tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post5437293032212374632..comments2023-11-10T04:17:00.492-05:00Comments on View From The Porch: Guns in Books.Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-69902795278706153882010-05-18T08:21:42.744-04:002010-05-18T08:21:42.744-04:00It would be better to say little about firearms th...It would be better to say little about firearms than to absolutely futz. I stopped reading Robert Ludlum after he spoke about Bourne "jamming a banana mag" into an Uzi.J.R.Shirleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08498164179579546593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-41219566209817606202010-05-15T15:01:28.981-04:002010-05-15T15:01:28.981-04:00Less brand name and even less technology-jargon is...Less brand name and even less technology-jargon is better in any story. Otherwise you get thrillers where, if you read them 10 years later, talk about dialing up the Internet and Netscape to hit AltaVista to run a search on a suspect.<br /><br />If there's going to be the equivalent of a midlist in midcentury, you're going to want to avoid stamping your work with an expiration date.<br /><br />And just so we're clear, <i>I know they're Harlequins for Men</i> when I'm reading them.Brian J.http://brianjnoggle.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-81206360657213870802010-05-15T10:11:53.978-04:002010-05-15T10:11:53.978-04:00Thank you for the reference.
I suppose it's ...Thank you for the reference.<br /><br /> I suppose it's a useful indicator of to whom the work is meant to appeal, at least in second and later works. <br /><br />It's interesting to see how this varies over time. Robert Smith Surtees describes his hunting porn characters' clothing and hairstyles in excruciating detail.<br /><br />Commercial branding of products on a nation wide basis was pervasive in the U. S. by 1900. It's not difficult to find 19th century novels talking about Colts and Winchesters. But that seems to be the only branded goods referred to- the Virginian doesn't dig with an Ames, lunch on Bent's, or check the time by his Waltham. <br /><br />Cars seem to have been the only exemption from the no brand convention.<br /><br />As far as I know Steven King was the first author to permit a non-vehicular, non-gun product brand name into his pages. <br /><br /><br /><br />It made such an impression that almost every review of Carrie and 'salem's Lot mentioned it, and we've been adjusting balance since.<br /><br />There's a n English dissertation in there someplace.staghoundshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05976667812875074135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-57213031456341156602010-05-14T23:15:09.923-04:002010-05-14T23:15:09.923-04:00Related:
If all stories were written like science...Related:<br /><br />If all stories were written like science fiction stories<br />http://www.shrovetuesdayobserved.com/flight.htmlLes Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03389811940518627023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-31547069761456717662010-05-14T20:52:28.474-04:002010-05-14T20:52:28.474-04:00Or you could be like Larry Niven and be hopelessly...Or you could be like Larry Niven and be hopelessly enamored with the gyrojet. A one man advertisement for that he was. Just goes to show even relatively popular authors can't save a bad product.Buffboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13886692297373687173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-45867610800785767062010-05-14T17:49:44.139-04:002010-05-14T17:49:44.139-04:00I'm just tired of authors that use Glocks in t...I'm just tired of authors that use Glocks in their stories because they are familiar with the name and it sounds "cool" and then proceed to put safeties and hammers on them.<br /><br /><br />Both times I've emailed the authors I get back, "artistic license."<br /><br />But it was cool that they did email me back.....Cargosquidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15109858929179841075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-4819728924573774442010-05-14T16:08:34.328-04:002010-05-14T16:08:34.328-04:00Praise the good ones? In the words of the noted (a...Praise the good ones? In the words of the noted (and heavily armed) philosopher Jayne Cobb, "When's <i>that</i> get fun?" ;-)<br /><br /><i>(I keed, I keed.)</i>Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780425923108876647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-66989449518653418972010-05-14T13:57:18.859-04:002010-05-14T13:57:18.859-04:00If we're going to praise the bad apples in the...If we're going to praise the bad apples in the barrel, shouldn't we also praise the good ones? I've always thought Stephen Hunter got the balance about right.Hunsdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05188706369004532171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-66929816047505728482010-05-14T13:17:19.209-04:002010-05-14T13:17:19.209-04:00Spent an enjoyable hour or so at in (I think) Sout...Spent an enjoyable hour or so at in (I think) South Bend in which Bob Asprin (pbuh) spoke of writing fight scenes. His <i>bete noir</i> was a book he did not name (but I suspect was Brian Dailey's <i>Doomfarers of Corimonde</i>) in which "the author" went on at length into technical details of swordfighting, using fencing terminology for rapier, not actual, you know, <i>fighting</i> technique...<br />I hadn't even started my career as a failed writer at that point, but that was my first clue that just because I find it interesting, does not mean it belongs in the story.<br />"What pistol is that?"<br />"Glock."<br />"Looks funny for a Glump."<br />"Yeah, the Department had an after-market safety added."Dranghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08082177597135236652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-28552506221361403532010-05-14T12:54:07.625-04:002010-05-14T12:54:07.625-04:00Wait. He managed to cram a Sig into his waistband...Wait. He managed to cram a Sig into his waistband? I call shenanigans. If you had said "brick" I could believe it, but a Sig isn't quite as svelte as a brick.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14885339153790993024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-7921491868397605072010-05-14T12:41:24.525-04:002010-05-14T12:41:24.525-04:00@ Tam--
I was ready at points to go with more det...@ Tam--<br /><br />I was ready at points to go with more detail on the weapons, the way, as Ed Rasimus points out, Vince Flynn does, but I chose to be parsimonious with my first-person narrator's field of attention (Flynn's books use the more typical for thrillers third-person omniscient narrator, who can by definition know everything, including things that are not immediately on the mind of a protagonist). But I don't have my narrator describing shoes either; so in her rush to tell the story a 9mm is just a 9mm and a shoe is just a shoe. But I wouldn't necessarily stick with that in the sequel.<br /><br />@ Ed Rasimus<br /><br />In Palace Cobra, I thought you had the detail levels just about right. It was the juggling of technical flight factors as they melded with the experience of combat that pumped serious steroids into the reading experience, and that's not a metaphor. The book has a physical impact.Martin McPhillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02702640115003772857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-12072149746027251392010-05-14T11:52:20.262-04:002010-05-14T11:52:20.262-04:00I'm not sure which is worse...too much descrip...I'm not sure which is worse...too much description, or complete failures in terms of anything regarding accuracy...like Glocks going 'Click click click' when they're empty...or being cocked to make that oh-so intimidating 'clickCLICK' noise...or flipping the safety off of an issue revolver.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-43294154364726739522010-05-14T11:02:59.378-04:002010-05-14T11:02:59.378-04:00I'm of the less is more school of thought. Re...I'm of the less is more school of thought. Recently I quit reading a book due to horrible sloppy errors. If the so-called author had simply glossed over the details, he would have been OK. Instead he was too lazy to do some basic fact checking. Ruined the book for me.<br /><br />Al T.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-15150988627142725512010-05-14T10:53:38.288-04:002010-05-14T10:53:38.288-04:00POV matters too (though most of my reading experie...POV matters too (though most of my reading experience in this area is omniscient narrator). A knowledgeable person might know that the bad guy was holding a Glock 22; a less knowledgeable person might see "the thug was holding a blocky, slab-sided flat black pistol. Sideways."<br /><br />One of the better tossed-off descriptions I read was in an otherwise unremarkable sci-fi novel called <i>Medusa's Children,</i> in which the author described the protagonist's rifle as "a twenty-second-century copy of a fairly serviceable twenty-first century Armalite," or something near to that.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780425923108876647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-87222111561404706802010-05-14T10:51:58.815-04:002010-05-14T10:51:58.815-04:00Personally, I like somewhere between the two narra...Personally, I like somewhere between the two narratives--the first is too generic and leaves me thinking the author is relatively clueless, gun-wise, the second that he's trying to over-dazzle with detail. <br /><br />People read an author because he/she has credibility. I spent more time with Vince Flynn books when I encountered the hero getting his equipment from Larue Tactical. It was a throw-away mention but it linked me up. <br /><br />I write about fighters and put enough in to lead the reader into the world but not so much as to leave him lost and confused amidst the jargon. It's a fine line to walk. My wife always says it is too technical, my aviator friends always say it is too basic. Must be just right!Ed Rasimushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667325554289268659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-20189071760092474282010-05-14T10:41:53.430-04:002010-05-14T10:41:53.430-04:00Hunting magazine stories are just as bad. My old f...Hunting magazine stories are just as bad. My old favorite Safari Magazine had stories written by folks about hunting in far away places.<br /><br />Now it reads like a shill rag for the hunting industry. <br /><br />I slipped on my Remington Tropical Jockeys Shorts in Moss Oak Junglefloge....<br /><br />GerryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-25584929428063691082010-05-14T10:27:41.730-04:002010-05-14T10:27:41.730-04:00which he drew ans he gazed, steely-eyed and square...<i>which he drew ans he gazed, steely-eyed and square-jawed into the distance, while grinning wolfishly.</i> <br /><br />I LOL'd and LOL'd and LOL'd. <br /><br />Bushhamster: the killer rabbit's African cousin.Joannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10952078709114872197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-83278410602944415782010-05-14T10:10:46.796-04:002010-05-14T10:10:46.796-04:00Tam, you left out a bit.
The Detonics were loaded...Tam, you left out a bit.<br /><br />The Detonics were loaded with 185 grain Silvertip jacketed hollow points that left the stubby three and a half inch barrel at 1100 feet per second.Hunsdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05188706369004532171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-92231343169772062172010-05-14T10:05:03.640-04:002010-05-14T10:05:03.640-04:00Corriea just wrote a very similar blog post. The o...Corriea just wrote a very similar blog post. The only thing he added to it, that I thought was quite important, was you can describe a weapon/car/motorcycle/knife, if you write it as part of the plot. <br /><br />For instance, a character in my current short story carries a highly fictional 1911. The gun is very cool and special enough to warrant description. However, I didn't describe it fully, until somewhere along in Chapter 2, when another gun nut asks him about it. <br /><br />-Rob <br /><br />WV: Sperm...no seriously.Revolver Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10745371069603827032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-25576359076749299942010-05-14T09:57:43.003-04:002010-05-14T09:57:43.003-04:00Martin McPhillips,
"Although I agree that a ...Martin McPhillips,<br /><br />"<i>Although I agree that a brand here and there is called for, and maybe I shouldn't have kept that as a private matter for the characters in recent work.</i>"<br /><br />It's the kind of subtlety that can convey volumes with very little being said if done right. To a large subset of readers, using the right brand name in the right place can subtly flag a character "fed" or "operator" or "cop" or "old-timer" or "punk" without having to wax encyclopaedic about either the piece itself or the character holding it.Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-20090946470468495582010-05-14T09:46:20.894-04:002010-05-14T09:46:20.894-04:00Lewis,
"(I suspect Tam was referencing Ahern...Lewis,<br /><br />"<i>(I suspect Tam was referencing Ahern, who I regard as the prime malefactor in this regard.)</i>"<br /><br />If I'd been referencing Ahern, I would have been talking about "<i>A pair of .45ACP Detonics Combat Masters, Metalifed for corrosion resistance, in a custom horsehide double Jackass shoulder rig. In his boot top was an A.G. Russel 'Sting' knife, which he drew ans he gazed, steely-eyed and square-jawed into the distance, while grinning wolfishly.</i>" ;)Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-42754578143431654002010-05-14T09:43:16.317-04:002010-05-14T09:43:16.317-04:00Are my phones tapped? This post is almost a conver...Are my phones tapped? This post is almost a conversation I had with Beck the other day. When I'm writing a particular type of story, I'm very aware that I cannot write as fast as the reader can read, so I pause only briefly to consider whether more detail is needed at any given moment and usually go with the less is more, addition by subtraction policy. So, plot and attitudes and object relations are constantly thrusting forward, such that when things are rolling the physical details are left to the reader's imagination. Although I agree that a brand here and there is called for, and maybe I shouldn't have kept that as a private matter for the characters in recent work.Martin McPhillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02702640115003772857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-85590288964927613712010-05-14T09:37:26.888-04:002010-05-14T09:37:26.888-04:00Yeah, but when Larry Correia does it, it's COO...Yeah, but when Larry Correia does it, <i>it's<b> COOL!</b></i>Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10324035824298948422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-69208296256043092412010-05-14T09:36:46.403-04:002010-05-14T09:36:46.403-04:00(My Commander has a custom finish and is indeed bl...(My Commander has a custom finish and is indeed black, not blue steel.)J.R.Shirleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08498164179579546593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-65514517782602212072010-05-14T09:34:49.941-04:002010-05-14T09:34:49.941-04:00I agree 100%. If you are going to get into detail,...I agree 100%. If you are going to get into detail, do it beforehand, a la Q and James going over the latest gadgets.Rustmeisterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16706110699686013722noreply@blogger.com