Comments on: How would you like your story? http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=193 the publishing home of the geek fiction community Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:17:03 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Coffintop007 http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=193&cpage=1#comment-12 Coffintop007 Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:15:10 +0000 http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=193#comment-12 Of course storytelling involves both a storyteller and an audience. A good storyteller engages the audience with much more than a simple linear text. The storyteller can tell when the audience is engaged, or when it is time to ratchet up the drama, or slow down the delivery, or even modify the story mid-stream. On our long car trip on last Sunday and Monday, we listened to Ursula Le Guin's "Gifts" on CD. It was a good tale, well told, and pretty well read. (We all hated the ending, which was too pat and happily-ever-after, but that is beside the point). It was, however, just a linear narrative and had Ms. Le Guin been there telling it to us, I suspect that parts would have been abbreviated, and others elaborated as our interests clearly waxed and waned. A published novel sets a story into a "final" version which never changes, whereas storytelling, by its nature, allows for, or even demands, change. I suppose there have been attempts to incorporate this idea into print media with books having alternative endings depending upon choices that the reader makes mid-narrative, but this is a pretty pale reflection of real storytelling. I guess the point here is that I don't think we should conflate "social texts" as Mr. Sterling calls them with written narratives, not just because one is created through a commnal and one through a solitary process, but rather because they serve very different purposes. I agree with you, in general, about scrubbed books. There will always be a market for generic thrillers, generic mysteries, generic romances, etc. as they provide a comfortable (and sometimes enjoyable) way of tuning out the world. But they don't challenge the reader to do much thinking, and they don't inspire one to recommend them to friends. These are the books that we leave in the pocket of the seat in front of us because we don't see the value in hauling them home. What I hope Trapdoor can provide are books that we don't want to leave on the airplane and that we would recommend to a friend. For this, I think you will need editors, and proof-readers, and all of those other niceties that are not part of socially-generated texts. Of course storytelling involves both a storyteller and an audience. A good storyteller engages the audience with much more than a simple linear text. The storyteller can tell when the audience is engaged, or when it is time to ratchet up the drama, or slow down the delivery, or even modify the story mid-stream.

On our long car trip on last Sunday and Monday, we listened to Ursula Le Guin’s “Gifts” on CD. It was a good tale, well told, and pretty well read. (We all hated the ending, which was too pat and happily-ever-after, but that is beside the point). It was, however, just a linear narrative and had Ms. Le Guin been there telling it to us, I suspect that parts would have been abbreviated, and others elaborated as our interests clearly waxed and waned.

A published novel sets a story into a “final” version which never changes, whereas storytelling, by its nature, allows for, or even demands, change. I suppose there have been attempts to incorporate this idea into print media with books having alternative endings depending upon choices that the reader makes mid-narrative, but this is a pretty pale reflection of real storytelling.

I guess the point here is that I don’t think we should conflate “social texts” as Mr. Sterling calls them with written narratives, not just because one is created through a commnal and one through a solitary process, but rather because they serve very different purposes.

I agree with you, in general, about scrubbed books. There will always be a market for generic thrillers, generic mysteries, generic romances, etc. as they provide a comfortable (and sometimes enjoyable) way of tuning out the world. But they don’t challenge the reader to do much thinking, and they don’t inspire one to recommend them to friends. These are the books that we leave in the pocket of the seat in front of us because we don’t see the value in hauling them home. What I hope Trapdoor can provide are books that we don’t want to leave on the airplane and that we would recommend to a friend. For this, I think you will need editors, and proof-readers, and all of those other niceties that are not part of socially-generated texts.

]]> By: Chris Matney http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=193&cpage=1#comment-11 Chris Matney Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:54:43 +0000 http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=193#comment-11 Interesting thoughts about storytelling. This might change once electronic readers can text-to-voice in a way that people want to listen to for hours at a time. As to the torrent of information, yeah, in the consulting world, we call this drinking from the firehose. Right now, the battle is being fought on one front by the search engines. There is a mad scramble to be on top, although there is no validation as to the value of the sites that come up on the first page of the search. It will be interesting to see if Next Gen search engines do any better job finding sites with valuable content. On the publishing side, the value of a small press is that it attracts niche readers who can trust the books that get published will be interesting, etc. This is mostly driven by comments by like-minded readers which provide a better guage of value than the generic comments you might read on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. Interesting thoughts about storytelling. This might change once electronic readers can text-to-voice in a way that people want to listen to for hours at a time.

As to the torrent of information, yeah, in the consulting world, we call this drinking from the firehose.

Right now, the battle is being fought on one front by the search engines. There is a mad scramble to be on top, although there is no validation as to the value of the sites that come up on the first page of the search. It will be interesting to see if Next Gen search engines do any better job finding sites with valuable content.

On the publishing side, the value of a small press is that it attracts niche readers who can trust the books that get published will be interesting, etc. This is mostly driven by comments by like-minded readers which provide a better guage of value than the generic comments you might read on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.

]]> By: Coffintop007 http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=193&cpage=1#comment-10 Coffintop007 Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:40:43 +0000 http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=193#comment-10 I tend to agree with you, Chris. It seems to me that algorithms and social media are more likely to replace face-to-face storytelling than they are to replace properly edited fiction. I would argue that the sitting-around-the-campfire or communal coffee house experiences are in greater danger of going extinct. When I visit coffee shops, more and more often I see one person per table checking email or doing Facebook (is "facebooking" a word yet?) and not talking to other humans. I see my kids and their friends sitting in groups, each kid staring at an individual screens. Much social media is simply reformulated gossip. There is a big difference between reading a blog, even a well-written one, and a crafted story that has undergone the editiorial process. To my mind, the challenge belongs to the reader. With a torrent of information available through electronic and print media, how can you hope to find the small streams of worthwhile communication? I tend to agree with you, Chris. It seems to me that algorithms and social media are more likely to replace face-to-face storytelling than they are to replace properly edited fiction. I would argue that the sitting-around-the-campfire or communal coffee house experiences are in greater danger of going extinct. When I visit coffee shops, more and more often I see one person per table checking email or doing Facebook (is “facebooking” a word yet?) and not talking to other humans. I see my kids and their friends sitting in groups, each kid staring at an individual screens. Much social media is simply reformulated gossip. There is a big difference between reading a blog, even a well-written one, and a crafted story that has undergone the editiorial process.

To my mind, the challenge belongs to the reader. With a torrent of information available through electronic and print media, how can you hope to find the small streams of worthwhile communication?

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