Comments | gehayi: Writers and Errors

gehayi

Writers and Errors

Jan 09, 2007 23:27

I'm going to say something that will upset a lot of people.

Yes, the canonical author can mess up his or her own canon. Yes, it's possible.

( Read more... )

rants, errors, writing

Comments 17

lilacsigil January 10 2007, 05:24:10 UTC

Yes! It can be lots of fun trying to explain away the errors as clues, but, in reality, authors and editors are only human and mistakes are made. I don't mind revisions for minor errors, but George Lucas trying to actually change storylines and character actions in his films is unpleasant - and I would say this whether he was sanitising or villainising their actions.

gehayi January 10 2007, 05:39:58 UTC

I agree! And you know, Han shooting first made perfect sense to me when I first saw it. He was a smuggler and an outlaw. Shooting first, rather than holding to some code of honor that would get him killed, would be the logical and pragmatic thing to do--and an ideal contrast to Luke.

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gehayi January 10 2007, 08:48:09 UTC

I don't get why some like to insist that their favoured writer can Do No Wrong.

I don't understand that either. The general idea seems to be that criticism of canon and love of canon are incompatible. I do wish that I could introduce such true believers to my friends and I, back when we were in high school, because we were fanatic Trekkies. And we analyzed everything, and bitched about half the episodes, and loved the series to pieces.

The idea that the series was a flawless ideal never would have occurred to us, and the notion that it was somehow cruel or immoral to criticize a story would have gotten us all snickering, because that's what we did three days a week in English class. We critiqued Shakespeare, Twain, Hawthorne, Conan Doyle, Bret Harte and Jonathan Swift...why the hell wouldn't we critique the writers of our favorite canon? Why should THEY be exempt?

Have you ever checked out canon_sues? You might like it.

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redcoast January 10 2007, 18:06:23 UTC

GIP

ghanihwi January 10 2007, 07:13:55 UTC

This is off the subject really, but I just had to butt in here and say that I LOVE the Song of Ice and Fire series (I'm only on A Storm of Swords at present). I hope they never adapt it into film- I want it to stay just as perfect as it is.

Just couldn't contain my joy.

(/rant that had nothing to do with the sentiment of the original post.

gehayi January 10 2007, 08:38:41 UTC

I agree with you. So much in ASOIAF depends on different people not knowing what other people know and in seeing things from a thousand different points of view. That wouldn't translate to the screen at all, because viewpoints and ways of thinkings are essentially interior. Movies don't do interior well. They're much better at showing what's happening to a person in that person's physical reality than they are at showing thoughts or emotions.

It's not the fault of movies; it's just that they're a visual medium. But that does limit, to an extent, the kinds of stories that movies can tell. What's going on in a person's mind and heart has to be shown through expressions, tone and words. And in the Westeros-et-al universe, where so much depends on people NOT saying what they think they know and using words to conceal rather than reveal what they think...I don't think that movies would work well, if at all.

uninvitedcat January 10 2007, 09:14:04 UTC

:applauds: Well said!

When reading, I do my best to just go with the flow rather than trying to tie it all up in my head. That way, any errors just get ignored!

gehayi January 10 2007, 17:53:50 UTC

I'm not any good at ignoring errors, I'm afraid. If something doesn't make sense, I notice it immediately.

lls_mutant January 10 2007, 12:49:42 UTC

Amen!!!!

My personal pet peeve is when people say an author can't write their characters out of character. Yes. they. can. I've done it, George Lucas has done it, and yes, JKR's done it. (Amusingly, she deliberately did it on purpose with Ron, to show how people act on a love potion, and people STILL insist an author can't write her own characters out of character.) Sometimes people do things that are out of character for them and it makes sense (shows an exception, shows the gravity of the situation, whatever), but sometimes it just doesn't. :P

On the other hand, I do hate it when people go too far the other way- "The full moon WASN'T on Christmas of 1993, JKR SUCKS" type of criticisms. (Is it any wonder the woman hasn't written Remus transforming again? (Aside from the fact it wouldn't really serve any narrative purpose?)) Fans need to understand their favorite author IS human. ::Sigh::

But I'm also very much enjoying George R.R. Martin, although I'm only halfway through Storm of Swords.

gehayi January 10 2007, 17:42:14 UTC

Sometimes people do things that are out of character for them and it makes sense (shows an exception, shows the gravity of the situation, whatever), but sometimes it just doesn't.

Yes! And thank you for raising that issue; I'd forgotten that people, both real and fictional, can do things that are out of character for damned good reasons.

On the other hand, I do hate it when people go too far the other way- "The full moon WASN'T on Christmas of 1993, JKR SUCKS" type of criticisms.I confess that I'm one of those people who checks when every full moon is for her own stories, even though I know that most people don't care about details like that. I wouldn't say that she sucked on the basis of full moons, though ( ... )

quinby January 10 2007, 18:38:20 UTC

This is totally out of the blue, and a different fandom, but....

Orson Scott Card writes his characters out-of-character, mainly when they get older. The kids in battleschool are lovely pictures of people, but once they get older... they totally fall apart as coherent characters, especially the girls.

In other words.... I totally agree with you.

*coughs* *exists stage right*