (And I only mention this as a signal to other writers who are thinking about attending these things. This part of the proceeding is a real plus.)
It is so very good to meet LJ people and see the actual face behind the phosphors.
thistleingrey (who I keep missing, and hope to meet today) has an excellent summation of some of the panels.
Several conversations circling around the tension between what is popular and what longtime readers consider good. The frustration of being a longtime reader and finding oneself harder to please--for various reasons. . . not superiority (though one finds that) but because we humans like patterns, but at some point familiar drops over into predictable. When and where predictable/comfort becomes predictable/boring?
[I can answer that for me, though for no one else: if you make me laugh, then I am along for the ride, no matter how familiar. If it is serious (especially serious with preachy overtones) I am gone.]
Shock prose does not equate insight. (that includes poetic prose that leans heavily on the oxymoronic.)
Criticism--has everyone gotten online killed criticism? Yes--no--being polite--netiquette--don't slam those in your circle--fatiguing sense after mutual shout-out praise of friendship circle's books. "I am beginning to think of those "My awesome buddy's awesome book squeeee!" as commercials--loud and content free."
Content free. That stayed with me--I think there is something important here. Supposed reviews that are all friend squee, or whatever squee, being essentially content free. Hmmm.
Anyway I caught this off my fast LJ triage last night before I crashed--on the supposed death of criticism, by Bookslut, which so parallels my thoughts that I was all wow.
My thought has been that online-ness means that everyone is an authority, and we no longer regard critics as the gateways to what we were taught in school is "good literature"--especially with the classics being examined yet again, and the definition of good literature changing.
Anyway time to go, but here's the link--scroll down to Oct 30.
A lot more stuff, some very intense--the sort of thing writers desperately need: frank talk with other writers as reality check, especially about the business, (especially right now), but which are not sharable. (And I only mention this as a signal to other writers who are thinking about attending these things. This part of the proceeding is a real plus.)
It is so very good to meet LJ people and see the actual face behind the phosphors.
thistleingrey (who I keep missing, and hope to meet today) has an excellent summation of some of the panels.
Several conversations circling around the tension between what is popular and what longtime readers consider good. The frustration of being a longtime reader and finding oneself harder to please--for various reasons. . . not superiority (though one finds that) but because we humans like patterns, but at some point familiar drops over into predictable. When and where predictable/comfort becomes predictable/boring?
[I can answer that for me, though for no one else: if you make me laugh, then I am along for the ride, no matter how familiar. If it is serious (especially serious with preachy overtones) I am gone.]
Shock prose does not equate insight. (that includes poetic prose that leans heavily on the oxymoronic.)
Criticism--has everyone gotten online killed criticism? Yes--no--being polite--netiquette--don't slam those in your circle--fatiguing sense after mutual shout-out praise of friendship circle's books. "I am beginning to think of those "My awesome buddy's awesome book squeeee!" as commercials--loud and content free."
Content free. That stayed with me--I think there is something important here. Supposed reviews that are all friend squee, or whatever squee, being essentially content free. Hmmm.
Anyway I caught this off my fast LJ triage last night before I crashed--on the supposed death of criticism, by Bookslut, which so parallels my thoughts that I was all wow.
My thought has been that online-ness means that everyone is an authority, and we no longer regard critics as the gateways to what we were taught in school is "good literature"--especially with the classics being examined yet again, and the definition of good literature changing.
Anyway time to go, but here's the link--scroll down to Oct 30.