Well, that does suck. I changed the URL to point to where the poll is posted on bethestory.com.
So, here's what's happening: When I created the poll, dPolls.com gave me a bunch of HTML to use in order to stick the poll onto a web-page or blog or whatever. This HTML uses an
If I hadn't just heard of a geek with "anorexic reading habits" I'd wonder if "story geek" wasn't a bit redundant. {chuckle, SMILE} For that matter, I still wonder. Aren't geeks normally fond of reading both fiction and nonfiction, to the point where a separate term for the few who aren't would be more useful? {BIG SMILE}
Oh, and Hi! {waves} I noticed you'd friended me, so I popped over to check you out. {SMILE, BIG SMILE}
Hi, Anne! Thanks for checking out my LiveJournal. I don't remember how I discovered yours. It must've been through a friend.
The term "story geek" occurred to me in connection with wine. I wrote about it here: http://bethestory.com/2006/01/15/am-i-a-story-geek. Briefly, the term "wine geek" increasingly refers to someone who has a personal passion for wine. He knows different kinds of wine, wine grapes and their histories, ways of making wine, how wine interacts with food, and so forth. I'm realizing that I'm different from many readers, and writers too, in that I have a passion for story over mechanics. Does that make me a story geek?
I think you must have spotted me thru quietspaces, since she's the only friend we have in common. {SMILE}
Oops! I missed the full implications. I think I see a little better now. {Smile} That reminds me of a discussion a friend and I had a few months ago, about how he likes comics and I like Young Adult and Juvenile literature, because they're much better at not letting stylistic effects and "interesting concepts" get in the way of telling the story. {chuckle, SMILE}
Still, I'm not sure if that's exactly what you meant. Now I'm curious (a common condition for me{chuckle, SMILE}). What do you mean by a skin-deep story, and what kinds of things pull one out-of-balance? {curious Smile, BIG SMILE}
That sounds like part of what I mean. The story is core. For me, the same thing applies to other media, too, like movies and video games. You can have all the flowery verbiage you want, all the dazzling graphics, cool cinematography, whatever, but they're only there to tell the story.
This is what I meant by skin-deep story, referring to The Longest Journey. Yeah, there's a complex setting and complex characters and neat graphics and a theatrical soundtrack and even some cool conflicts. But the characters tell us over and over about the characterizations and setting, while the story itself shows us something completely different. This was praised by adventure-game critics everwhere as an deeply complex, epic story. I just couldn't-and still can't-get on board. Does that make me a story geek?
Another thing I find myself doing is analyzing stories. I can't just read a novel, for example, and just enjoy it. I have to understand it. Not literary analysis, but story analysis. Mentally, I
( ... )
Comments 10
I clicked the link, attempted to vote, and it said "Unauthorized use"
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So, here's what's happening: When I created the poll, dPolls.com gave me a bunch of HTML to use in order to stick the poll onto a web-page or blog or whatever. This HTML uses an
Reply
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If I hadn't just heard of a geek with "anorexic reading habits" I'd wonder if "story geek" wasn't a bit redundant. {chuckle, SMILE} For that matter, I still wonder. Aren't geeks normally fond of reading both fiction and nonfiction, to the point where a separate term for the few who aren't would be more useful? {BIG SMILE}
Oh, and Hi! {waves} I noticed you'd friended me, so I popped over to check you out. {SMILE, BIG SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Reply
The term "story geek" occurred to me in connection with wine. I wrote about it here: http://bethestory.com/2006/01/15/am-i-a-story-geek. Briefly, the term "wine geek" increasingly refers to someone who has a personal passion for wine. He knows different kinds of wine, wine grapes and their histories, ways of making wine, how wine interacts with food, and so forth. I'm realizing that I'm different from many readers, and writers too, in that I have a passion for story over mechanics. Does that make me a story geek?
-TimK
Reply
Oops! I missed the full implications. I think I see a little better now. {Smile} That reminds me of a discussion a friend and I had a few months ago, about how he likes comics and I like Young Adult and Juvenile literature, because they're much better at not letting stylistic effects and "interesting concepts" get in the way of telling the story. {chuckle, SMILE}
Still, I'm not sure if that's exactly what you meant. Now I'm curious (a common condition for me{chuckle, SMILE}). What do you mean by a skin-deep story, and what kinds of things pull one out-of-balance? {curious Smile, BIG SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Reply
That sounds like part of what I mean. The story is core. For me, the same thing applies to other media, too, like movies and video games. You can have all the flowery verbiage you want, all the dazzling graphics, cool cinematography, whatever, but they're only there to tell the story.
This is what I meant by skin-deep story, referring to The Longest Journey. Yeah, there's a complex setting and complex characters and neat graphics and a theatrical soundtrack and even some cool conflicts. But the characters tell us over and over about the characterizations and setting, while the story itself shows us something completely different. This was praised by adventure-game critics everwhere as an deeply complex, epic story. I just couldn't-and still can't-get on board. Does that make me a story geek?
Another thing I find myself doing is analyzing stories. I can't just read a novel, for example, and just enjoy it. I have to understand it. Not literary analysis, but story analysis. Mentally, I ( ... )
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