Comments on: “She will continue driving down the Feather River Canyon from Portola to sit in front of the plant where Paul died with signs about work place safety as long as she feels the need” http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/ the internet literature magazine blog of the future Thu, 24 May 2012 09:44:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Luke http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-80367 Luke Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:44:57 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-80367 Some time back I wrote a short hybrid describing a cultural dislocation-by-internet experience, an affect that was both imagined and real. Here, if you like: "Call for Intercession: OED" Some time back I wrote a short hybrid describing a cultural dislocation-by-internet experience, an affect that was both imagined and real.
Here, if you like:

“Call for Intercession: OED”

]]> By: Luke http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-157196 Luke Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:44:00 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-157196 Some time back I wrote a short hybrid describing a cultural dislocation-by-internet experience, an affect that was both imagined and real. Here, if you like: "Call for Intercession: OED" Some time back I wrote a short hybrid describing a cultural dislocation-by-internet experience, an affect that was both imagined and real.
Here, if you like:

“Call for Intercession: OED”

]]> By: Michael Fischer http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-77861 Michael Fischer Sun, 13 Jun 2010 04:40:46 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-77861 I've never understood the argument that writers shouldn't include pop cultural references in their work for fear of dating that work, as if the best work merely sprinkles in pop cultural references as some sort of crutch or lazy shorthand. This argument, and even some of the counter-arguments, miss the larger point, which is that the writing must be convincing. Many of my favorite stories and novels include references to stuff I know nothing about it, but it doesn't matter because the writing is convincing enough to make me believe in those references without having to consult a dictionary, whether they be pop cultural, scientific, whatever. American Lit has been quite engaged with technology and science for over 100 years (post-Darwin). One could argue that modernism itself was founded upon an intense engagement with language and technology, as well as science. There's also a clear relationship between aesthetic shifts the last 100 years and cinema/film technique, and Darwin's "The Origin of Species" could easily be a text on writing fiction. I’ve never understood the argument that writers shouldn’t include pop cultural references in their work for fear of dating that work, as if the best work merely sprinkles in pop cultural references as some sort of crutch or lazy shorthand. This argument, and even some of the counter-arguments, miss the larger point, which is that the writing must be convincing. Many of my favorite stories and novels include references to stuff I know nothing about it, but it doesn’t matter because the writing is convincing enough to make me believe in those references without having to consult a dictionary, whether they be pop cultural, scientific, whatever.

American Lit has been quite engaged with technology and science for over 100 years (post-Darwin). One could argue that modernism itself was founded upon an intense engagement with language and technology, as well as science. There’s also a clear relationship between aesthetic shifts the last 100 years and cinema/film technique, and Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” could easily be a text on writing fiction.

]]> By: Michael Fischer http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-157195 Michael Fischer Sun, 13 Jun 2010 04:40:00 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-157195 I've never understood the argument that writers shouldn't include pop cultural references in their work for fear of dating that work, as if the best work merely sprinkles in pop cultural references as some sort of crutch or lazy shorthand. This argument, and even some of the counter-arguments, miss the larger point, which is that the writing must be convincing. Many of my favorite stories and novels include references to stuff I know nothing about it, but it doesn't matter because the writing is convincing enough to make me believe in those references without having to consult a dictionary, whether they be pop cultural, scientific, whatever. American Lit has been quite engaged with technology and science for over 100 years (post-Darwin). One could argue that modernism itself was founded upon an intense engagement with language and technology, as well as science. There's also a clear relationship between aesthetic shifts the last 100 years and cinema/film technique, and Darwin's "The Origin of Species" could easily be a text on writing fiction. I’ve never understood the argument that writers shouldn’t include pop cultural references in their work for fear of dating that work, as if the best work merely sprinkles in pop cultural references as some sort of crutch or lazy shorthand. This argument, and even some of the counter-arguments, miss the larger point, which is that the writing must be convincing. Many of my favorite stories and novels include references to stuff I know nothing about it, but it doesn’t matter because the writing is convincing enough to make me believe in those references without having to consult a dictionary, whether they be pop cultural, scientific, whatever.

American Lit has been quite engaged with technology and science for over 100 years (post-Darwin). One could argue that modernism itself was founded upon an intense engagement with language and technology, as well as science. There’s also a clear relationship between aesthetic shifts the last 100 years and cinema/film technique, and Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” could easily be a text on writing fiction.

]]> By: Jason Cook http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-77859 Jason Cook Sun, 13 Jun 2010 03:29:03 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-77859 He went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico He went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico

]]> By: Jason Cook http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-157194 Jason Cook Sun, 13 Jun 2010 03:29:00 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-157194 He went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico He went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico

]]> By: Tim http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-77853 Tim Sun, 13 Jun 2010 02:06:32 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-77853 Melissa, I agree with you. I think writers should be careful about how thickly they pour in the tech references, but I get annoyed at the total deniers too. I had a story come back with an editor's note that he couldn't read past the word myspace on the first page and the more I thought about it the more annoyed I became. I was well aware, when I chose that word, of what it carried, but I chose it over "the internet" or "a social networking site" to avoid generic fluff and to convey a specific sort of shitty/amateurish/sketchy-this-person-i-met-online-is-in-my-homeness. I respect that editors can choose to be picky about that sort of thing if they want but if it's such a hard rule maybe it should be specified in sub guidelines. Melissa, I agree with you. I think writers should be careful about how thickly they pour in the tech references, but I get annoyed at the total deniers too. I had a story come back with an editor’s note that he couldn’t read past the word myspace on the first page and the more I thought about it the more annoyed I became. I was well aware, when I chose that word, of what it carried, but I chose it over “the internet” or “a social networking site” to avoid generic fluff and to convey a specific sort of shitty/amateurish/sketchy-this-person-i-met-online-is-in-my-homeness. I respect that editors can choose to be picky about that sort of thing if they want but if it’s such a hard rule maybe it should be specified in sub guidelines.

]]> By: Tim http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-157193 Tim Sun, 13 Jun 2010 02:06:00 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-157193 Melissa, I agree with you. I think writers should be careful about how thickly they pour in the tech references, but I get annoyed at the total deniers too. I had a story come back with an editor's note that he couldn't read past the word myspace on the first page and the more I thought about it the more annoyed I became. I was well aware, when I chose that word, of what it carried, but I chose it over "the internet" or "a social networking site" to avoid generic fluff and to convey a specific sort of shitty/amateurish/sketchy-this-person-i-met-online-is-in-my-homeness. I respect that editors can choose to be picky about that sort of thing if they want but if it's such a hard rule maybe it should be specified in sub guidelines. Melissa, I agree with you. I think writers should be careful about how thickly they pour in the tech references, but I get annoyed at the total deniers too. I had a story come back with an editor’s note that he couldn’t read past the word myspace on the first page and the more I thought about it the more annoyed I became. I was well aware, when I chose that word, of what it carried, but I chose it over “the internet” or “a social networking site” to avoid generic fluff and to convey a specific sort of shitty/amateurish/sketchy-this-person-i-met-online-is-in-my-homeness. I respect that editors can choose to be picky about that sort of thing if they want but if it’s such a hard rule maybe it should be specified in sub guidelines.

]]> By: jesusangelgarcia http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-77842 jesusangelgarcia Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:50:28 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-77842 That's a good point, Mimi. I have to think about this. I'm trying to be up-to-the-minute contemporary and also somehow out-of-time, a ridiculous ambition. If I reinstate MySpace and this other reference to the Commander-in-Chief's grandfather's connects to the Nazis, then it firmly places the narrative a few years back, which may be OK. Hmmm... thanks for making me rethink this. Still thinking... That’s a good point, Mimi. I have to think about this. I’m trying to be up-to-the-minute contemporary and also somehow out-of-time, a ridiculous ambition. If I reinstate MySpace and this other reference to the Commander-in-Chief’s grandfather’s connects to the Nazis, then it firmly places the narrative a few years back, which may be OK. Hmmm… thanks for making me rethink this. Still thinking…

]]> By: jesusangelgarcia http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/she-will-continue-driving-down-the-feather-river-canyon-from-portola-to-sit-in-front-of-the-plant-where-paul-died-with-signs-about-work-place-safety-as-long-as-she-feels-the-need/comment-page-1/#comment-157192 jesusangelgarcia Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:50:00 +0000 http://htmlgiant.com/?p=34938#comment-157192 That's a good point, Mimi. I have to think about this. I'm trying to be up-to-the-minute contemporary and also somehow out-of-time, a ridiculous ambition. If I reinstate MySpace and this other reference to the Commander-in-Chief's grandfather's connects to the Nazis, then it firmly places the narrative a few years back, which may be OK. Hmmm... thanks for making me rethink this. Still thinking... That’s a good point, Mimi. I have to think about this. I’m trying to be up-to-the-minute contemporary and also somehow out-of-time, a ridiculous ambition. If I reinstate MySpace and this other reference to the Commander-in-Chief’s grandfather’s connects to the Nazis, then it firmly places the narrative a few years back, which may be OK. Hmmm… thanks for making me rethink this. Still thinking…

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