tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post2280602765420915238..comments2024-01-19T13:24:15.734+00:00Comments on ::Acquired Taste: Tim Strettonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-7842930900233784762011-08-03T08:13:57.213+01:002011-08-03T08:13:57.213+01:00Donna, this post can only have set you up for disa...Donna, this post can only have set you up for disappointment once you come to read the final 472 pages...Tim Strettonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-68812465871475395252011-08-02T01:51:46.921+01:002011-08-02T01:51:46.921+01:00Aiyeee; I've only read through about 3 pages o...Aiyeee; I've only read through about 3 pages of Dog; just getting to Isola, in fact. One day soon, I hope to read straight through this novel, as it is engaging so far :)<br /><br />Perhaps you write women as we'd like to see ourselves, not as we are, and that's what makes them "well rounded" characters?<br /><br />Good thoughts :)<br /><br />.....dholedolorahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08715849844092553699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-40986367375673901362011-08-01T09:10:21.111+01:002011-08-01T09:10:21.111+01:00Frances, I wouldn't try a first person female ...Frances, I wouldn't try a first person female POV myself! My final abortive Mondia novel had an occasional female third person POV which I was finding an interesting challenge.<br /><br />Nevets, as you suggest, with characterisation as with everything else, the key is to make the reader do the work. The writer can hint and nudge--maybe even sledgehammer on occasion--but the story only exists in the reader's head.Tim Strettonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-32674579187344813942011-07-31T17:46:22.972+01:002011-07-31T17:46:22.972+01:00As writers we are at our best not when we portray ...As writers we are at our best not when we portray someone else, but when we get our readers started thinking about someone else. That requires not absolute comprehension but observation, empathy, and curiosity.<br /><br />In <i>Dog of the North</i>, I think one of the strengths is that your characters are not deliberately male and female. They are deliberately characters, some of whom are male and some of whom are female. There are some gender differences that play out, but they do so in a natural way. <br /><br />This is certainly a contrast when compared to writers who it seems sat down at say, "Well, it's jolly well time I put a girl into this thing."C. N. Nevetshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00375714948653196993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-68984223453233335672011-07-31T09:34:52.077+01:002011-07-31T09:34:52.077+01:00"...more important to be able to observe beha..."...more important to be able to observe behaviour that to understand it." That sums it up very well, Tim. The only problem comes when trying to write from an unfamiliar POV. I would never attempt a first person male. That, I know, would be competely beyond me!<br /><br />Or as the verification word would have it, fogic.Frances Garroodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10614916006798375706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-79965890569773242392011-07-31T08:26:22.661+01:002011-07-31T08:26:22.661+01:00You're right, Paul. No two cats are alike - b...You're right, Paul. No two cats are alike - but once you have one sussed it tends to stay sussed. Although some are only predictable in their unpredictability...Tim Strettonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-5437254982676275502011-07-31T00:51:53.811+01:002011-07-31T00:51:53.811+01:00Cats may be predictable individually, but as a gro...Cats may be predictable individually, but as a group they are as varied as women are. You learn from experience, but you never know when you first meet a cat that you will be sharing your peach yogurt with him or waving the laser pointer around so that she can chase it. <br /><br />We have one now that is devoted to the scientific method. Every new toy we give her is carried over to the track-ball to see if it will roll as well in the track as the ball. Off and on, she has been doing this for a decade.pecooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07808659105665044897noreply@blogger.com