Ranting

These days to hold my interest, a writer must be cinematic and very descriptive. I like stories with lots of action and atmosphere.

I like authors that set a mood by making use of the environment around them. I like descriptions of buildings and locales. I like use of simile and metaphor.

What I don't like, is writing that is too chatty and tries to be too clever. For, example, before the latest vampire craze, people at my writing group were writing fantasy stories and so help me, if every one of them didn't have witty repartee between two talking unicorns. *snoring*

Maybe it is because I am not great with dialog in my own stories that I didn't find two wise cracking mythical creatures funny. With the exception of the Huey Dusk tales, my pieces are very light on conversation. My characters are essentially defined by their actions. This is probably because I started out writing screenplays which are basically a cake recipe for the director. So, I have had to will myself to include interior dialogue-- but, I don't like it.

I like my characters to be forces of nature. Hemingway men and women of action. They don't need to reflect on what they have done or what they are going to do, they just do it. Mike Hammer is that way.

And that is why I have sponged up every story Mickey Spillane has written-- that goes for Richard Stark as well. Heck if those two wrote something on a cocktail napkin, I would buy it on E Bay and read it, studying every letter down to every comma.

Well, I am out of steam for right now, so I will stop rambling. To all, have a great Thanksgiving.