My writing group insisted that a falling bridge couldn't sigh. It was then that I knew, while they were all good people, they wouldn't help me grow as a writer
That's such a good description to me. The bridge sighed then fell into the ocean like a workman meeting his bed headfirst after one of those days with his boots still on his leg
Apparently, some people just don't care for such anthropomorphism, but I don't totally agree with them. That being said, I have no idea what a falling bridge sounds like, so I have no idea if that's an apt choice or not. But I know that that a thick tree breaking has a sort of "groan" to it, so a falling bridge sighing seems plausible, at least.
I think one needs a certain sensibility to really grasp "thisness." I noticed at the beginning of the video that synesthesia is also considered thisness. Nice to have a group who gets it.
A brilliant line, but I don’t think it’s an example of hacceity. As I understand the latter term (new to me, though the concept is not), it refers to close observation or imagining of the vivid, telling detail. The silk trousers, on the other hand, belong to the genre of the tall tale. It is a brilliant bit of comical simile or hyperbole. Not unlike those moments of inspired schoolyard invention of the type, “Your mama’s so fat, her dress size is Equator.”
'The more detail you give, the more palpable and visible the dream becomes'. Well, yes, but not exactly. There is a point of diminishing returns. The author, the artist, is required to find that point and sidle up to it yet never cross it, which would be at their peril. My rule is do enough to paint a picture, but no more. And I include kinetic motion along with it, bc I want that to be a moving picture-I want to create a movie in the reader's mind, not a painting. Once you create the picture, they have it, and they don't need more detail. More detail is unnecessary, superfluous, and can get in the way. Dashiel Hammett in the first scene in one of his novels went on and on about how a character was dressed. Really? What would be the advantage of me, the reader, learning that his tie is blue? I can already see the character. More detail gets in the way. Maybe I envision the tie as grey, or some other color. Hammett's ego correcting me only spoils the picture I already have. Just get on with the story, Dash. IOW, too much is too much. Writers like Chandler in the 40's (and he is my all-time favorite) had a tendency to overdo it, likely bc they saw the rise of their 'antagonist'-the movie industry. And they overdid it bc they were threatened by a medium with advantages the novel does not have. A ton of description pales against a camera shot. Of course a novel has advantages not available in film, such as narrative, and the fact that the reader gets to see their own 'visible dream' rather than that of the Director and Cinematographer. But The Big Sleep is now 85 years old. The threat of competing media is ubiquitous, and we can just accept it and avoid trying to battle it down. Instead, just write the best story you can (which Chandler did, over and over, despite all that).
@@tomlewis4748 detail can be amazing if done well, and adding to the character of the person. So it's not just a blue tie, but it's the same tie he strangled his mother with, for example.
"All the conspirators made off, and he lay there lifeless for some time, until finally three common slaves put him on a litter and carried him home, with one arm hanging down." Suetonius's description of the death of Caesar. Since Suetonius lived 100 years after Caesar, he could not possibly have witnessed the event personally, but that final detail - "with one arm hanging down" - brings the scene into sharp focus. I read this as a writing tip decades ago, and I have never forgotten this example. I didn't know there was a name for this writing technique until just now.
We don't really know enough about Suetonius' sources. Romans wrote a lot of letters, and some of them were fairly descriptive. But it's also possible that, as well as being famous for reporting all the juicy historical gossip, that Suetonius made stuff up. OTOH, striking details associated famous traumatic/dramatic events are exactly what people do tell and retell and write down.
@@suburbanbanshee - Even though Suetonius was not there to witness the murder and its aftermath, he can surely picture how it possibly (likely?) occurred in his mind. His description helps put _us_ there, though we were not, changing from an academic event into a human one.
Douglas Adams was great at this. Two quotes from his books live in my mind; "The spaceship hung in the air in the same way a brick doesn't" and "My mind is like the Queen Alexandria Butterfly, colorful, flutters out and about and is alas almost completely gone".
@@dirt_dert_durtIt works very well by itself but it’s also important to remember that they were described as brick-shaped prior to that particular line. So that line is also building on the image of a brick and contrasting that with the ships’ behavior.
Terry Pratchett was a master of this. Sometimes you read past that detail, that awesome little uppercut of a punchline, before realising it, and then it hits you and everyone on the bus wonders who the crazy bastard is and what he's reading.
Ахахах, мне тоже в голову сразу пришёл старина Терри с его уморительными образами 😂 Никому не советую слушать аудиокниги по Пратчетту гуляя вечером в чужом районе. Иначе быстро найдутся люди, которым станет очень интересно - а по какой такой причине у тебя с лица не сходит эта идиотская улыбка? А кто такой этот Ринсвинд? И почему, чёрт тебя побери, слово сундук вызывает этот ехидный и гнусный смешок?! И эти люди, о, это такие люди, чьё внимание не захотелось бы привлекать даже варварам пуп-земелья, крайне неприятные типы. Лучше уж складывать 2+6, 4+4, 7+1 в храме пожирателя душ, ведь по крайней мере есть вероятность, что может случиться так, что у тебя окажется в наличии фотоаппарат с очень мощной вспышкой, который поможет тебе отбиться от щупалец Шам'гаротта! С теми ребятами это не сработает. Я пробовал. Даже наоборот, это ещё сильнее их разозлит. Нет уж, спасибо! Дома почитаю!
The best similes are those which have layered meanings. “The streets teem and wriggle with life like a cheese filled with maggots” is fantastic because the maggots don’t just evoke wriggling motion; they evoke rot & disgust. This tells me a lot about the KIND of life teeming on the streets, and the writer’s opinion of them. Absolutely fabulous line.
Why on earth are you reading a book if you don't want to hear the story the author is telling? Description is a part of that, seeing the vision they place before you is a part of that. Writers don't exist to create blank slates just so that you can impose your own fantasies onto their stories.
To me it's most important when it happens. Don't introduce me to a new character and then wait half a book to let me know they have red hair to their waist (when I have started imagine them with black short hair or something). Or let me know a house is spectacular, and then in book 2 describe it for the first time and well it's a red castle with exactly 5 towers and green roofs.
@@angustheterrible3149I am a writer myself, but as a reader, I tend to remove and add in my mind details from a story as I see fit, so I don't really care for extensive descriptions. I read for my enjoyment so reading is very much like singing a song to me. The writer dictates the melody and the lyrics but I can still sing the song in any way I like.
I still remember reading Riki Tiki Tavi as a kid and the description of the cobra as it slid into the house with no more noise than a wasp walking on a windowpane still chills me.
That's what I'm talking about. Modern critics would tell you to just write "soundlessly" instead of wasting word count on all that description. But the description is what makes it.
But that's just the visual. What places Kipling above so many others in a pleasure of reading than surpasses the merely sensual, including the uncanny prose rhythm and sound forms in general that the visual and action are riding on, is the emotional transparency that makes it all available, but never overemotes.
I like to think of it as the essence of something. What makes a chair this chair, a dog this dog, a tree this tree, a person this person. Put that quality into words and it becomes beautifully descriptive.
Makes me think of analogs. That the essence of something can manifest in the form we know it, or in an entirely different form or medium. What would fire be like if it could only be expressed through ink? Or snakes? Or words?
Like everything really. Everything, even good things, need to be done in moderation. Otherwise, over-use robs them of their speciality and becomes mundane and normal.
Agree. You can’t get too heavy with the sprinkles. Raymond Chandler has just the right touch. (Though I have never cared for his plots, but I’m addicted to his sprinkles)
That was excellent. Not only do telling details introduce 'thisness' but they can describe the world as the character sees it, drawing attention to what he or she finds particular rather than merely providing an overview for the reader. For me, it's an important part of putting the reader amidst the action, rather than stuck in the stalls and seeing events unfold like a play.
The importance of specificity cannot be understated, and I do love the idea of calling it "thisness", it feels like a thing that describes itself in that way. Thisness will always help you as you're developing your story. However, in my experience a lack of Thisness only truly plagues writers who have big BIG ideas, who are slamming them down onto paper without care for how to root them into the reality of their storyworld. But for many writers I do also encounter the opposite problem, where ALL they have is Thisness and their story is in fact very confused about what it even is. I tend to find these are also the hardest stories to critique, because it's a hard pill to swallow that one's story is directionless, vs the bones are good but everything's too vague. The hard fact is, you can make a good story specific, but you can't specify your way into a good story.
Yeah, I have big ideas and a good story. And unfortunately also ADHD and not much experience. I have some too vague parts, some rich and vivid parts. Also big structural issues with the story (weak middle, major antagonist introduced and defeated in last chapter). Mostly because I didn't plan my fic properly, too excited to write and post my story before I knew the whole plot 😅
I would probably benefit from rewriting it with an experienced fanfic writer or editor/beta reader. Maybe someday. At least I have gotten over my imposter syndrome. At the beginning I felt the story deserved to be written by a better writer than me. But no, nobody could have written the story I wrote even if I gave them my plot and character ideas. It just deserves to be told better by me.
It's a common technique in American private detective novels in the early twentieth century; it was so common it was emphasized in parodies of those stories decades later.
I recall hearing a disparaging book review on NPR when I was a teenager. It cited the frequent use of distracting metaphors. It gave as an example a situation where a person came out of a courthouse swarmed by reporters, to the point where there were multiple news helicopters filming the event. The author described this as a "Vietnam of helicopters". That phrase stuck in my mind.
I think sometimes a writing technique can overly distract from what is happening. For instance, if a majorly dramatic and active event happens in a book, i cant help but find myself reading faster as i get stressed with the main characters. If something is being written too indirectly at that point, it can be frustrating.
You make a good point. Without specific details, it could be any room, so what makes it *this* room. The details were great for conjuring medieval Oxford and made the story feel intriguing.
Aahhh.....too-muchness. Yet I find my desires unsatiated, my heart burdened with the knowledge I once sought. Assailed night and day by the noise, of the much-too-effing-muchness for my humble and astute taste. As a hungry sow offered manure and noise for breakfast. I oft find myself agitated and perplexed. Like I imagine a middle aged autistic at a Taylor Swift concert. As an ant stuck in honey. It's just too too much. This. Thisness of too-muchedness. Ti's a cruel glut. A torturous surplus. I weep. Pitiful as a spoilt child. In desolation at the sheer quantity of the feaces....
Thisness is also very important in the other direction, I have found - often, when I am reviewing my writing, the most unnatural phrases and observations are the ones that are true, but that the character whose eyes I'm looking through for the moment wouldn't ever pick up on. Omission can be as powerful as inclusion in these cases.
Jane Austen loves to tell us what the characters don't know. Like there's this line in Northanger Abbey (which as a whole book is an amazing example of this) that goes something like "By the end of the conversation Eleanor had learned a great deal about her new friend and her feelings towards her brother without Catherine having any knowledge of having shared it" At another point she's sharing her personal _good_ opinions about some popular novels of the time then shortly after has another character talk down about the same books she herself (Jane Austen as narrator) has just praised, then followed that with something like: "Catherine, having never had to chance to encounter such wonderous works herself, could not speak to the justice of this criticism." We learn from this that the other character is in fact, a dunce with bad opinions, while the main character, Catherine, is entirely oblivious.
Just stumbled on this video, great subject! I remember when I first realized in my teens how effective "thisness" could be. In Stephen King's It there's a dream sequence where he describes the sky in the dream as being the color of an old penny. And it hit me how specific that color, that pale and sickly corrosion green, is, and how that simple six-word description put such a specific and powerful image of color in my mind. It was a simple and basic example, but so effective. I resolved then and there to be as specific as possible with my word choice...never was good enough to get a word of fiction published, either, but the lesson holds, haha. Thanks for the reminder!
Now, see, that's the problem. I would take it as a dirty blackened orange, because that's as old of a penny as I usually see. Pennies aren't really all that coppered, anymore, so they probably will never turn green. Famously, Neuromancer has the same problem. The first line is "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." So does he mean static? Or does he mean bluescreen? Or does he mean black nothing? Neil Gaiman goofed on this in Neverwhere, as have several other writers.
@@suburbanbanshee I guess that for Gibson, the line still somewhat works because it's making an association between the sky and an electronic appliance (the television screen), and adding a feeling of dullness and emptiness to the mix (the dead channel). In that way, the line still works. On the other hand, when Gibson wrote the book the only way to interpret that line was "static grey", so the line also added an element of concreteness: the sky is grey. That part has been lost. I guess the same thing holds for the sky that is the color of an old penny: the actual color might not be well defined, but it still gives me the idea of a sky with a metallic and corroded feel to it.
I remember watching someone analyze Bill Burr's stand-up comedy and they came to a similar conclusion - Bill makes people laugh by providing details at the right moment. When he talks about a sinking ship leaving no traces, he says: "Well, maybe a flip flop. Or an Ed Hardy shirt." I have no idea who Ed Hardy is a but it still worked.
Ed Hardy is an artist who work was mostly in tattoos. You can Google his name and see many examples. I think it was in the 90s or early 2000s that t shirts with his designs on them became briefly popular. Tacky and bold.
True. There is his bit about the mad murderer chasing him through the bedroom and it's already funny but everyone completely breaks when he says: "... with his sickle."
I'm doing a documentary about domestic violence and I'm now in the editing phase. From the very beginning, I intuited that I needed specifics. 'She used to hit me with household items' is somehow vague. However, 'once she took an ashtray, hit me in the nose and I started bleeding. I went upstairs to run away from her and accidentally saw myself in the mirror, my blood soaking my old Nike shirt I kept for indoor use on hot days, and that's when I realise I needed to get out. Sometimes I smell a cigarette and I recall the incident and my bloody Nike shirt'. These are the kind of testimonies that grounded things. As it turns out, these are the kind of specifics some professionals use to tell a real claim from a fake one, and specifica are the thing that make victims realise they're in deep trouble and simply must get out. If it wasn't for the reflection of a Nike shirt, 'she often hit me' wasn't enough to raise an alarm. I guess humans are wired for thisness.
700 years ago? You must be old. This is such a nice video. The one thing about thisness is that it when done poorly, there is absolutely nothing more detracting. Honeysuckle was beautiful, "Even the mice complained of overcrowding", Such vivid prose, transfering you there emotionally.
Brilliant video. But one must also be aware that not every instance needs a firecracker, or a chandelier illuminating the place. Sometimes, a feeble candle is what a place needs...
@@mrosskne its alright TBH, I was pretty sleepy when I wrote that, and I agree it's pretty badly written. I'm an author who has studied in Oxford University with a few critically acclaimed books published by penguin though.
@@therightfulobstacle8297 No, you were wide awake and you were putting in 100% of your effort to try and impress people on youtube. You're a terrible writer.
I just thought of some of the descriptive passages you spoke of-it occurs to me they invoke the concept of synesthesia, the state where the stimulus of one sense sparks sensations of ANOTHER sense-such as when the female character's perfume was described as smelling like "the sight of the Taj Mahal" (i.e., luxurious and grandly inviting).
Agreed. They also reminded me of Douglas Adams, who loved employing such broken logic as "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."
A lesson in thisness so beautifully told that the listeners would never dream of pestering their readers with a sentence dull as bureaucrat's mind ever again.
When I read fellowship of the ring for the first time, I was annoyed at all the descriptions of scenery. I couldn't care less because I just wanted to get to the story bit. But I often think about Lord of the Rings, even though I read it years ago, because the detailed memories of those descriptions are burned into my mind. So glad I read it, I feel like I could connect to that land so much, it's weird to think that all those places don't exist. That there is no such thing as Hobbiton.
Oh man tell me about it. That Tom Bombadill chapter was basically torture. _So_ boring. If you edited out the interminable descriptions of vegetation, stone forts and grass, I’m fairly certain you could fit the lot into a single short novella.
Alexis Kennedy of Cultist Simulator and Sunless Seas fame is the only games writer I've come across that utilises thisness - his descriptions of things are brilliant. Take Health's tooltip, for example; "This is my body. There are other bodies, but this one is mine, and my mind needs it as a fungus needs soil"
Another really good one, for the codex 'De Bellis Murorum': "The poem elliptically describes a war between beasts, weather phenomena, and arcane concepts. It's quite specific about their tactics."
How's this for a crazy coincidence? I once made my living writing for a local newspaper, back when people still read those things to keep abreast of current events before the all-seeing eye of social media turned its gaze upon us. I had a talent for it and people would ask if I was ever going to write a novel because, obviously, that's what all journalists really want to do, right? Well, fast forward about three decades, through a different career and life's little escapades, and here I find myself wanting to get back into the game. I'm as rusty as a tin bucket, overflowing with ideas, but lacking in the mentor department. All those writer friends from my younger years have taken disparate paths that have never yet led back to mine. A sympathetic mind nowhere to be found. And then, from somewhere out of the ether, this little video popped up in my feed, like a fluffy parachute seed of serendipity blown by a gentle wind. God must have smiled at me today. And you've got yourself a new subscriber. Happy writing!
"I know oxen are castrated but this one hasn't been done yet." I have a curiosity with language so I went to check this. According to search engines, an ox is a castrated bull. A steer is also a castrated bull, but is two to three years younger than an ox. But the first few sites I looked at stated that _oxen_ could refer to male or females (but rarely females). Then I discovered a heifer is a female that hasn't given birth yet and after she's given birth she's referred to as a cow. I wish I'd had this curiosity when I was a youth. I was fascinated in my early twenties when I discovered what I'd been referring to as "cows" were actually "cattle," although I understand why "cows" was generally used. Language is fascinating.
Wow, now I've learned that "Urine used to be a valuable commodity. In the past, some societies used it for fertilizing crops, tanning leather, washing clothes and producing gunpowder." The more you know.
Because of your comment I suddenly realize, as the protagonist is a friar, he might refers the 'castrated ozen' refers to the other friars, while 'this one hasn't been done yet' perhaps also refer to himself and his 'unholy' desires.
This is exactly the thing I’ve sought in books and tried to replicate in my own writing. It’s taken twenty years for someone to tell me what it’s called. Thanks.
OH MY GOD. You have opened a whole new world of communication, learning, possibilities and meaning itself to be allowing to me watch this masterpiece and goldmine of a video of a mere nine minutes and five seconds.
I remember the first time this clicked. I had a novelette I hadn't touched in months. I had left off mid-sentence, and when I recommenced and finished it, I could tell a clear dividing line between before and after. Eventually, a found a way of balancing description with concision. I try to come up with descriptors that imply others that can be left unwritten. As a result I can (try to) write dense prose without dragging the pace down. I think modulating this can be a way to control the flow of time as well. When you really want a feeling or idea to linger, you can get more verbose with the description.
I call it 'Painting with words" You have done me a service, and I thank you... you have verified something I've always thought was a defect in my writing. Duns Scotus was also a mystical philosopher, wasn't he? I've run into his name so many times!
I would not tag Duns Scotus as a "mystical" thinker. Rather, he was extremely conceptualist and intricate in his reasoning. You can evaluate it first-hand by trying to read all in a row (😂) the following passage from his treatise De primo principio: "Also, I say that although things other than God are actually contingent as regards their actual existence, this is not true with regard to potential existence. Wherefore, those things which are said to be contingent with reference to actual existence are necessary with respect to potential existence. Thus, though "Man exists" is contingent, "It is possible for man to exist" is necessary, because it does not include a contradiction as regards existence. For, for something other than God to be possible, then, is necessary. Being is divided into what must exist and what can but need not be. And just as necessity is of the very essence or constitution of what must be, so possibility is of the very essence of what can but need not be. Therefore, let the former argument be couched in terms of possible being and the propositions will become necessary. Thus: It is possible that something other than God exist which neither exists of itself (for then it would not be possible being) nor exists by reason of nothing. Therefore, it can exist by reason of another. Either this other can both exist and act in virtue of itself and not in virtue of another, or it cannot do so. If it can, then it can be the first cause, and if it can exist, it does exist-as was proved above. If it cannot [both be and act independently of every other thing] and there is no infinite regress, then at some point we end up [with a first cause]."
Your vid is like the sparkling eye of a dead dolphin on toast served to a Parisian dwarf who has a flair for felching. I think i might need to work on my thisness but thank you for another great vid 👍
Proust had a line about driving up to a lavish estate, where he mentions a "vault of oaks", and it's funny how that stuck with me, out of everything. I remember someone saying that Tolstoy (a son of the "pure and simple" school, like Hemingway and Gide, in stark contrast to Proust's elegant intricacies) was a great master of understatement, when it came to description, particularly of characters; he would give only the sparsest outline, and leave the rest to the reader's imagination. I suppose, that is part of why reading endures, despite the rise of cinema, - and why cinema, with the ability to provide vivid, instant, thorough detail, so often opts for ambiguity. The French director, Besson, liked to gratify the eye, but not the ear, or else the ear, but not the eye, making a lot of use out of withholding, and keeping the audience in suspense; showing what they want to hear, telling what they want to see. It draws you in, as literature does, making you invest, work for it, and be more than a passive witness. Anyway, we all need to find what works for us, as individuals. I don't subscribe to formulas. What did Blake say, about the lion not asking the horse how he should take his prey?
One awesome instance of thisness that really sticks in me is in a song called Satan in the Wait by Daughters: "That Bastard had a head like a matchstick, shaped like he was suckin concrete from a straw", an awesome and funny descriptor of an intensely unfortunate looking man that brings the image to mind almost immediately. Thats a lotta thisness right there.
I remember Chapter 1 of "Gone the Wind" Marge Mitchell spent 12-15 pages describing 'Tara' and another 8 delving into the characterisation of Gerald O'Harra who loved the land like another child and instilled the same passion into Scarlett. Later in the novel when it comes down to Scarlett doing absolutely anything to save it. The reader can have no qualms- something so loved should be saved after all.
WOW! Thank you thank you for the word AND for the James Woods quote!! This is a quality I've tried talking about to fellow writers (in film) and friends who are avid moviegoers and/or readers. Ineffable specialness (etc) that hits home deeply while being, sometimes, all but invisible . Soooo vital, yet so hard to create, as well as teach. At least to me. But, when it happens, we say, "yes, that's IT". OR, in plain ol' plain talk: Boy, that sure hit the spot!!
The way you wrote that story with such detail and specificity worked so well that my attention got lost in the weeds of it almost immediately and I started reading the comment section rather than listening
An excellent video. (0:20) You look FANTASTIC for a 700-year-old man. (3:06) I feel like you're holding back on us. You should tap into your real feelings about Oxford in 1288. (5:25) This is why AI chatbots will never replace true artists. (7:54) I looked it up and, for those of you who were curious, bribery DID exist in 1288. It was invented just prior by King Edmund, which is why they changed his nickname from "The Disemboweler" to "The Magnificent".
Stumbled across your video and love the lesson taught! I'm writing my first novel and thinking about how "thisness" can bring my writing to life. I particularly enjoyed your story of Dun Scotus. It evoked a sense of a living, breathing, writhing and stinking medieval world. The narrator's humour was perfect, and the twists highly amusing. The sad ending lingers on in the mind well after the story has finished. In the span of less than a thousand words you caused me to feel many things. Thanks for sharing.
Many thanks! The moment I read your comment a line from a song came on Spotify saying 'I've been reading Browning...' (Home thoughts from abroad - Clifford T. Ward) Synchronicity!
I enjoyed reading the comments as much as I enjoyed the video. All the thoughtful writing here marks you all out as thoughtful writers, whether presently published or still to come.
Watching this felt like finding a lost jigsaw piece. I always wondered why good descriptions could be so poignant yet succinct; this answers my question.
As I've started writing more about my experiences in a public forum, I've started receiving compliments on my writing style. I think it's because I try to use words in a way that crafts a specific image, to use language to the best of my ability to show the reader the world from my eyes. My desire to be understood with specificity, to share my perspective, has been my motivation to seek to better my skills as guiding the dream.
I absolutely adored this video and the advice in it. I loved the lines about the market wriggling like maggots in cheese, and the rats wearing silk trousers. However, I did find the use of AI art really jarring. So many of the details had the “off” look that AI has (not to mention AI steals from and profits off creativity) I’d rather plain text on the screen and a chance to have my own dream to your beautiful words. Thank you for sharing
You are doing a great job! Keep uploading more. I am working on a novella without any hopes of finishing the draft. And your videos came to the rescue.
The forget-me-not was coincidently in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5. He reads the words: "You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart." And feels yet more guilt for breaking his vows.
Patrick Rothfuss does this incredibly well. His description is so poetic & metaphoric, but draws you in as opposed to seeming overdone and pulling you out of the dream - I highly recommend "The Kingkiller Chronicles".
I don't know much about professional writing or the types of styles, bur i found this incredibly informative and interesting! Love your voice and thanks for a great video!
Kirkus Reviews is known for harsh criticism and also for certain high-minded vocabularies; so when I received this line of review I was uncertain of its true intent... "An engrossing, if sometimes overly talkative, tale of a groundbreaking inventor." Or this from another novel of mine... "An ambitious, if dense, tale of a profound friendship." I was told that being described as "dense" in this fashion is NOT a negative. And I had to wonder if "Overly Talkative" is again Not a profound knock on my abilities. After your description here, I find I may have stumbled into THISNESS and now Reviewers have a new challenge for their need to dole out the harshness. Thank You for this Epiphany.
“The ships hung in the sky in the same way that bricks don’t “ - Douglas Adams, who along with Pratchett taught me to love language instead of feeling stupid and embarrassed and ashamed of being very dyslexic and what that meant in the 80’s
My writing group insisted that a falling bridge couldn't sigh. It was then that I knew, while they were all good people, they wouldn't help me grow as a writer
That's such a good description to me.
The bridge sighed then fell into the ocean like a workman meeting his bed headfirst after one of those days with his boots still on his leg
Lol are they anti metaphors also
That's such an evocative description.
You were right about the writing group.
Apparently, some people just don't care for such anthropomorphism, but I don't totally agree with them.
That being said, I have no idea what a falling bridge sounds like, so I have no idea if that's an apt choice or not.
But I know that that a thick tree breaking has a sort of "groan" to it, so a falling bridge sighing seems plausible, at least.
I think one needs a certain sensibility to really grasp "thisness." I noticed at the beginning of the video that synesthesia is also considered thisness. Nice to have a group who gets it.
"When we create fiction, we create a guided dream in the reader's mind."
"The rats are so bold they wear silk trousers." I love this line lmao
A brilliant line, but I don’t think it’s an example of hacceity. As I understand the latter term (new to me, though the concept is not), it refers to close observation or imagining of the vivid, telling detail. The silk trousers, on the other hand, belong to the genre of the tall tale. It is a brilliant bit of comical simile or hyperbole. Not unlike those moments of inspired schoolyard invention of the type, “Your mama’s so fat, her dress size is Equator.”
it's pretty dire.
I think we wear them pretty well, personally.
If I remember anything from this, its that line. Excellent advice though, i subscribed now.
@@a_rat_named_mouse If this was a Rat Roundup, Grimbeard would certainly award his highest rating of "GOOD."
New to thisness. I love thisness. I've been doing thisness without knowing thisness was thatness.
underrated comment
Love this(ness)!
exactliness
😂😂Legend
I’m going to stick with the otherness for now.
"When we write, we create a guided dream in the reader's mind."
Wow! Love that. You make some excellent videos, sir.
Hey thanks very much, I really appreciate it!
It is exactly its' best use.
'The more detail you give, the more palpable and visible the dream becomes'.
Well, yes, but not exactly. There is a point of diminishing returns. The author, the artist, is required to find that point and sidle up to it yet never cross it, which would be at their peril.
My rule is do enough to paint a picture, but no more. And I include kinetic motion along with it, bc I want that to be a moving picture-I want to create a movie in the reader's mind, not a painting. Once you create the picture, they have it, and they don't need more detail.
More detail is unnecessary, superfluous, and can get in the way. Dashiel Hammett in the first scene in one of his novels went on and on about how a character was dressed. Really? What would be the advantage of me, the reader, learning that his tie is blue? I can already see the character. More detail gets in the way. Maybe I envision the tie as grey, or some other color. Hammett's ego correcting me only spoils the picture I already have. Just get on with the story, Dash.
IOW, too much is too much. Writers like Chandler in the 40's (and he is my all-time favorite) had a tendency to overdo it, likely bc they saw the rise of their 'antagonist'-the movie industry. And they overdid it bc they were threatened by a medium with advantages the novel does not have. A ton of description pales against a camera shot.
Of course a novel has advantages not available in film, such as narrative, and the fact that the reader gets to see their own 'visible dream' rather than that of the Director and Cinematographer. But The Big Sleep is now 85 years old. The threat of competing media is ubiquitous, and we can just accept it and avoid trying to battle it down. Instead, just write the best story you can (which Chandler did, over and over, despite all that).
@@tomlewis4748 detail can be amazing if done well, and adding to the character of the person. So it's not just a blue tie, but it's the same tie he strangled his mother with, for example.
"All the conspirators made off, and he lay there lifeless for some time, until finally three common slaves put him on a litter and carried him home, with one arm hanging down." Suetonius's description of the death of Caesar. Since Suetonius lived 100 years after Caesar, he could not possibly have witnessed the event personally, but that final detail - "with one arm hanging down" - brings the scene into sharp focus. I read this as a writing tip decades ago, and I have never forgotten this example. I didn't know there was a name for this writing technique until just now.
We don't really know enough about Suetonius' sources. Romans wrote a lot of letters, and some of them were fairly descriptive. But it's also possible that, as well as being famous for reporting all the juicy historical gossip, that Suetonius made stuff up.
OTOH, striking details associated famous traumatic/dramatic events are exactly what people do tell and retell and write down.
I think it's a bit extraneous after the "for some time" which gives some good pathos. Maybe it scans better in Latin
@@suburbanbanshee - Even though Suetonius was not there to witness the murder and its aftermath, he can surely picture how it possibly (likely?) occurred in his mind. His description helps put _us_ there, though we were not, changing from an academic event into a human one.
Nice.
Wow. Love this, thank you for sharing!
Douglas Adams was great at this. Two quotes from his books live in my mind; "The spaceship hung in the air in the same way a brick doesn't" and "My mind is like the Queen Alexandria Butterfly, colorful, flutters out and about and is alas almost completely gone".
The only thing that went through the head of the bowl of petunias as it fell was "Oh no, not again"
One of my favorite writers 😂
That spaceship brick line blew my mind the first time I read it
If I could have a wish granted, it would be to be able to read the 'trilogy' again for the first time.
@@dirt_dert_durtIt works very well by itself but it’s also important to remember that they were described as brick-shaped prior to that particular line. So that line is also building on the image of a brick and contrasting that with the ships’ behavior.
Terry Pratchett was a master of this. Sometimes you read past that detail, that awesome little uppercut of a punchline, before realising it, and then it hits you and everyone on the bus wonders who the crazy bastard is and what he's reading.
Exactly what I thought while watching this video. Love the discworld.
Me too; Pratchett 's the best! I prefer to read him in English, but the Norwegian translation was'nt half bad.
Discworld is pretty much all this.
Chuck Palahniuk has gotten me in a similar position
Ахахах, мне тоже в голову сразу пришёл старина Терри с его уморительными образами 😂
Никому не советую слушать аудиокниги по Пратчетту гуляя вечером в чужом районе. Иначе быстро найдутся люди, которым станет очень интересно - а по какой такой причине у тебя с лица не сходит эта идиотская улыбка? А кто такой этот Ринсвинд? И почему, чёрт тебя побери, слово сундук вызывает этот ехидный и гнусный смешок?! И эти люди, о, это такие люди, чьё внимание не захотелось бы привлекать даже варварам пуп-земелья, крайне неприятные типы. Лучше уж складывать 2+6, 4+4, 7+1 в храме пожирателя душ, ведь по крайней мере есть вероятность, что может случиться так, что у тебя окажется в наличии фотоаппарат с очень мощной вспышкой, который поможет тебе отбиться от щупалец Шам'гаротта! С теми ребятами это не сработает. Я пробовал. Даже наоборот, это ещё сильнее их разозлит. Нет уж, спасибо! Дома почитаю!
The best similes are those which have layered meanings. “The streets teem and wriggle with life like a cheese filled with maggots” is fantastic because the maggots don’t just evoke wriggling motion; they evoke rot & disgust. This tells me a lot about the KIND of life teeming on the streets, and the writer’s opinion of them. Absolutely fabulous line.
Descriptive writing is nice in moderation. I find that as a reader I don't like my imagination to be reconfigured much, so it has to be done smoothly.
I agree. Too much, in this overstuffed prose. It gets boring.
So, you're saying tell me the story but don't be overly descriptive, so you can use more of your own imagination?
Why on earth are you reading a book if you don't want to hear the story the author is telling? Description is a part of that, seeing the vision they place before you is a part of that. Writers don't exist to create blank slates just so that you can impose your own fantasies onto their stories.
To me it's most important when it happens.
Don't introduce me to a new character and then wait half a book to let me know they have red hair to their waist (when I have started imagine them with black short hair or something).
Or let me know a house is spectacular, and then in book 2 describe it for the first time and well it's a red castle with exactly 5 towers and green roofs.
@@angustheterrible3149I am a writer myself, but as a reader, I tend to remove and add in my mind details from a story as I see fit, so I don't really care for extensive descriptions. I read for my enjoyment so reading is very much like singing a song to me. The writer dictates the melody and the lyrics but I can still sing the song in any way I like.
I still remember reading Riki Tiki Tavi as a kid and the description of the cobra as it slid into the house with no more noise than a wasp walking on a windowpane still chills me.
Yeah read it in school
Rudyard Kipling in The Jungle Book works this technique to perfection. It is one of my all time favourite books even now that I am an adult
That's what I'm talking about. Modern critics would tell you to just write "soundlessly" instead of wasting word count on all that description. But the description is what makes it.
But that's just the visual. What places Kipling above so many others in a pleasure of reading than surpasses the merely sensual, including the uncanny prose rhythm and sound forms in general that the visual and action are riding on, is the emotional transparency that makes it all available, but never overemotes.
That is beautifully sinister!
I like to think of it as the essence of something. What makes a chair this chair, a dog this dog, a tree this tree, a person this person. Put that quality into words and it becomes beautifully descriptive.
Excellent guidance. Thank you.
Interesting that you say that. I paint pictures and am always asking myself what makes this vase or cup or flower different from any other?
Makes me think of analogs. That the essence of something can manifest in the form we know it, or in an entirely different form or medium. What would fire be like if it could only be expressed through ink? Or snakes? Or words?
@@kenneth1767there is something to be said for crossing disciplines
Thisness lightly and sparsely sprinkled can be very effective - although, it can, however, be overdone.
Like everything really. Everything, even good things, need to be done in moderation. Otherwise, over-use robs them of their speciality and becomes mundane and normal.
Agree. You can’t get too heavy with the sprinkles. Raymond Chandler has just the right touch. (Though I have never cared for his plots, but I’m addicted to his sprinkles)
Agreed. Chandler’s “like a man who has just won a pie eating contest” sounds like a strong Bulwer-Lytton Contest entry.
Then it's called Literature. (Capital intentional.)
Minimalism is gay as hell.
That was excellent. Not only do telling details introduce 'thisness' but they can describe the world as the character sees it, drawing attention to what he or she finds particular rather than merely providing an overview for the reader. For me, it's an important part of putting the reader amidst the action, rather than stuck in the stalls and seeing events unfold like a play.
That's exactly right, the reader participates in the dream rather than observes it
Didn't m.twain do this in huk fin? The scene where Huck is spreading pigs blood, nasty scene,
Great observation! William Gibson practices 'Thisness' in his writing; it's what makes his imagined futures feel so real.
The importance of specificity cannot be understated, and I do love the idea of calling it "thisness", it feels like a thing that describes itself in that way. Thisness will always help you as you're developing your story. However, in my experience a lack of Thisness only truly plagues writers who have big BIG ideas, who are slamming them down onto paper without care for how to root them into the reality of their storyworld. But for many writers I do also encounter the opposite problem, where ALL they have is Thisness and their story is in fact very confused about what it even is. I tend to find these are also the hardest stories to critique, because it's a hard pill to swallow that one's story is directionless, vs the bones are good but everything's too vague. The hard fact is, you can make a good story specific, but you can't specify your way into a good story.
Excellent comment.
Yeah, I have big ideas and a good story. And unfortunately also ADHD and not much experience. I have some too vague parts, some rich and vivid parts. Also big structural issues with the story (weak middle, major antagonist introduced and defeated in last chapter). Mostly because I didn't plan my fic properly, too excited to write and post my story before I knew the whole plot 😅
I would probably benefit from rewriting it with an experienced fanfic writer or editor/beta reader. Maybe someday.
At least I have gotten over my imposter syndrome. At the beginning I felt the story deserved to be written by a better writer than me. But no, nobody could have written the story I wrote even if I gave them my plot and character ideas. It just deserves to be told better by me.
Plenty of garlands and nothing to drape them on …
I can now see why the author of "My Immortal" used such detailed descriptions when it came to the clothing
True art
Finally someone not disregarding a good description!
It's a common technique in American private detective novels in the early twentieth century; it was so common it was emphasized in parodies of those stories decades later.
Guy Noir: "She wore jeans so tight you could see a dime in her back pocket. It was heads."
I recall hearing a disparaging book review on NPR when I was a teenager. It cited the frequent use of distracting metaphors. It gave as an example a situation where a person came out of a courthouse swarmed by reporters, to the point where there were multiple news helicopters filming the event.
The author described this as a "Vietnam of helicopters".
That phrase stuck in my mind.
What an excellent metaphor. That critic sounds envious to me.
I think sometimes a writing technique can overly distract from what is happening. For instance, if a majorly dramatic and active event happens in a book, i cant help but find myself reading faster as i get stressed with the main characters. If something is being written too indirectly at that point, it can be frustrating.
A Wimbledon of courts
A Government of fk ups
Shit that's a truism sorry
You make a good point. Without specific details, it could be any room, so what makes it *this* room. The details were great for conjuring medieval Oxford and made the story feel intriguing.
The irony of using AI generated images while explaining how to add humanity to your book-
I see that it’s not just about specificity but about boldness in specificity.
Thy cup of _thisness_ runneth over with _toomuchness._
. . . most verily it doth.
Agreed
Aahhh.....too-muchness.
Yet I find my desires unsatiated, my heart burdened with the knowledge I once sought.
Assailed night and day by the noise, of the much-too-effing-muchness for my humble and astute taste.
As a hungry sow offered manure and noise for breakfast.
I oft find myself agitated and perplexed.
Like I imagine a middle aged autistic at a Taylor Swift concert.
As an ant stuck in honey.
It's just too too much.
This.
Thisness of too-muchedness.
Ti's a cruel glut.
A torturous surplus.
I weep.
Pitiful as a spoilt child.
In desolation at the sheer quantity of the feaces....
@@benjaminjones5029 This.
This! 😂😂😂
Thisness is also very important in the other direction, I have found - often, when I am reviewing my writing, the most unnatural phrases and observations are the ones that are true, but that the character whose eyes I'm looking through for the moment wouldn't ever pick up on. Omission can be as powerful as inclusion in these cases.
Jane Austen loves to tell us what the characters don't know. Like there's this line in Northanger Abbey (which as a whole book is an amazing example of this) that goes something like "By the end of the conversation Eleanor had learned a great deal about her new friend and her feelings towards her brother without Catherine having any knowledge of having shared it"
At another point she's sharing her personal _good_ opinions about some popular novels of the time then shortly after has another character talk down about the same books she herself (Jane Austen as narrator) has just praised, then followed that with something like: "Catherine, having never had to chance to encounter such wonderous works herself, could not speak to the justice of this criticism." We learn from this that the other character is in fact, a dunce with bad opinions, while the main character, Catherine, is entirely oblivious.
Just stumbled on this video, great subject! I remember when I first realized in my teens how effective "thisness" could be. In Stephen King's It there's a dream sequence where he describes the sky in the dream as being the color of an old penny. And it hit me how specific that color, that pale and sickly corrosion green, is, and how that simple six-word description put such a specific and powerful image of color in my mind. It was a simple and basic example, but so effective. I resolved then and there to be as specific as possible with my word choice...never was good enough to get a word of fiction published, either, but the lesson holds, haha. Thanks for the reminder!
Now, see, that's the problem. I would take it as a dirty blackened orange, because that's as old of a penny as I usually see. Pennies aren't really all that coppered, anymore, so they probably will never turn green.
Famously, Neuromancer has the same problem. The first line is "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." So does he mean static? Or does he mean bluescreen? Or does he mean black nothing?
Neil Gaiman goofed on this in Neverwhere, as have several other writers.
@@suburbanbanshee I guess that for Gibson, the line still somewhat works because it's making an association between the sky and an electronic appliance (the television screen), and adding a feeling of dullness and emptiness to the mix (the dead channel). In that way, the line still works.
On the other hand, when Gibson wrote the book the only way to interpret that line was "static grey", so the line also added an element of concreteness: the sky is grey. That part has been lost.
I guess the same thing holds for the sky that is the color of an old penny: the actual color might not be well defined, but it still gives me the idea of a sky with a metallic and corroded feel to it.
That “Guided Dream” is a really fun way to think, and believe in your writing
I remember watching someone analyze Bill Burr's stand-up comedy and they came to a similar conclusion - Bill makes people laugh by providing details at the right moment. When he talks about a sinking ship leaving no traces, he says: "Well, maybe a flip flop. Or an Ed Hardy shirt." I have no idea who Ed Hardy is a but it still worked.
Ed Hardy is an artist who work was mostly in tattoos. You can Google his name and see many examples. I think it was in the 90s or early 2000s that t shirts with his designs on them became briefly popular. Tacky and bold.
And much like the sunken ship, hardly ever to be seen again.
@@edwarddodge7937who?
@@bobs8005 who?
True. There is his bit about the mad murderer chasing him through the bedroom and it's already funny but everyone completely breaks when he says: "... with his sickle."
I'm doing a documentary about domestic violence and I'm now in the editing phase. From the very beginning, I intuited that I needed specifics. 'She used to hit me with household items' is somehow vague. However, 'once she took an ashtray, hit me in the nose and I started bleeding. I went upstairs to run away from her and accidentally saw myself in the mirror, my blood soaking my old Nike shirt I kept for indoor use on hot days, and that's when I realise I needed to get out. Sometimes I smell a cigarette and I recall the incident and my bloody Nike shirt'. These are the kind of testimonies that grounded things. As it turns out, these are the kind of specifics some professionals use to tell a real claim from a fake one, and specifica are the thing that make victims realise they're in deep trouble and simply must get out. If it wasn't for the reflection of a Nike shirt, 'she often hit me' wasn't enough to raise an alarm. I guess humans are wired for thisness.
Amazing observation 👌
Even your observation carries Thisness.
700 years ago? You must be old.
This is such a nice video. The one thing about thisness is that it when done poorly, there is absolutely nothing more detracting.
Honeysuckle was beautiful,
"Even the mice complained of overcrowding",
Such vivid prose, transfering you there emotionally.
Brilliant video. But one must also be aware that not every instance needs a firecracker, or a chandelier illuminating the place. Sometimes, a feeble candle is what a place needs...
don't quit your day job.
@@mrosskne Popping around making negative comments. Sounds like you need a day job, and perhaps another hobby.
nope, I'm right and he's a terrible writer
@@mrosskne its alright TBH, I was pretty sleepy when I wrote that, and I agree it's pretty badly written. I'm an author who has studied in Oxford University with a few critically acclaimed books published by penguin though.
@@therightfulobstacle8297 No, you were wide awake and you were putting in 100% of your effort to try and impress people on youtube. You're a terrible writer.
It's probably worth it to sidenote "picture generated by AI" on your visuals , I got very confused on the George Orwell portrait
Have you recovered from the horrible shock yet?
@@ozratarot as you might imagine it doesnt feel shocking but instead disingenuous
Lol.
it seems odd for tips on creativity to be given by someone using ai photos
In Dutch we call it ‘beeldspraak’, which translates to ‘image-speak’ and Terry Pratchett is The Absolute Master in well, this!
I just thought of some of the descriptive passages you spoke of-it occurs to me they invoke the concept of synesthesia, the state where the stimulus of one sense sparks sensations of ANOTHER sense-such as when the female character's perfume was described as smelling like "the sight of the Taj Mahal" (i.e., luxurious and grandly inviting).
I hadn't thought about it, but that is exactly right. Chandler did it a lot
Agreed. They also reminded me of Douglas Adams, who loved employing such broken logic as "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."
A lesson in thisness so beautifully told that the listeners would never dream of pestering their readers with a sentence dull as bureaucrat's mind ever again.
apparently it was lost on you.
@@mrosskne Do you work for the government perhaps?
yep, you don't get what my comment was saying. try thinking.
@@mrosskne While I try to improve my thinking, you might want to consider improving your manners. Your behavior doesn't reflect well on you.
@@christerdehlin8866 No, my behavior is perfect. Worry about yourself.
When I read fellowship of the ring for the first time, I was annoyed at all the descriptions of scenery. I couldn't care less because I just wanted to get to the story bit. But I often think about Lord of the Rings, even though I read it years ago, because the detailed memories of those descriptions are burned into my mind. So glad I read it, I feel like I could connect to that land so much, it's weird to think that all those places don't exist. That there is no such thing as Hobbiton.
Are you sure? )
You should read it again. You'll like it even more the second time :)
@@jordank1813 Yeah I'm planning to this summer!
Oh man tell me about it. That Tom Bombadill chapter was basically torture. _So_ boring. If you edited out the interminable descriptions of vegetation, stone forts and grass, I’m fairly certain you could fit the lot into a single short novella.
@@methanedirigible So glad I'm not the only one who thought so lol
Alexis Kennedy of Cultist Simulator and Sunless Seas fame is the only games writer I've come across that utilises thisness - his descriptions of things are brilliant. Take Health's tooltip, for example; "This is my body. There are other bodies, but this one is mine, and my mind needs it as a fungus needs soil"
Ooh, this is good 👍
Another really good one, for the codex 'De Bellis Murorum': "The poem elliptically describes a war between beasts, weather phenomena, and arcane concepts. It's quite specific about their tactics."
I love that game, the intense vague snippets everywhere are so evocative and really build the world so well. Good call.
How's this for a crazy coincidence? I once made my living writing for a local newspaper, back when people still read those things to keep abreast of current events before the all-seeing eye of social media turned its gaze upon us. I had a talent for it and people would ask if I was ever going to write a novel because, obviously, that's what all journalists really want to do, right? Well, fast forward about three decades, through a different career and life's little escapades, and here I find myself wanting to get back into the game. I'm as rusty as a tin bucket, overflowing with ideas, but lacking in the mentor department. All those writer friends from my younger years have taken disparate paths that have never yet led back to mine. A sympathetic mind nowhere to be found. And then, from somewhere out of the ether, this little video popped up in my feed, like a fluffy parachute seed of serendipity blown by a gentle wind. God must have smiled at me today. And you've got yourself a new subscriber. Happy writing!
"I know oxen are castrated but this one hasn't been done yet."
I have a curiosity with language so I went to check this. According to search engines, an ox is a castrated bull. A steer is also a castrated bull, but is two to three years younger than an ox. But the first few sites I looked at stated that _oxen_ could refer to male or females (but rarely females). Then I discovered a heifer is a female that hasn't given birth yet and after she's given birth she's referred to as a cow. I wish I'd had this curiosity when I was a youth. I was fascinated in my early twenties when I discovered what I'd been referring to as "cows" were actually "cattle," although I understand why "cows" was generally used. Language is fascinating.
Wow, now I've learned that "Urine used to be a valuable commodity. In the past, some societies used it for fertilizing crops, tanning leather, washing clothes and producing gunpowder." The more you know.
I didn't know most of that!
Because of your comment I suddenly realize, as the protagonist is a friar, he might refers the 'castrated ozen' refers to the other friars, while 'this one hasn't been done yet' perhaps also refer to himself and his 'unholy' desires.
That’s very interesting, thank you for sharing!
‘kine brilliant!
This is exactly the thing I’ve sought in books and tried to replicate in my own writing. It’s taken twenty years for someone to tell me what it’s called. Thanks.
OH MY GOD. You have opened a whole new world of communication, learning, possibilities and meaning itself to be allowing to me watch this masterpiece and goldmine of a video of a mere nine minutes and five seconds.
Scotus was so smart they named the Supreme Court of America after him!
so THATS where SCOTUS comes from !
I remember the first time this clicked. I had a novelette I hadn't touched in months. I had left off mid-sentence, and when I recommenced and finished it, I could tell a clear dividing line between before and after.
Eventually, a found a way of balancing description with concision. I try to come up with descriptors that imply others that can be left unwritten. As a result I can (try to) write dense prose without dragging the pace down.
I think modulating this can be a way to control the flow of time as well. When you really want a feeling or idea to linger, you can get more verbose with the description.
I call it 'Painting with words" You have done me a service, and I thank you... you have verified something I've always thought was a defect in my writing.
Duns Scotus was also a mystical philosopher, wasn't he? I've run into his name so many times!
Brings George Macdonald to mind.
I would not tag Duns Scotus as a "mystical" thinker. Rather, he was extremely conceptualist and intricate in his reasoning. You can evaluate it first-hand by trying to read all in a row (😂) the following passage from his treatise De primo principio:
"Also, I say that although things other than God are actually contingent as regards their actual existence, this is not true with regard to potential existence. Wherefore, those things which are said to be contingent with reference to actual existence are necessary with respect to potential existence. Thus, though "Man exists" is contingent, "It is possible for man to exist" is necessary, because it does not include a contradiction as regards existence. For, for something other than God to be possible, then, is necessary. Being is divided into what must exist and what can but need not be. And just as necessity is of the very essence or constitution of what must be, so possibility is of the very essence of what can but need not be. Therefore, let the former argument be couched in terms of possible being and the propositions will become necessary. Thus: It is possible that something other than God exist which neither exists of itself (for then it would not be possible being) nor exists by reason of nothing. Therefore, it can exist by reason of another. Either this other can both exist and act in virtue of itself and not in virtue of another, or it cannot do so. If it can, then it can be the first cause, and if it can exist, it does exist-as was proved above. If it cannot [both be and act independently of every other thing] and there is no infinite regress, then at some point we end up [with a first cause]."
Your vid is like the sparkling eye of a dead dolphin on toast served to a Parisian dwarf who has a flair for felching.
I think i might need to work on my thisness but thank you for another great vid 👍
Proust had a line about driving up to a lavish estate, where he mentions a "vault of oaks", and it's funny how that stuck with me, out of everything. I remember someone saying that Tolstoy (a son of the "pure and simple" school, like Hemingway and Gide, in stark contrast to Proust's elegant intricacies) was a great master of understatement, when it came to description, particularly of characters; he would give only the sparsest outline, and leave the rest to the reader's imagination. I suppose, that is part of why reading endures, despite the rise of cinema, - and why cinema, with the ability to provide vivid, instant, thorough detail, so often opts for ambiguity. The French director, Besson, liked to gratify the eye, but not the ear, or else the ear, but not the eye, making a lot of use out of withholding, and keeping the audience in suspense; showing what they want to hear, telling what they want to see. It draws you in, as literature does, making you invest, work for it, and be more than a passive witness. Anyway, we all need to find what works for us, as individuals. I don't subscribe to formulas. What did Blake say, about the lion not asking the horse how he should take his prey?
I have always been told not to put as much detail keep things flowing, so i modified my style to into what I thought thibgs should be....thank you
One awesome instance of thisness that really sticks in me is in a song called Satan in the Wait by Daughters: "That Bastard had a head like a matchstick, shaped like he was suckin concrete from a straw", an awesome and funny descriptor of an intensely unfortunate looking man that brings the image to mind almost immediately. Thats a lotta thisness right there.
This was brilliant. Thank. I’m in the process of editing my script and I’m now incorporating “thisness” thanks to you.
Hey thank you! Good luck with the script.
@@TheOxfordWriter and thank you for the knowledge.
This gentlemen not only has wonderful content but a perfect ASMR voice.
Hey thanks!
I remember Chapter 1 of "Gone the Wind" Marge Mitchell spent 12-15 pages describing 'Tara'
and another 8 delving into the characterisation of Gerald O'Harra who loved the land like another child and instilled the same passion into Scarlett.
Later in the novel when it comes down to Scarlett doing absolutely anything to save it. The reader can have no qualms- something so loved should be saved after all.
Wow, look at this young man. This young fellows hair really makes him look like such a young and energetic firecracker
WOW! Thank you thank you for the word AND for the James Woods quote!! This is a quality I've tried talking about to fellow writers (in film) and friends who are avid moviegoers and/or readers. Ineffable specialness (etc) that hits home deeply while being, sometimes, all but invisible . Soooo vital, yet so hard to create, as well as teach. At least to me. But, when it happens, we say, "yes, that's IT". OR, in plain ol' plain talk: Boy, that sure hit the spot!!
The way you wrote that story with such detail and specificity worked so well that my attention got lost in the weeds of it almost immediately and I started reading the comment section rather than listening
Genius, beautiful. You read well. It mixes so seamlessly it's hard to tell what I loved first.
An excellent video.
(0:20) You look FANTASTIC for a 700-year-old man.
(3:06) I feel like you're holding back on us. You should tap into your real feelings about Oxford in 1288.
(5:25) This is why AI chatbots will never replace true artists.
(7:54) I looked it up and, for those of you who were curious, bribery DID exist in 1288. It was invented just prior by King Edmund, which is why they changed his nickname from "The Disemboweler" to "The Magnificent".
🤯🤯🤯
Stumbled across your video and love the lesson taught! I'm writing my first novel and thinking about how "thisness" can bring my writing to life. I particularly enjoyed your story of Dun Scotus. It evoked a sense of a living, breathing, writhing and stinking medieval world. The narrator's humour was perfect, and the twists highly amusing. The sad ending lingers on in the mind well after the story has finished. In the span of less than a thousand words you caused me to feel many things. Thanks for sharing.
What a lovely comment! Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
Those AI generated images were unintentionally hilarious
Thank you!
That was a superb example!
I am enjoying exploring you Gateway to Narnia and each of these videos.
Thanks again
Robert
Many thanks! The moment I read your comment a line from a song came on Spotify saying 'I've been reading Browning...' (Home thoughts from abroad - Clifford T. Ward) Synchronicity!
I write poetry, not prose, but thisness is exactly what I strive for in my writing
So it’s like, imagery + personality or character perspective = haecceity.
So like drawing pictures, but with text!
I enjoyed reading the comments as much as I enjoyed the video. All the thoughtful writing here marks you all out as thoughtful writers, whether presently published or still to come.
My thoughts too. A fellowship of inspired aspiring writers.
Agreed 👍
Watching this felt like finding a lost jigsaw piece. I always wondered why good descriptions could be so poignant yet succinct; this answers my question.
Great story! Great artwork! I'm glad I watched this video.
Thisness is a fine balancing act, lest it yield everything under purple lights.
Even her ticks are cute. LOL. This was great, thank you very much!
Any time!
And that is why I got a MA in literature as well as creative writing.
The telling detail is the lifeblood of verisimilitude. ✍🏼
Write on everyone. ❤
I appreciate the love for Raymond Chandler
Hemingway paints entire landscapes this way. And cities. And the men in them.
It's like thinking of it compared to the thinness of a piece of paper but it can hold an entire story on it
As I've started writing more about my experiences in a public forum, I've started receiving compliments on my writing style. I think it's because I try to use words in a way that crafts a specific image, to use language to the best of my ability to show the reader the world from my eyes. My desire to be understood with specificity, to share my perspective, has been my motivation to seek to better my skills as guiding the dream.
I absolutely adored this video and the advice in it. I loved the lines about the market wriggling like maggots in cheese, and the rats wearing silk trousers. However, I did find the use of AI art really jarring. So many of the details had the “off” look that AI has (not to mention AI steals from and profits off creativity) I’d rather plain text on the screen and a chance to have my own dream to your beautiful words. Thank you for sharing
Douglas Adams was an absolute beast at this
This was an interesting glimpse into the magic of words used in an inspired manner.
Stumbled across this by pure accident. Instantly subbed because I wanna try to get more into writing!
I dont know what thisness means. But i clicked for the dapper rat.
Loved this. One of my favorite phrases I wrote in a college non-fiction class was when I described my stepfather and his “tobacco stained breath.”
The line about the rats with silk trousers is hella baller lol
I loved this vivid story. Thank you.
Wonderful and inspiring. I write the Atomicas series about young people with disabilities that are really superpowers. Thank you for this video!
You are doing a great job! Keep uploading more. I am working on a novella without any hopes of finishing the draft. And your videos came to the rescue.
Thanks! I'll keep uploading but they quite a bit of time. Good luck with your novella.
@@TheOxfordWriter Anytime! We'll for you to upload. The quality it top-notch so it's fair to wait for it. Thanks!
A hammer to the head. Very well written. Thank you, sir!
I love your filming set up. Well done and thank you for this video.
Thank you too!
The forget-me-not was coincidently in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5. He reads the words: "You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart." And feels yet more guilt for breaking his vows.
Was this guy the secret ruler of galaxy in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy radio play? Pretty sure
This reminds me of the concept of Quality in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Patrick Rothfuss does this incredibly well. His description is so poetic & metaphoric, but draws you in as opposed to seeming overdone and pulling you out of the dream - I highly recommend "The Kingkiller Chronicles".
Come now, don’t be cruel.
@@panopticon3461 He's just teaching us the virtue of patience 🥲
Finally someone who's ready to get down to thisness.
Brilliant elaboration of the tale.
I don't know much about professional writing or the types of styles, bur i found this incredibly informative and interesting! Love your voice and thanks for a great video!
Brilliant sir. 😁
Kirkus Reviews is known for harsh criticism and also for certain high-minded vocabularies; so when I received this line of review I was uncertain of its true intent... "An engrossing, if sometimes overly talkative, tale of a groundbreaking inventor." Or this from another novel of mine... "An ambitious, if dense, tale of a profound friendship." I was told that being described as "dense" in this fashion is NOT a negative. And I had to wonder if "Overly Talkative" is again Not a profound knock on my abilities. After your description here, I find I may have stumbled into THISNESS and now Reviewers have a new challenge for their need to dole out the harshness. Thank You for this Epiphany.
you had me at "pig farts"
I think that what I like in Connelly books and in literature in general. Great concept, thanks for sharing
I am not sure. A lot of this "thisness" strays very much into the area of purple prose
This video was heavy, bursting with knowledge, like the air before a roaring, humid Summer's rain storm. ❤
“The ships hung in the sky in the same way that bricks don’t “ - Douglas Adams, who along with Pratchett taught me to love language instead of feeling stupid and embarrassed and ashamed of being very dyslexic and what that meant in the 80’s
Speaking of owls swooping down on their prey, that guy said - If silence were loudness, it would be deafening.
You're hilarious and I loved the insight! I can't wait for more.
the AI is unfortunate. I wanted to follow