posted
What I mean is, if I establish early on that this is not the world as we know it, would you balk at mentions of talking wind, or flying men, of sentient animals and near-omniscient--and very real, not just the imaginings of a primitive religion--gods?
I want to write a tall tale like I haven't read in a long time, the kind you'd hear around a campfire. Or, in the words of Raymond E. Feist, a "ripping good yarn."
Would that be too much?
I only ask because I keep imagining a dubious reader throwing down my novel (knock on wood, ) and going "Come on!"
Maybe I'm just paranoid.
edited to fix the smiley
[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited July 15, 2005).]
posted
I think as long as you create the rules for your own world- and keep to them, then everything should be fine. Some readers might not like something that far out- but then- most people who read Fantasy and SF are willing to read something like that.
I think as long as you keep to the rules of your world, and keep it interesting- a story can never be TOO far out there.
posted
I'll consider just about any crazy thing, until the author loses my credibility. When does that happen? As Shawshank pointed out, when a writer breaks thier own rules, then I say, "Aw, come on!"
Also, there has to be a reason for the fantastic element. Why is it there? Just for fun? Just for a colorful setting? Those reasons don't interest me at all.
quote:"You have wonderful ideas. Trust me, they're good," Card said. "Any one of them would make a story. If you believe in it and care about it, it will work."
Card explained how all stories stem from answering the question "why?" Stories explain the motivation behind characters' actions, and writers can make anything believable if they provide readers with details and reasons for why something happened, he said.
By the by, none of the ideas you mentioned sounded too out there. Go for it.
posted
I'm going to answer this differently. Suppose you wrote a story set in the year 5000. Try to imagine the tech they'd have. Now imagine explaining enough about it that the characters' answers make sense. These explanations might be enough to bog down the story.
posted
Yes. Make rules about what can and can't happen and don't ever break them. If you follow that, you can do anything in a fantasy, even make Dick Clark age.
Posts: 2 | Registered: Aug 2010
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posted
Have you seen Big Fish? That whole movie was a tall tale and it worked. Then again, it was about a guy who told tall tales and his son didn't believe him, but nevertheless, I think it still shows that tall tales can still be done and enjoyable.
Posts: 202 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Every story has an audience--even if it's an audience of ONE!
But given the size of the world and the number of people in it, it's likely that if you are interested in your story, someone else will be. Probably a lot of someone elses.
[This message has been edited by djvdakota (edited July 17, 2005).]
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) and going "Come on!"
