I guarantee you that no modern story scheme, even plotlessness, will give a reader genuine satisfaction, unless one of those old-fashioned plots is smuggled in somewhere. I don’t praise plots as accurate representations of life, but as ways of keeping readers reading. When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell students to make their characters want something, even if it’s only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaningless of modern life still have to drink water from time to time. One of my students wrote a story about a nun who got a piece of dental floss stuck between her lower left molars, and who couldn’t get it out all day long. I thought that was wonderful. The story dealt with issues a lot more important than dental floss, but what kept readers going was anxiety about when the dental floss would finally be removed. Nobody could read that story without fishing around in his mouth with a finger.
  1. carliehope reblogged this from rubbertoebehe
  2. rubbertoebehe reblogged this from savysunbeam
  3. savysunbeam reblogged this from kirreiyy
  4. kirreiyy reblogged this from roguesandevolution
  5. gryffon reblogged this from whisperinglion
  6. futurespacehobo reblogged this from jawdust
  7. strongbademail reblogged this from unholykingofkings
  8. unholykingofkings reblogged this from jermtube
  9. girlinwolfskin reblogged this from te-los
  10. moontiger5 reblogged this from whisperinglion
  11. xlarant reblogged this from whisperinglion
  12. oldchristinathena reblogged this from moleend
  13. londonbones reblogged this from sheverush-shnape
  14. sheverush-shnape reblogged this from the-maddest-scientist
  15. the-maddest-scientist reblogged this from seriiously
  16. angryinitials reblogged this from jawdust
  17. tsflynn reblogged this from brighteryellow
  18. brighteryellow reblogged this from jawdust
  19. darkwavesurfer reblogged this from roguesandevolution
  20. letscontemplate reblogged this from worldcoup
  21. roguesandevolution reblogged this from jermtube
  22. jermtube reblogged this from pegasopolis
  23. pegasopolis reblogged this from thumbsup4rockandroll
  24. thumbsup4rockandroll reblogged this from colleenie