StillStunned
Mr Sticky
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2023
- Posts
- 10,160
"There is no den where he can hide from me, oh Favored of Allah," declared Mikhal Oglu, "no night dark enough to conceal him, no forest thick enough. If I bring you not his head, I give him leave to send you mine."
"Enough!" Ibrahim tugged at his beard and grinned, well pleased. "You have my leave to go."
The sinister vulture-winged creature went springily and silently from the blue chamber, nor could Ibrahim guess that he was taking the first steps in a feud which should spread over years and far lands, swirling in dark tides to draw in thrones and kingdoms and red-haired women more beautiful than the flames of hell.
- from: The Shadow of the Vulture, by Robert E. Howard
Subtle dialogue? Refined prose? Delicate touches? Who needs them, when you have pulp!
I've mentioned here that I'm suffering from a bit of fatigue in my writing. Part of it is due to stress from work, but I've been wondering what else might be causing it. Not a lack of ideas, or even a lack of the desire to write. The Plot Bunny is still visiting me daily and leaving its cuckoo young in my WIP folder, and my immediate reaction is to write a few lines or paragraphs.
Even so, I've written little more than 1.5k words in total over the past three weeks. Every time I sit down, I just lose interest after a paragraph or so. Instead, I've been reading, and last night I stumbled upon The Shadow of the Vulture on my e-reader. It's by RE Howard, of Conan, Krull, Bran Mak Morn and Solomon Cain. The story itself deals with the Siege of Vienna, and apparently later became a source of inspiration for the character of Red Sonja.
But it's the prose that has caught my attention. Quite typical of REH, of course. It's the written equivalent of an actor hamming it up. You can almost picture Brian Blessed and William Shatner proclaiming the dialogue quoted above, with Christopher Lee as the narrator.
And it struck me that maybe my fatigue stems from trying to be delicate. Maybe I should take a step back, and just slap the story down in bold colours and forms. Back to the basics, as it were. Standing up straight and stretching my muscles instead of hunching over the words and sentences.
I'll let you know how it works out.
"Enough!" Ibrahim tugged at his beard and grinned, well pleased. "You have my leave to go."
The sinister vulture-winged creature went springily and silently from the blue chamber, nor could Ibrahim guess that he was taking the first steps in a feud which should spread over years and far lands, swirling in dark tides to draw in thrones and kingdoms and red-haired women more beautiful than the flames of hell.
- from: The Shadow of the Vulture, by Robert E. Howard
Subtle dialogue? Refined prose? Delicate touches? Who needs them, when you have pulp!
I've mentioned here that I'm suffering from a bit of fatigue in my writing. Part of it is due to stress from work, but I've been wondering what else might be causing it. Not a lack of ideas, or even a lack of the desire to write. The Plot Bunny is still visiting me daily and leaving its cuckoo young in my WIP folder, and my immediate reaction is to write a few lines or paragraphs.
Even so, I've written little more than 1.5k words in total over the past three weeks. Every time I sit down, I just lose interest after a paragraph or so. Instead, I've been reading, and last night I stumbled upon The Shadow of the Vulture on my e-reader. It's by RE Howard, of Conan, Krull, Bran Mak Morn and Solomon Cain. The story itself deals with the Siege of Vienna, and apparently later became a source of inspiration for the character of Red Sonja.
But it's the prose that has caught my attention. Quite typical of REH, of course. It's the written equivalent of an actor hamming it up. You can almost picture Brian Blessed and William Shatner proclaiming the dialogue quoted above, with Christopher Lee as the narrator.
And it struck me that maybe my fatigue stems from trying to be delicate. Maybe I should take a step back, and just slap the story down in bold colours and forms. Back to the basics, as it were. Standing up straight and stretching my muscles instead of hunching over the words and sentences.
I'll let you know how it works out.
