Comments on: 7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 64)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:45:09 +0000

Re the plates; a few years back my dad was wanting a new matched set of plates (over the years the old ones had broken, etc.) but the smaller size (he didn't want a whole set with the large that you could just use the salad ones; he just wanted the smaller ones); mom and I had a hard time finding them then the only ones we could find were Corelle (and not at any of the "nice" stores but at a discount place) but that was why – because you don't want to eat as much on them!
Donna

By: TaraS

TaraS — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Almost a week later and I'm still laughing at the relativity involved in "cold". I live in the warm part of Canada (the southern west coast), and it has been an absolutely balmy +4 to +10 for the past couple of weeks. My husband just had a work trip to Montreal (which was -12), and they all laughed at him for being cold, because apparently THAT is "balmy" in Montreal for this time of year.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:06:50 +0000

I'm in Mn and the coldest I have ever seen was -48, this last week we had -33. Everyone talks about windchill but when its below zero it's cold period. When I was growing up there was no such thing as windchill.
Art

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:47:34 +0000

Learn from the masters: Do the greatest writers use profanity when called for? Did Shakespeare?

Oh, yes, indeed. The clever writer discerns when it is needed. Your book is not for kids; it's for adults.

There can't be light without darkness, so I say include the darkness. The problem is when writers use the dark and refuse to recognize it as such, but that's not your particular conundrum. Reality has profanity; write real.

~NYa

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:26:58 +0000

The day my daughter was born (January 2005 in Fargo, North Dakota) it was -40 F. That was in the daytime.

We now live in Arizona, and love it. The three months of hot is a small price to pay for the nine months of gorgeous.

By: Jordana

Jordana — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:51:20 +0000

The difference in the meal on a regular plate versus a small plate is amazing. I've heard that before, but seeing it is much different. Hmmm. Must consider putting all my meals on salad plates.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:41:07 +0000

Oops, sorry, one thing I forgot. You wrote "If it fits the book's style?" and my comment to that is by including profanity you are defining the book's "style."

By: Debbie

Debbie — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:39:14 +0000

I really enjoy your blog!

I think profanity is unnecessary and puts crap and ugliness in front of others for no real reason. (I could've written something other than crap, but you get the point Authenticity? Somehow when watching black and white gangster movies I always understand when I hear a gunshot, someone grabs their stomach and drops, that they've died. Do I need to see blood spurting out of the clothing? Out of their mouth? Pooling on the ground? Do I need to see the dead person lose control of their "faculties?" Just because you had a weakness for foul language (I know I certainly did myself!), doesn't really mean you need to share it verbatim. Were you taking the Lord's name in vain? By writing it and "making" the reader read it does it become an occasion of sin? I don't mean to sound harsh at all, just posing questions to make a point. Hope it's not taken the wrong way. Another point, in my mind, that adding the profanities continues to desensitize us to it and also raises acceptance AND makes that word(s) more readily come to one's mind. (hope that made sense)

Your writing is phenomenal! I'm sure you can manage without "exact" words.

Thanks for asking our opinion, and again, please know I do not mean to sound or be harsh.

Thanks!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:54:18 +0000

Well, my teen son and I simply loved the Terry Pratchett book in which a goon character cannot utter a sentence sans profanity — but the twist is that the profanity is always "-ing." So it's a private joke for son & me now to say "ing" when we want to emphasize something in a frivolous way. I mean that literally — we say "ing."

Why do you care about that little story? I dunno, but maybe you could indicate the authenticity using — type substitutes? I know where you're coming from with that cultural vocabulary issue, and it really would change the whole thing if you just eliminated that aspect of it. Good thing I'm not an aspiring writer with that sentence on my soul LOL.

By: TXMom2B

TXMom2B — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:05:02 +0000

I used to curse a lot, and I hate it when it is used gratuitously, as an excuse for bad writing. However, if your book shows a growth in character, and it's clearly written for grown-ups, then some cursing might be OK. I, personally, would keep it to the kind of cursing that (unbelievably) is OK in PG-13 films but not the ones that drive up the rating to an R, and keep it to a bare minimum to make your point. As a reader, I would have a hard time buying it with no cursing, but I would get overwhelmed and irritated if it went any further than absolutely necessary to make your point. I like Anne's idea, too, to just explain it instead of showing it.

Thanks for posting about the Aggie Catholic blog. I really got a lot out of the Butterfly Circus film he posted on there.