(1) Aristotle, Poetica.
A word is «lengthened» or «curtailed», the former when use is made of a longer vowel than usual or a syllable inserted, and the latter when part of the word is curtailed. An example of a lengthened word is πόληος for πολέως and Πηληιάδεω for Πηλείδου; and of a curtailed word κρι̂ and δω̂, and e.g. μία γίνεται ἀμφοτέρων ὄψ.
A word is «altered» when the poet coins part of the word and leaves the rest unchanged, e.g. δεξιτερὸν κατὰ μαζόν instead of δεξιόν.IP: Got it? Well done! Let’s go on.
All this is the bedrock… Like an 8th form textbook on physics. Not in the sense that everything is primitive. Perhaps, when you mentor Alexander himself—the Great one, though the young boy probably, but still—such a textbook is needed to help a teenager somehow structure knowledge. They’ve got everything there in their heads swarming like in a hive…
The chorus too must be regarded as one of the actors. It must be part of the whole and share in the action, not as in Euripides but as in Sophocles. In the others the choral odes have no more to do with the plot than with any other tragedy. And so they sing interludes, a practice begun by Agathon. And yet to sing interludes is quite as bad as transferring a whole speech or scene from one play to another.IP: In my humble opinion (that of the ignorant one), it all sounds somewhat funny…
For, if their natural powers are equal, those who are actually in the emotions are the most convincing; he who is agitated blusters and the angry man rages with the maximum of conviction. And that is why poetry needs either a sympathetic nature or a madman, the former being impressionable and the latter inspired.
It is clear, then, from what we have said that the poet must be a «maker» not of verses but of stories, since he is a poet in virtue of his «representation», and what he represents is action. Even supposing he represents what has actually happened, he is none the less a poet, for there is nothing to prevent some actual occurrences being the sort of thing that would probably or inevitably happen, and it is in virtue of that that he is their «maker».(From translation by W.H. Fyfe)
I’ve read this book to the very end. And it’s thin anyway. It’s a mere pleasure!
Thus, the verdict is the following: do read the book if you think big. Like Alexander, a student of his, as a teenager. Maybe, however, he did not read this book at all. This is just my assumption and a guesswork.
(2) Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, and Stories.
'But man is not made for defeat,’ he said. ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated.’
If I were towing him behind there would be no question. Nor if the fish were in the skiff, with all dignity gone, there would be no question either.But they were sailing together lashed side by side and the old man thought, let him bring me in if it pleases him. I am only better than him through trickery and he meant me no harm.IP: ‘The sentences, phrases and thoughts are chopped up somehow…’—at first it would seem that way to me. And moreover, in private conversations (I note this with irony), I dared saying with a youthful self-confidence that ‘my texts and thoughts are much deeper and smoother.’ But reading on and on, it seemed I started understanding him, realising why his work is so highly appreciated and valued. Hemingway is almost like Dickens, just not in terms of the beauty of the narrative, but of the depth of thought. If Dickens is associated to me with Vivaldi, it is so beautiful, light and fascinating, like walking in a summer garden strewn with bright flowers in June; then Hemingway is at least Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet: when you hear, you freeze, and everything starts to flicker and flutter around, as in a magical forest in the moonlight (this is if you close your eyes or if you somehow stimulate the imagination). But, that is, Hemingway can reach the deepest, innermost thoughts hidden from ourselves and, overall, the unconscious. That's how it all presented itself to me, even though I hadn't taken in anything. I am for a clear mind and a healthy lifestyle!
As he watched the bird dipped again slanting his wings for the dive and then swinging them wildly and ineffectually as he followed the flying fish.
The old man could see the slight bulge in the water that the big dolphin raised as they followed the escaping fish.
The dolphin were cutting through the water below the flight of the fish and would be in the water, driving at speed, when the fish dropped.
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.
IP: I am won over, so to say. His words are enveloping. I immerse myself in stories and lose myself in them. Try it! It's an amazing feeling. Words on pages are a portal, but not a code of thoughts…
On Writing.
The most difficult story to read, understand, and simply to perceive is On Writing.
That was the weakness of Joyce. Daedalus in Ulysses was Joyce himself, so he was terrible. Joyce was so damn romantic and intellectual about him. He’d made Bloom up, Bloom was wonderful. He’d made Mrs. Bloom up. She was the greatest in the world. That was the way with Mac. Mac worked too close to life. You had to digest life and then create your own people. Mac had stuff, though.
But probably it is the most impressive of all.
These ragged phrases-thoughts, like a telegraphic message from the past, makes the brain dumbfounded, leads the mechanics of thought to a standstill—a very unusual style, to be fair.
Then there were some strange, but most curious little stories (very short, no neglect) as well. And I was still worried and concerned about the length of my own compositions.
(3) Katie Marie (KM) Weiland, Architecture of the plot. How to Create a Memorable Story.
That’s it! No more! I give up! Full stop!
I closed the book having not finished it. An exceptional case for me to quit halfway (for no apparent reason, that is, for reasons in which I myself have come to believe).
So what’s the reason for this seemingly arbitrary placement of the first plot point? Why the 25% mark and not the 10% or 40%? ... If you’ve ever watched or read a poorly plotted story that skipped or postponed the first plot point, you probably instinctively sensed the story was dragging. Likely, you grew bored and got up to do something else without finishing the story. ... The first major plot point is one of the most exciting moments in any story. Milk yours for all it’s worth! ... This one in particular was timely, as I am at around the 25% mark in my book and was feeling out how to pace my major plot shift. What really struck me was how you emphasized this plot point as a personal turning point at which the main character can react strongly and irretrievably.IP: Blah-blah-blah…
The first plot point marks the finish of the first act, and the character’s reaction to it marks the beginning of the second. In a sense, the first plot point is the climax of the first act, and, as such, it should be placed approximately around the 20-25% mark.IP: And here comes confirmation of my conspiracy theory! Following the theory… I have heard or read somewhere that in the European (or Western, if you prefer) education system it is customary to give students a clear structure and an ‘outline’, which they would adhere to already at a practical level. I have observed this approach in my working practice too. Companies’ employees who have studied in European institutions use to work on the principle of a ‘tram’—they definitely follow a given algorithm. I don't know how things are with us now, which system they adhere to, what main goals in teaching are practically followed, but it seems to me that there are differences and they are positive. Being raised in the coordinate system of ‘directions, but not roads’, we know how to get there faster and more efficiently (easier and cheaper); whether it is a better way is an open and a debatable question.
Stories are a series of scenes. Some of those scenes are expected, some of them are even purposefully repetitious for the sake of emphasis. But some scenes change everything. These game changers are the plot points. They introduce significant elements and events that alter the subsequent course of the story. Your story can have any number of plot points, some relatively minor, some shockingly huge. Plot points are what keep your story moving forward. They mix things up, keep the conflict fresh, and propel your character far away from any possibility of stagnancy.IP: Well, I don't really know... at this note, as at some other similar ones, when the author for a moment, but admits a seditious opportunity to step away from patterns, Katie Marie Weiland is rehabilitated in my eyes. But the very principles themselves—still ‘unshakable’—I would allow myself to question.
Just imagine: writers, like diligent students accurately following theoretical instructions, write their works, scripts, stories and... whatever you want to call it, within the framework and the rhythm set by the theorу. As to my mind, this is what distinguishes diligence from talent—the willingness to follow or to choose your own way.
But for some reasons, unprecedented for me, this particular lady and her ‘instructions’ cause me personally a little less irritation and discontent... maybe because her style and words are not moralizing or something, and the tone is not assertive or didactic.
To my mind, all these books about how to write seem the same. The reason being that their authors follow the same (Western) template—the theory which they were taught somewhere, the line and sequence that they adhere to is the same. So it turns out, that in these books on how to write only the descriptive part changes, while the general structure stays unchanged.
My stories almost always have a character at the origin. Some interesting person knocks on the door of my imagination, I open it, and it's like I'm blown away by the wind (sometimes it's a light breeze, sometimes it's a storm). Familiar feeling, right? We are charmed, conquered, curious, obsessed. It's very similar to falling in love.IP: Ah! My God! ‘She brushed away’—(lightly)—‘a strand of hair that was golden in the sunlight, and gave a languid sigh.’ That’s bullshit!!
Here I would suggest, given the context of the ‘story’, a new and correct title—How to write. For dummies.
On the night that he set to be his last night among the living, Dr. Ben Givens had no dreams. His sleep was restless, ghosts came into it, guarding portals to the world of dreams, incessantly muttering about the real world .
East of the Mountains, David Guterson (Reverse translation from Russian).
IP: The author, Katie Marie (KM) Weiland, claims / notes that these lines make you read further, that this is a ‘hook’—well, not at all! Why do we keep reading the book we’ve picked up—desire, bore, author's authority, marketing...?
But if we go a little further – for example, take the words of William Gibson ‘The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.’—then we will notice not only some poetry, but also the tone of the text, as well as the question ‘Why?’, which will make readers continue reading.IP: And here, I do agree! Even beautiful! But I’m not asking the question at all…
The other day there was a book delivery to my place—my home library was enriched with a hundred or two books of my grandfather! I’m all in anticipation! Oscar Wilde is currently under ‘study’.
Interesting and useful read to all!