"And your prejudice won't keep you warm tonight."

Sep 21, 2016 11:17

Detox Day 5, and at some point this is supposed to get easier, but I have clearly not arrived anywhere near that point. I'm through physical withdrawal, for the most part, but, truthfully, this thing on the other side is far, far worse ( Read more... )

documentaries, mars, 1938, unmade movies, information overload, dune, hurricanes, science fiction, addiction, detox, infodumps

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setsuled September 21 2016, 15:41:56 UTC
Data chokes prose. It smothers good writing. It's the reason we have encyclopedias and textbooks, not the reason we have novels.

Well said. I think a lot of research is valuable but I think of it as water in the soil. A good writer doesn't display it but allows it to influence the story as they go, only occasionally explaining when absolutely necessary. I often think of an interview with George Lucas where he talked about the experience of watching Kurosawa's period films and not knowing the meaning behind various cultural things he was unfamiliar with but nonetheless knowing what was happening, the essence of the story being clear. The unfamiliar things, which inspired him to throw in all those aliens with no histories or explanations in the cantina, add to it for being unfamiliar. That's also why I think a lot of criticism of things for being "exotic" is off the mark.

Has anyone else ever noticed that Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio" and the Smith's "What Difference Does It Make" are almost the same songs?Hmm. Lyrically very ( ... )

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