Yes! Stuff that evolves on re-reading or re-viewing is the best. I love things like that.
I haven't read the Vorkosigan books, though I probably will at some point, as they keep getting recommended to me.
[And yeah, there are many different kinds of spearpoints -- not just from the stories leading up to them, but also from various sorts of knowledge that the readers bring with them.]
Which is an interesting direction to come from; in some cases, the applicable skillset really isn't creating things whole-cloth, it's manipulating the ambient information. Which isn't without its pitfalls; you have to take a gamble on what people know, as well as how they feel about it. Like, with a few exceptions, fairytale retellings don't do much for me because I don't have the right emotional resonances. But for others, playing within those forms and doing new twists on them can be a way to establish character. And even if it's not something as specific as a fairytale character or an archetype... yeah.
[whereas having the author throw ~authorial love sparkles~ all over a character is a turnoff.]
Hahahaaa, WELL, YOU KNOW MY THOUGHTS ON THIS ONE. XD Having characters who get away with things by authorial fiat is another peeve of mine; I often point back to the adage that a really good way to drive up reader sympathy is to dial down the sympathy of the narration. I feel like dialling down the sympathy in the plotting helps, too.
I'm not actually sure what makes me fall for a character. I know I definitely have types – certain archetypes and character roles tend to show up a lot in my lists of favorite characters – but I also know that characters have to be rounded and surprising and contradictory and flawed and such, beyond those. Rich inner lives, a contrast between inner and outer lives...
There was an exercise I ran into, a while ago, that had you thinking about circumstances in which your character would lie. I kinda want to dig that up again.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2014-03-10 09:29 am (UTC)I haven't read the Vorkosigan books, though I probably will at some point, as they keep getting recommended to me.
[And yeah, there are many different kinds of spearpoints -- not just from the stories leading up to them, but also from various sorts of knowledge that the readers bring with them.]
Which is an interesting direction to come from; in some cases, the applicable skillset really isn't creating things whole-cloth, it's manipulating the ambient information. Which isn't without its pitfalls; you have to take a gamble on what people know, as well as how they feel about it. Like, with a few exceptions, fairytale retellings don't do much for me because I don't have the right emotional resonances. But for others, playing within those forms and doing new twists on them can be a way to establish character. And even if it's not something as specific as a fairytale character or an archetype... yeah.
[whereas having the author throw ~authorial love sparkles~ all over a character is a turnoff.]
Hahahaaa, WELL, YOU KNOW MY THOUGHTS ON THIS ONE. XD Having characters who get away with things by authorial fiat is another peeve of mine; I often point back to the adage that a really good way to drive up reader sympathy is to dial down the sympathy of the narration. I feel like dialling down the sympathy in the plotting helps, too.
I'm not actually sure what makes me fall for a character. I know I definitely have types – certain archetypes and character roles tend to show up a lot in my lists of favorite characters – but I also know that characters have to be rounded and surprising and contradictory and flawed and such, beyond those. Rich inner lives, a contrast between inner and outer lives...
There was an exercise I ran into, a while ago, that had you thinking about circumstances in which your character would lie. I kinda want to dig that up again.