Comments on: On Hysterical Realism

By: TK

TK — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:03:03 +0000

*adjusts self, shifting weight to right thigh and lifting left buttock; rips wet fart, loudly, into the aether *

Do you mean ‘into the seat cushion’? I imagine that would absorb most of the moisture.

By: jonnArthur

jonnArthur — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:59:02 +0000

Dude, if you want to write an awesome novel, just imagine the story, plan it out, and stop thinking so much about what you’re doing. It sounds kind of like you’re making the story as you write. You should write for the sake of the idea instead. It’s similar to writing a song — you could add all kinds of detailed parts, weird sounds, change-ups, etc. but the best selling songs are all easy to digest, repetitive and simple in the end. I can’t help but feel like if you’re writing with so much detail, you need to add more action to your story to fill in the space you would otherwise use for that detail. That will keep people engaged and on the edge of their seat, which is more important.

By: Jacob Rus

Jacob Rus — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:21:07 +0000

For padding out a story, Strong Bad has it right: apply a little “triple space action,” add some random diagrams, and tape cash to the back. Oh, and make sure you have a cool nickname. That’ll get you 5 to 10 extra credit points right there.

By: CZ

CZ — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:20:00 +0000

* reads words *

* considers briefly, with murmurs of agreement but an impression of dis-ease *

* adjusts self, shifting weight to right thigh and lifting left buttock; rips wet fart, loudly, into the aether *

By: Jonathan Beilin

Jonathan Beilin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:12:16 +0000

Heh, I tried to slip that fact in there like it wasn’t a thing but you caught me! The writing thing kind of happened by accident.

By: Emcee Hao

Emcee Hao — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:33:52 +0000

you’re writing a novel?

By: andy y.

andy y. — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:19:45 +0000

I decided I’m gonna spam your comments section, haha. Let’s just write something wildly transgressive and over-the-top seemingly with a message with a fake plot that hooks casual readers, become bestsellers, then write unpublishable epics that we finish through various suicide attempts, divorces, and run-ins with the law.

By: andy y.

andy y. — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:11:01 +0000

Not to spam your comments section, but stoichiometry is a badass word.

By: andy y.

andy y. — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:09:41 +0000

I could have just said, if a novel is written but no one reads it, is it still a novel?

By: andy y.

andy y. — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:04:16 +0000

I just wrote about three paragraphs in response and realized it was all incoherent and pointless to what you wrote about. But it was something about the division between people who view film, literature, even art as "art" and everyone else who view it as entertaining distractions, and that you're not gonna engage the latter MAJORITY no matter how effectively you use whatever devices you choose. You're basically writing for "other writers" and not "readers" because the vast majority of people care only about story and how thrilling or funny it is, and those who understand and appreciate the structure and devices within the story understand and appreciate because they believe in the importance of literature as art, and inevitably they probably already have aspirations to do some sort of creative work themselves. Of course wannabe writers are also readers, so my point is, as you see, pointless and incoherent. I think I mean, then, that you can't really misuse maximalism, because if the Twilight fanatic can't get into Infinite Jest (and they fucking won't), Infinite Jest will not be read anyway, and those who do read it can see its effectiveness or misuse, but either way the fact that they can analyze and decide whether it's this or that makes the novel useful. Let me just give you some more superfluous commas and eloquence ,,,,,,,,,,,,, blah blah blah. I'm sorry, I read Cliff notes in high school, sue me. As for my "style," I'll have to say plain as all hell. Minimal, maybe, or just too lazy to fill things in. Anyway, stop being so smart all the time.