Hey, did you all know what “ekphrastic” meant?
This post on tor.com offers “three ekphrastic dialogues.” Check them out!
Okay, so Google says “Ekphrastic refers to a form of writing, mostly poetry, wherein the author describes another work of art, usually visual.” Fine, fine, this use of the term to describe dialogue that takes place between the writer and the main character is a fun extension of the concept.
Now, I’m sure you’re all asking yourselves: is this what it’s really like to write?
No. No, it’s not. Or at least not for me. And I’m as much as just-go-with-it seat-of-the-pants writer as anybody. Still, I am not likely to forget the Mountains of Night or be startled by the appearance of a whole evil army.
Fun post, though.
Given the wide differences in how writers write, I suppose there probably are those who work like this, odd though it seems.
Mostly I’m on the Character’s side: there’s a lot of room on the awesome scale between “using two weapons at once” and “defeating an entire army single-handed.”
I confess: not previously familiar with the word “ekphrastic.”
Lazette Gifford has a short “Autor vs. Character” scetch up at Smashwords, free, if you like that kind of thing. I thought it was called ‘ breaking the (4th?) wall’, and hadn’t ever heard this word for it either.
Sorry, typo, Author, not autor.
Yeah, I’m definitely on the character’s side! Especially about the prequel. Ugh, for the character, that’s terrible.