Comments on Nathan Bransford, Author: Undercooking a Novel

I love beets - I love them pickled and I love them...

2010-07-09T19:59:50.985-07:00

I love beets - I love them pickled and I love them grated raw! I don't know about the peeing purple but it is a good way to see how regular your bowels are : )

I am one hell of a cook. I hope it rubs off on the...

2010-07-09T16:25:50.287-07:00

I am one hell of a cook. I hope it rubs off on the writing!

Beet salad.. sorry.

2010-07-09T12:49:31.587-07:00

Beet salad.. sorry.

Well I don't want to "beat" this to ...

2010-07-09T12:46:31.304-07:00

Well I don't want to "beat" this to death, but real life can spice up a novel. I think it's just understanding what ingredients to use. Too much of anything doesn't give a book depth.

A family friend of ours told how he loved beat salad. He could eat it every meal, and did once, for a two days solid. But, that was the only time he did. Why, you might ask? It's because he urinated purple for nearly a week afterwards. It's one thing to leave your mark, just make it one you are proud of!

I like the analogy. I wonder how blogging journals...

2010-07-09T12:46:21.766-07:00

I like the analogy. I wonder how blogging journals might fit into this? I want an agent to give me an assignment! I want to write for a living! HELP!

Love this! I am afraid every time I see the words...

2010-07-09T11:44:22.008-07:00

Love this! I am afraid every time I see the words "This screenplay is based on true events from my life" in a query. So often, it means that there will be little to no story and the main character will have no flaws. But how do you tell someone the most important event in their life is just plain boring?

Wouldn't mind trying out a suit made of raw be...

2010-07-09T11:34:45.238-07:00

Wouldn't mind trying out a suit made of raw beef, just for half an hour.

What a great analogy and so true! You can capture...

2010-07-09T10:24:44.079-07:00

What a great analogy and so true!

You can capture the essence of how someone speaks or a place but you need to add your own voice(spice) to make it work.

The trick is in recognizing while doing your own c...

2010-07-09T10:23:51.240-07:00

The trick is in recognizing while doing your own cooking how to prepare a dish, what method to use to cook it, when it is cooked to perfection and what specific spices complement the flavour of beets. Not easy. And most of us will never cook anywhere close to a professional level.

Like many of the comments here, I understand the m...

2010-07-09T10:23:36.651-07:00

Like many of the comments here, I understand the metaphor and the advice, but like many "rules" of writing, it is situational.

A story that is being held back by dry, boring, everyday, pedestrian dialogue can stop a story in its tracks. It needs dialogue that provides tone, moves the plot forward, develops or demonstrates character or point of view. This sort of spicing is what I think you mean.

But, to say that using colloquialisms, turns of phrase, mispronunciations, poor grammatical structure and such, I think I would err on the side of the common folk. Art is to immitate life. We are to help a reader WILLFULLY suspend disbelief. If a character would not speak with flowery words or alliterations, then it devalues the work, it interrupts the flow of willful disbelief.

Readers will more often think to themselves: "I doubt that girl would talk like that," than think: "Gosh, this sounds too much like real life." I fully believe in seasoning our work. In our descriptions of life, in the realism and grittiness of the dialogue, in the increasing of conflict, I feel it is important to bring our professional chops to the table. People expect more. But, in the end, salt and pepper to taste.

You're right. No doubt. I just get so excited ...

2010-07-09T10:01:24.924-07:00

You're right. No doubt. I just get so excited when I finish a story that I'm compelled to share it. And when I put my work away for a while to see what it looks like after the adrenaline rush, I often send myself back to the kitchen!

But...sushi is good!

2010-07-09T09:29:11.337-07:00

But...sushi is good!

No such thing as a good beet. Blech. Oh--we talki...

2010-07-09T09:26:02.880-07:00

No such thing as a good beet. Blech.

Oh--we talking about writing?

Merry Christmas. Sorry the wish is a day late. (I...

2010-07-09T09:15:24.520-07:00

Merry Christmas.

Sorry the wish is a day late. (I have a car story so bizarre it couldn't be used as for fiction.)

I make an awesome beet salad! ;)

2010-07-09T08:33:19.754-07:00

I make an awesome beet salad! ;)

Wow. Well served and with just the right amount of...

2010-07-09T08:30:35.651-07:00

Wow. Well served and with just the right amount of spice.

Love this!

2010-07-09T08:13:04.898-07:00

Love this!

I Love JT Shea!!!! and the beet goes on! ...

2010-07-09T07:46:37.536-07:00

I Love JT Shea!!!!
and the beet goes on!

As for undercooked, also goes for overcooked too. No boiled novels please.

Overcooked is much worse. Understatement liberat...

2010-07-09T07:43:06.417-07:00

Overcooked is much worse.

Understatement liberates the reader. I love economy in writing, and I find the novel padded with 100 extra pages to make it the "correct length" for the market an insult to the reader.

If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.

—Ernest Hemingway in Death in the Afternoon

Love this.

2010-07-09T07:08:45.279-07:00

Love this.

My videographer husband and I just finished a shor...

2010-07-09T05:32:58.433-07:00

My videographer husband and I just finished a short called "Where Books Meet Olympic Spirit," in which a Paralympic gold medalist and I (2004 Olympian) chat about teaching life skills through sailing. The short accompanied my recent launch of "Cape Cod Surprise," and it was very well received at the launch party.

Editing the footage was an excellent visual example of what we writers try to do on the page: Get rid of the ums, ahs, repeated words, and stutters that in "real life" the listener takes for granted. In video and writing, such tics are a huge distraction.

As a nonfiction business writer, your post reminds...

2010-07-09T04:52:07.355-07:00

As a nonfiction business writer, your post reminds me that it's my job to add insights, tips and points of view not available to casual learning. Thanks! BTW, now I want to make beet soup...Must find farm fresh beets with greens!

This bodes not so well for those folks who like th...

2010-07-09T03:38:48.510-07:00

This bodes not so well for those folks who like their steaks rare.

That last part was pretty funny. Kudos for sense o...

2010-07-09T00:27:45.704-07:00

That last part was pretty funny. Kudos for sense of humor.

Also, the advice was well done. ;-) (Get it?)

I didn't like this analogy, though. So often t...

2010-07-08T22:28:31.965-07:00

I didn't like this analogy, though. So often these professional chefs make food that I can't stand.