Tuesday, October 14, 2008

creative writing ideas by nicole krauss: summary

Let me summarize my last posts on creative writing ideas gained from 'The History of Love'.
1. no antagonist
No antagonist / evil character / bad guy.
2. unconventional start
The very first sentence on the very first page should be eccentric / unconventional / unusual / uncommon.
3. the death topic
The very first sentence of 'The History of Love' refers to death: "When they write my obituary".
4. syncopated rhythm
The rhythm of 'The History of Love' is unusual / irregular / syncopated.
5. identifying with a character
The reader should identify / associate / affiliate oneself closely with a person or group. 'The History of Love' has even three such characters.
6. great sayings
Her ability to produce great sayings / aphorisms / maxims.

3 comments:

  1. jacob,
    what about just saying: 'the book is heart-rending' ?

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  2. Bella,
    Right. 'Moving', 'affecting', 'heartbreaking' - all these are synonyms of your feelings about the book.
    Still my point is gaining ideas / principles how exactly the author did it.

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  3. Very interesting and helpful website. Keep it up. I'm glad you dropped by my site and left a comment on my Nicole Krauss post.

    ReplyDelete