Oh, thumbs. Well ... Hey, I agree with Mary. We should remember that getting together is fun. When can we meet? Deborah Mary Ross wrote: > No spilled entrails, just biting people's thumbs off, huh? I sort of > agree with everything that's been said thus far. Not only is blood > and gore unnecessarry, I think a detailed description of every swing > of the blade is a bit much except for certain genres. Those of us > that aren't into fighting forms or weapons or anything tend to gloss > over that sort of description anyway, as it's frankly pretty boring if > you're not interrested. I was also wondering, are we ever going to > have another meeting? I haven't been able to make it to one yet but > now I've changed me work schedule to have weeknights free. It would > be nice to have a little confab every now and then.~Mary~ > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: deborah a. chester > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: Monday, February 16, 2004 9:46 AM > Subject: Re: [PWA-L] Combat! > The amount of detail depends on the stakes in the combat > scene. If everything is on the line for the viewpoint > character, then naturally more detail is expected, because > instinctively readers understand that length can/should > indicate the degree of importance. On the other hand, if > it's just another slog in the gladiator arena, skim over the > thing. As for the fight scene in Hamlet, the emotion and > sacrifice were the thing, not every en quarte, parry, and > riposte. > > Another factor is taste. Just how gruesome do you want to > be? I landed The Alien Chronicles book deal because I can > write exciting action without spilling entrails all over the > page. Brutality and gore, just for the sake of it, is > gratuitous and unnecessary. > > DC > > Kent Graham wrote: > > > A member of the historical fiction mail list posed this > > question -- in part -- yesterday. I can think of several > > responses, ranging from philosophical to technical > > > > "If there is anything in our [human] history, that is > > always > > present, is combat. Wars, fights, quarrels are > > something never gone. But how do you describe this > > kind of violence?" > > > > <snip, in which he complains about how few pages Tolkien > > uses to describe combat, as opposed to how many he uses to > > describe walking around and climbing mountains> > > > > " I think readers want to read about details when it > > comes to fighting. If I were to write something > > similar to The last Samurai (which is a movie, I > > know), I would describe every move, every gesture, > > every thrust of the sword. I wouldn't do something > > like Shakespeare in Hamlet: "Hamlet and Laertes > > fought." > > > > What do you think? How much is needed? Is it > > desirable to describe "...every move, every gesture, > > every thrust of the sword"? And if so, how do we describe > > it? > > > > Scribite! > > kent >