Comments | mer_duff: Is longer better?

mer_duff

Is longer better?

Mar 16, 2010 20:55

One of the books I've loved since I was a teenager for its cheekiness is Shrink Lits by Maurice Sagoff. "70 epic tales & heroic myths, dense theories & windy texts, oral traditions & really long novels - all reduced to 34 minutes reading."

In response to the thread that I couldn't help replying to over at hw_reqs (mostly because the longer=better ( Read more... )

Comments 6

nightdog_barks March 17 2010, 04:12:18 UTC

Heh! Those were wise guys, those Strunk and White. And Shrink Lits sounds really good!

mer_duff March 17 2010, 04:26:30 UTC

You might appreciate this one :D

Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic Wars

Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est...

Caesar cari dona militar orgi versus Belgae,
Helvetii, Germani, Venetii, Britanni - iunemit.
"Romis glorius," sed Caesar, "Nomen me impunit!"
Meni tridit - Vercingetorix, forin stans -
Caesar noctim sili fors ticinis nec aut.
Ab ludi, nervi felo, Caius Julius, iubet.

(edited because there is a difference between bold and italics!)

taiga13 March 17 2010, 04:24:38 UTC

I've never heard of that book, that sounds like fun!

mer_duff March 17 2010, 04:30:43 UTC

It's great - Moby Dick in four couplets (plus call and response :D). One of my mother's students gave it to her one year and I co-opted it... Sadly it appears to be out of print.

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mer_duff March 17 2010, 16:43:23 UTC

That was the struggle I had with Big Bang this year! "Tribulation" was my first attempt and I got 14,000 words into it before I realized that I didn't really need the angsty middle scene. The story I finally wrote would probably be just as good, if not better, as a 5,000 word one-shot, but I'd gotten to the point where I would rather finish a mediocre story than fail the challenge :)

I love reading long stories - I also love reading plot-driven stories, but I don't think that necessarily equates to quality. I freely admit that I couldn't put Angels and Demons down (even as I howled in outrage at parts of it), but in terms of good writing, I'll take an Alice Munro short story over Dan Brown any day!

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mer_duff March 17 2010, 18:58:56 UTC

I never really thought about it, but there have been more long stories in fandoms I used to play in - though I probably didn't notice because my own story length hasn't changed much :D. Though there seemed to be a lot of epic House/OC stories over at the Fox forum.

I do enjoy stretching myself for the longer stories in Big Bang - this year I just struggled to find an idea that would justify the length. Because plot is secondary to character in most of the ideas I have, the 3-7K range just feels right. And since I don't seem to get as many of the "more" comments that other writers get, maybe I'm even over-estimating there!