#a lie that tells a truth by john dufresne

[ofsgiathan]

3. whose writing has impacted your writing style the most? (you can choose anyone! famous writer or not.)

i honestly have no clue tbh?? i just write in a tone that best suits my muses when roleplaying tbh. i might have a hint of purple prose sprinkled in every now and again when it comes to more eloquent and "out of the ordinary" muses but overall it's very simplistic. i write the way i do because i want people to understand my writing.

remember learning in junior high and high school about how you should avoid using "said" because ? that's completely false. it's actually a-okay to use said! it's like like john dufresne said in The Lie That Tells a Truth, "the verb said is more or less neutral. ... the purpose of a dialogue tag (he said/she said) is to make it clear who is talking and nothing else." ( i actually had to use this book for a class. ) i also really like what this blogger had to say in their article Said is Not Dead, "But if you’re already using lots of alternatives to “said”, you run the risk of overusing the powerful words and thus turning them into something weak."

remember learning that you should always always always use "show, don't tell"? that's also completely false. this is generally what leads to purple prose. not only that but, like this article says, "if we showed everything, our novels would run tens of thousands of pages, and readers would die of exhaustion." you'd basically be pulling a j.r.r. tolkien. because, let's be real, is it really necessary to write a full chapter describing what a fucking tree looks like?? no. it's not. "tell, don't show" are important because, just like streets and the verb "said", it gets us from Point A to Point B. and this isn't me dissing on purple prose because there's nothing wrong with sprinkling it in every now and again. but you also have to realize and understand that english isn't everybody's first language, people have learning disabilities, and that english is confusing as fuck.

so i don't really think there are any "writers" that have inspired me to write the way i do as much as it is just everything i've learned when it comes to writing. while i do have my days on being incredibly self-conscious about my writing i'm rather proud of it at the end of the day. i've learned a lot about not only myself but how to improve my writing since i wrote my first ever fanfic back in ... 2007 / 2008??

[sinivalkoista]

[typingoverworld]

Reading Rec’s for Writers

A short list of book recommendations for writers. Hiding below the fold so I don’t clog dashboards.

“Zen in the Art of Writing” by Ray Bradbury

Fun, motivational, short. Gave me a real kick in the butt.

“On Writing” by Stephen King

More autobiography than writing advice, but it was a very interesting look into how he started writing, how writing changed him, and his perspective on the craft of writing

“The Lie that Tells a Truth” by John Dufresne

I’m currently still reading this one, but it is chock-full of solid advice. I’m not a fan of half of the writing exercises, but you can’t please everyone 100% of the time.

[sluttysuperheroes]

Tag people you'd like to get to know better

Thanks @padawanboba and @captainsolocide for tagging me!!!

Favorite color: yellow!! also a fan of deep reds.

Currently reading: Rereading Treasure Island! As well as a book on writing "The Lie That Tells a Truth" by John Dufresne.

Next up: "Her Body and Other Parties" by Carmen Maria Machado.

Last song: "Love Me More" by Mitski. Obsessed with this one recently!

Last series: Just finished watching Arcane with a friend. Impressive show! Overall not for me, but there were moments I enjoyed.

Next up: I'll be rewatching Black Sails with the same friend and I also want to finish up Succession. I also want to finish watching Star Wars Rebels

Sweet, savory, or spicy: Sweet :)

Currently working on: I'm finishing editing the final chapters of a 75k+ dinluke fic... And working on drafting chapters for a new dinluke fic... Don't look at me. I'm also taking a course on visual literacy and writing.

No Pressure Tagging: @bluedaddysgirl @wizarddank @djarineology @dindjarinsbian @soupwife @luigispeach @dreaminghour @raeality @lukeskywalking

Anyone else feel free!!

[medusinestories]

Today is Two For One because these two eps pretty much follow onto each other in terms of storylines and themes etc.

Black Sails V and VI (s1 eps 05-06)

- A big plot point in these two episodes is Billy mistrusting and investigating Flint. It starts with Flint approaching Billy and claiming he wants an “honest” conversation with him (note that he’s had time to think about what he’ll say to Billy, coming back to my previous comment about how Flint does better at persuasion when he has time to script things). Flint explains that you can’t ever be entirely truthful to a crew because if you explain any risk of failure they’ll be demoralised. He also talks very briefly about Miranda, portraying her as a “nice Puritan woman” who likes books. When Billy asks if this is really true, Flint just gives him That Wink. Billy spends the episode wavering between trying to support both Flint and protect the crew, clearly conflicted. This feeling intensifies when Logan asks whether Flint will give up trying to get the guns even if the situation becomes extremely dangerous, and Billy can see that Flint is risking the lives of men to get at the guns and knows what he did on the Maria Aleyne. The last straw is the discovery of Miranda’s letter and the realisation that she didn’t prevent Guthrie from betraying them like she was supposed to. Gates dismisses Billy’s doubts and refuses to get into it, mostly in a stategic move, knowing that Flint is the only one who can get them through this battle, and that they all need to obey him in this moment.

- Speaking of battles, this is the first prolonged sea battle we get to see, and the first time that Flint is given a really worthy opponent in the character of Bryson. Bryson is extremely clever and uses both sailing and defense/siege/booby-trap strategies that make taking the Andromache practically impossible to take. Flint shows a lot of resourcefulness in response: he seems to know exactly how much his ship can take and how to handle it (in spite of DeGroot’s warnings, which end up being unfounded for once) and hammers out a good (if dangerous) strategy to board the ship. However, this isn’t enough to outwit Bryson, who’s extremely well prepared for a siege if he gets boarded and has the Scarborough already heading their way. In fact if the slaves in the hold hadn’t helped the pirates, I doubt Flint would have had to leave without the guns. Even when he’s dying, Bryson still attempts to blow his ship up. In fact, his explosive booby trap has a real impact on what happens in the end of episode 6.

- It’s interesting to watch Dufresne in his first battle. He’s clearly meant for us to identify with, as the “nerd” on the ship who’s never seen battle. Following him allows us to see the faces of a lot of crew members, to feel the tension and fear before boarding the other ship, the desperation of the battle, and... okay I’m not sure just anyone would go feral like Dufresne does and rip someone’s throat out. This is definitely a turning point in Dufresne’s character.

- Something new in Billy’s character that he is shown lying to Dufresne to reassure him before the battle, using exactly the technique Flint mentioned earlier. First he tried telling Dufresne that guns only go off half the time - not at all reassuring. Then he tells Dufresne that sailors on their crew never die in their first battle. Only after the battle, does Dufresne realise that what Billy told him isn’t true - and tells Billy that he appreciates the lie. Does this change Billy’s point of view on lying? Is lying all right, for a good cause?

- In the meantime, Eleanor is saddled with Silver. I absolutely love this plot line and wish these two had worked together some more, because they’re hilarious. Silver knows that Eleanor’s angry with him and finally gets to find out that it’s because he involved Max in his scheme, but he flatly refuses taking any responsibility for that, saying it was Max’s choice (which it was). Later, when the angry pirates are turning into a mob, Silver is clearly getting anxious and Eleanor pretending not to be, he says: "if you're pretending to remain unconcerned for my peace of mind, please don't", a line mirrored in S2, where Flint openly admits to Silver that he’s “appearing unconcerned” as a strategy (and thus establishing the Flint/Eleanor parallel). Finally, Silver confronts Eleanor about the danger of not appeasing the mob by letting Vane operate out of Nassau again; she asks him to convince her why she should - and he actually does. It takes two hours, but he actually gets through to her. In this conversation, he utters the classic line “guilt is natural; it also goes away, if you let it”. Clearly he’s had to make some nasty choices for his survival, and likely he has quite a personal experience of mobs, too.

- Richard Guthrie continues to be one of the biggest assholes of the show. In these two episodes he 1) betrayed Mr Scott by telling Bryson to kidnap him and sell him as a slave, 2) announcing that he’s liquidating his holdings in Nassau without warning Eleanor and saddling her with the angry mob, 3) shamelessly revealing to Eleanor how he betrayed her and why, disregarding the fact that she’s made Nassau what it is over the last few years, 4) is worming his way into Mr Underhill’s good books and got himself a cosy and very safe place to live while all hell breaks loose in Nassau.

- Speaking of Mr Scott, he ends up amongst the slaves in Bryson’s ship and appears somewhat disdainful towards them, mostly because he doesn’t want to knows the realities of what would happen to them if they joined the pirates (some would still be sold as slaves). Eme believes that they should still seize their chance for freedom, but Mr Scott won’t help the pirates get these weapons, which “are dangerous to someone I love". This of course is understood as being Eleanor, but it also easily be interpreted as the Maroon Queen/Madi in light of S3. In fact, it makes much more sense that he is resisting the Urca plan to protect them/his community than because he’s worried that Eleanor will be killed. Eme counters that he’ll never see this person again, which still isn’t quite enough to break his resolve. Finally, once Mr Scott has changed his mind and helped free the slaves and ended up helping Flint, he has a conversation with him. Flint decides not to tell the crew of Mr Scott's betrayal, because he’d rather prove Mr Scott wrong re: making Nassau into more than it currently is.

- Anne’s inability to bear the violence done to Max comes to a head in these episodes. First she dismisses Mrs Mapleton who’s not being all too gentle while “tending” to Max, and the brief talk between Max and Anne seems to reinforce Anne’s resolve to stop Hamund (looked him up) (but did they really need to bond while Anne pushes a phallic instrument into Max’s cervix after lubing it up? there’s clear sexual innuendo in the way it’s filmed and it’s pretty inappropriate). It’s only when Rackham sees Anne defending the entrance to Max’s tent and can’t believe that Anne would put herself in danger over “a fucking whore”, that it finally dawns on him that Anne is horrified with this situation (something he could have guessed considering the circumstances in which he met Anne). Once Max is freed and thanks Anne, Anne tells her that she didn’t do it for Max. Which is probably not completely true, but again what we know of Anne’s past also means that she didn’t want to see any woman treated that way.

- The theme of men siding together and not listening to women comes up several times in these two episodes. Guthrie says that he persuaded Mr Scott to betray Eleanor because “we talked like men and he saw reason”. The “like men” suggests that men support each other’s decisions, especially to resist a woman’s folly. The Consortium refuses to listen to Eleanor unless a respected captain, in this case Hornigold, also backs it. But of course Hornigold won’t back it unless Eleanor allows Vane to become a captain again; he considers how Vane’s men are treating the “thieving whore” to be of absolutely no relevance. Rackham opposes Anne’s attempt at stopping Hamund from visiting Max to protect her from Hamund, who he fears would harm Anne. And finally, Pastor Lambrick doesn’t believe Miranda when she tells him that doesn’t need to fear Flint’s anger.

- An answer to this is unlikely collaboration between women people in ep 6, aka, Eleanor  and Anne who deeply despises her. Both of them share a sense of responsibility for what happened to Max, and believe that they’ll only feel better when Max is free and Hamund is dead. John “guilt will go away if you let it” Silver is roped into the plot, when Eleanor, reminds him that he’s a “loose end” to Flint, who will likely want to get rid of him, and promises to tell Flint not to kill Silver after he’s served his purpose if Silver helps them. Which he does, begrudgingly, and at the risk of getting murdered by Hamund at any moment. This puts Eleanor and Anne’s plan to kill Vane’s remaining crew into place, and ruffles Rackham’s feathers: he’s forced to help kill even the men who aren’t disgusting rapists like Hamund. He asks "do I not deserve  say", to which Anne answers "you had your say, now I have mine". GOOD FOR HER.

- When the dust settles, we get a really interesting moment where Silver accurately analyses Eleanor, pointing out that she can’t stand to be wrong, feel weak or let anyone get away with fucking with her - which makes her in his opinion possibly more dangerous than Flint. Does this mean that Silver still thinks he had a genuine chance of winning Flint over and surviving him even without Eleanor’s help? (he’d be right, considering how his relationship with Flint evolves later on the show; perhaps the difference between Flint and Eleanor is that because she’s a woman, she can’t *afford* to show any weakness at all)

- Lambrick has his big moment in episode 6 when he rides chivalrously to Miranda in the middle of the night, hoping to save her from Flint’s retribution. Instead of really reassuring him, Miranda chooses to talk about Thomas instead. This is where we hear the most about Thomas in S1, and the way Miranda speaks about him is clearly loving and admiring. She compares Thomas to Lambrick, saying that he was also a sort of shepherd (the comparison stops here imo). Then she imagines how Thomas would have played devil’s advocate, left all of Lambrick’s beliefs in tatters, all for his own good, to free him from the yoke of shame. I can’t help but think, from her teasing tone and the way she smiles, that she believes that Thomas would have somehow debauched Lambrick. The fact that she decides to have sex with him moments later certainly supports that idea. The ghost of Thomas looms on this scene, and it could be that she briefly imagines being with him, which could explain her smile and the way she holds him afterwards. But Miranda had another reason for sleeping with him: it was a very good way to make him stop asking questions about Flint.

- And in the meantime, Flint knows that Billy has been asking questions about Miranda and overheard him talking angrily with Gates about the letter. It just so happens that Billy has to go cut off a piece of the Andromache’s sail that’s slowing the Walrus down, which puts him in a secluded and dangerous spot. The conversation between Flint and Billy is very brief: Flint asks about the letter Billy found, and Billy answers “I think you know what was in it”. Actually, no, Flint has NO CLUE what was in it. Whatever else passes between them is a mystery, and the next thing we know is Flint announcing that Billy went overboard. We see him hovering behind Gates, watching him intently, until Gates decides that they can’t turn back for Billy. The camera pans a lot on Flint’s face, and his expression is quite unreadable. At first I wasn’t convinced that he’d pushed Billy, but on this watch I’m not so sure, because of the way Flint’s face is filmed. There’s also a sort of clue where we see Flint throw Billy’s sword into the sea during the burial at sea ritual. Of course as Captain he was meant to do that... but the gesture is suggestive of him throwing Billy himself. It’s certainly true that Billy had become a thorn in his side for two reasons: 1) he was one of the rare crew members who could influence Gates and get him on his side; 2) he was much too interested in who Mrs Barlow was and what her motivations were - if Billy had alerted the crew of what she’d done, Miranda may have been in danger (a mob quickly turns against a witch who works against the crew).

- To finish on Flint and Miranda: season 1 has painted them as a unit, an inseparable pair, working as a team (in supernatural ways, sometimes). And to some extent they are. Even at this time where they are truly at odds, where Miranda has tried to take control of Flint’s fate behind his back, they are still protecting each other. Flint doesn’t reveal anything about Miranda and possibly attempts to kill Billy to protect her, while Miranda seduces Pastor Lambrick as a way to distract him from his questions about Flint. She can’t convince him to believe her, but she herself is clearly convinced that Flint is a good, decent person (as she tells the Boston judge in her letter) and she trusts that he knows that she only tried to stop him get the Urca because she wanted to save him - something he will come to accept by the end of S2 (unfortunately for them).

[theleafpile]

The action of a character should be unpredictable before it has been shown, inevitable when it has been shown. In the first half of the novel, the unpredictability should be more striking. In the second half the inevitability should be the more striking.

— Elizabeth Bowen, quoted in The Lie That Tells A Truth by John Dufresne

[itunesbooks]

The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction - John Dufresne

The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction John Dufresne Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines Price: $11.99 Publish Date: August 17, 2004 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Seller: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. "This is the most practical, hard-nosed, generous, direct, and useful guide to writing fiction." —Brad Watson Finally, a truly creative—and hilarious—guide to creative writing, full of encouragement and sound advice. Provocative and reassuring, nurturing and wise, The Lie That Tells a Truth is essential to writers in general, fiction writers in particular, beginning writers, serious writers, and anyone facing a blank page. John Dufresne, teacher and the acclaimed author of Love Warps the Mind a Little and Deep in the Shade of Paradise, demystifies the writing process. Drawing upon the wisdom of literature's great craftsmen, Dufresne's lucid essays and diverse exercises initiate the reader into the tools, processes, and techniques of writing: inventing compelling characters, developing a voice, creating a sense of place, editing your own words. Where do great ideas come from? How do we recognize them? How can language capture them? In his signature comic voice, Dufresne answers these questions and more in chapters such as "Writing Around the Block," "Plottery," and "The Art of Abbreviation." Dufresne demystifies the writing process, showing that while the idea of writing may be overwhelming, the act of writing is simplicity itself. http://dlvr.it/R63jtk

[hottytoddynews]

Thacker Mountain Radio Host Jim Dees: shirts from Hawaii, voice from Mississippi

Two-hour show celebrates with smorgasbord of literature, music and food for thought.

By Tad Wilkes, Nightlife & Lifestyles Editor

tad.wilkes@hottytoddy.com

Thacker Mountain Radio fans and newcomers alike will come away stuffed to the gills from a veritable buffet of words and music. This week brings a special two-hour Thacker Mountain Radio show, celebrating the show’s fifteenth anniversary.

Since its beginnings among the peanut shells at Blind Jim’s bar (now the Burgundy Room) as the “Words and Music” show, Thacker Mountain Radio has come a long way. The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Bryan Ledford and then-budding folk song craftsman Caroline Herring, and friends, Square Books’ TMR, usually hosted at Off Square Books, celebrates its birthday on the air this Thursday, October 18, at 6 p.m. at the Lyric Theatre. TMR sets a fine table, with guests including Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band and authors John Dufresne, Randall Kenan and Monique Truong along with musician, James Barrier of the Pine Hill Haints.

Doors open at 5 p.m., and admission is free. A cash bar will be available. The show will be broadcast on Rebel Radio (92.1 FM) and online: www.myrebelradio.com.

After Thacker, at 7 p.m., the audience is encouraged to stick around for the film premier of Pride & Joy, a one-hour documentary film directed by Joe York that celebrates the culture of barbecue in the South.

Constant Celebration

“We’re continuously improving our content and accessibility,” says TMR Producer Kathryn McGaw about the weekly Thursday show that for years was broadcast live on Oxford’s Bullseye 95.5 and now on Rebel Radio 92.1, rebroadcast on Saturdays on Mississippi Public Radio at 7 p.m. This week’s two-hour show intends, as TMR has for 15 years, to celebrate “the talent and history of talent that we have not only in Oxford but in Mississippi in general,” McGaw says.

The show presses on in the wake of the very recent passing of Duff Dorrough, guitarist in the Thacker house band, the Yalobushwackers. “Obviously that is a sad part of our history right now,” McGaw says. “But at our show on October 4, which was the show immediately after his death, instead of offering a moment of silence, we offered a round of applause. That’s how we’re going to be—remembering his legacy through that constant celebration.”

That rejoicing continues for two straight hours this week.

“What we were lucky with this time around,” she adds, “is that our fifteenth anniversary coincides with the Southern Foodways Symposium. In thinking about how we would set up a really great show, I talked with (Southern Foodways Alliance Director) John T. Edge at the beginning of the year. John T. got me in touch with David Morgan at the Mississippi Humanities Council, which has a year-long initative called Food for Thought, For Life, and they are really highlighting our need to tie together all the great cultural things we have going on—art, music and literature, with some of the pressing issues of nutrition and food in our state … It all dovetails nicely with Thacker. What we were able to do is to partner with both SFA and MHC to pull in some really great authors, who will also appear at the symposium.

“Lastly, John T. and I were talking about what music would really highlight all of those different aspects; the symposium this year is centered around barbecue, and Joe York’s film is going to premiere right after Thacker, and that focuses on food traditions across the region.” Fife and drum music is associated with Southern barbecue events, and the Pine Hill Haints provided music for Pride & Joy, to help tie everything together, with funding assistance from the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council.

Words and Music

Wallace Lester, drummer of the Thacker Mountain Radio house band The Yalobushwackers

Host Jim Dees and the Thacker house band the Yalobushwackers hold it together, as usual, this week, welcoming authors and musicians.

Sharde Thomas is the granddaughter of the late Othar Turner, a leading practitioner of the North Mississippi fife and drum tradition. She began playing music at the age of seven with her grandfather’s group, the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band. She started writing songs when she was 13, and in 2010, at age 20, she released her first CD, What Do I Do? The CD is a mix of the old fife and drum traditions, mixed with smooth soul and hip hop. Thomas, who has been called the last living link to fife and drum music, is a student at Delta State’s Delta Music Institute.

John Dufresne is the author of the short story collections, The Way That Water Enters Stone and Johnny Too Bad and the novels, Louisiana Power & Light, Love Warps the Mind a Little, (both named New York Times Notable Books), Deep in the Shade of Paradise, and his latest, Requiem, Mass. He is also the author of two fiction writing guides, The Lie That Tells a Truth: a Guide to Writing Fiction and Is Life Like This: a Guide to Writing Your First Novel in Six Months, as well as two screenplays and a play. He lives in Dania Beach, Florida, and teaches creative writing at Florida International University. Earlier this year, Dufresne was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Randall Kenan is author of the novel A Visitation of Spirits and a collection of stories, Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, which was among The New York Times Notable Books of 1992. Walking on Water: Black American Lives at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century was published in 1999 and was nominated for the Southern Book Award. His latest book, The Fire This Time, was published in May 2007. Kenan was the John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi from 1997 to 1998. He is currently associate professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Born in Saigon, South Vietnam, in 1968, Monique Truong is a writer based in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of Bitter in the Mouth and The Book of Salt and was a bestseller and named a New York Times Notable Fiction Book, a Chicago Tribune Favorite Fiction Book, one of The Village Voice‘s 25 Favorite Books, and one of The Miami Herald‘s Top 10 Books, among other citations. Truong writes a monthly online food column, Ravenous, for The New York Times’ T Magazine. She was a 2010 Guggenheim Fellow.

Originally from Alabama, The Pine Hill Haints formed in the late 1990s and have since released several CDs, including Split, Welcome to the Midnight Opry (recorded in Water Valley) and their latest, Tales of Crime. Lead singer and main songwriter, James Barrier, sings the group’s “snazzed up, working-class rockabilly” behind his homemade wooden microphone stand.

    The post Feast at Fifteen: Thacker Mountain's Anniversary appeared first on HottyToddy.com.

[typingoverworld]

Hemingway said it: All first drafts are shit. You must allow yourself to fail. You only write a first draft in order to have something to revise.

John Dufresne, “The Lie That Tells A Truth” p. 23

[typingoverworld]

“The Lie That Tells a Truth” by John Dufresne

“Well, the plain truth is that if you want to write, you can. And if you want to write but you don’t write, you’re inviting madness.” p. xiii