Peter Bensen
asked
Max Gladstone:
I really love your dialogue, your people keep talking and don't stomp off for some hollywood moment. So I wonder how much do your characters write their own stories? Do you find yourself with a very different plot than you started with?
Max Gladstone
Thank you! My characters often write their own stories—mostly by coloring the story I planned to tell. A moment I thought would be triumphant becomes tragic, or vice versa; characters who initially stepped onto the page as antagonists grow their own agendas.
That storm-out-for-ACTION!! scene ending often confuses me in films and fiction. (Just once I want to see someone forget their keys.) It's one thing for characters to reach the point where words are meaningless—but so many plots would be solved by "just talk to one another, you idiots!!" (Deadpool lampoons this beautifully. "No way this person who loves me will still love me now that I no longer look like Ryan Reynolds." *90 minutes later* "OH WAIT NEVER MIND THAT WAS DUMB.") Of course, meaningful conversation requires emotional openness, while action plots derive thrust from emotional isolation—in a way, traditional action plots use that suffering and violence to *excuse* the big emotional beat at the end. Hm.
That storm-out-for-ACTION!! scene ending often confuses me in films and fiction. (Just once I want to see someone forget their keys.) It's one thing for characters to reach the point where words are meaningless—but so many plots would be solved by "just talk to one another, you idiots!!" (Deadpool lampoons this beautifully. "No way this person who loves me will still love me now that I no longer look like Ryan Reynolds." *90 minutes later* "OH WAIT NEVER MIND THAT WAS DUMB.") Of course, meaningful conversation requires emotional openness, while action plots derive thrust from emotional isolation—in a way, traditional action plots use that suffering and violence to *excuse* the big emotional beat at the end. Hm.
More Answered Questions
Ricardo Penteado
asked
Max Gladstone:
So, I noticed that there was no comment here regarding Goodreads Choice Awards, and that you have no page on Facebook. Therefore, I thought it was my duty to mention that you got my vote and ask: when are you going to make a Facebook page so that your fans may virtyually mingle? https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-fantasy-books-2015
Solana
asked
Max Gladstone:
I was just wondering if you plan on making an audiobook for Full Fathom Five?
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