The "I don't want to talk about AI" thread, and the new topic is: do I spot some actual literary discussion there?!

[Bramblethorn]

Human skills needed for cat having:

Perception for spotting covert plastic eating.

Also for hearing incipient vomiting. Especially under the bed.

Dex for catching vomit. (My husband dove across the room with his hand out the other day and caught a hairball with masterful precision. I still haven't let him touch me. He hasn't washed it nearly enough.)

Been there, done that. Ew.

 

[StillStunned]

I've learned to grab the nearest piece of paper to catch the puke.

 

[Erozetta]

I've learned to grab the nearest piece of paper to catch the puke.

Nearest paper is usually in the printer and her vomit is much quicker than we can retrieve it from the tray. Yesterday my husband threw his sweatshirt under her to catch it. She turned to vomit on the tile, got upset, then ran under the bed to finish.

My girl is currently entranced by leaves falling onto our balcony.

 

[Bamagan]

I was experimenting with trying to adapt 'negative space art' into writing. That phrase may be interpreted in various ways, but in the art class I was thinking of, the idea was to capture the shape of an object by drawing/painting the 'empty' space around it. How can that be rendered in text or verse? Kind of a "tell me without telling me" situation. I'm still probing the void, but I figured I might mention it to see if the concept provokes anyone else. Might be an interesting writing exercise for some.

For context, the idea came to me while I was trying to write a philosophical conversation between characters discussing how being part of a community 'compresses' people into 'shapes' that can fit (more or less) into the whole, and how being removed from that pressure can prompt them to develop in strange ways as their nature seeks to fill the social vacuum.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I was experimenting with trying to adapt 'negative space art' into writing. That phrase may be interpreted in various ways, but in the art class I was thinking of, the idea was to capture the shape of an object by drawing/painting the 'empty' space around it. How can that be rendered in text or verse? Kind of a "tell me without telling me" situation. I'm still probing the void, but I figured I might mention it to see if the concept provokes anyone else. Might be an interesting writing exercise for some.

For context, the idea came to me while I was trying to write a philosophical conversation between characters discussing how being part of a community 'compresses' people into 'shapes' that can fit (more or less) into the whole, and how being removed from that pressure can prompt them to develop in strange ways as their nature seeks to fill the social vacuum.

We need more reactions, cause I have nothing else to add.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Squirrels climb better than cats. And they're not so stupid as to get stuck up there, too afraid to climb down.

 

[Statius]

I was experimenting with trying to adapt 'negative space art' into writing. That phrase may be interpreted in various ways, but in the art class I was thinking of, the idea was to capture the shape of an object by drawing/painting the 'empty' space around it. How can that be rendered in text or verse? Kind of a "tell me without telling me" situation. I'm still probing the void, but I figured I might mention it to see if the concept provokes anyone else. Might be an interesting writing exercise for some.

For context, the idea came to me while I was trying to write a philosophical conversation between characters discussing how being part of a community 'compresses' people into 'shapes' that can fit (more or less) into the whole, and how being removed from that pressure can prompt them to develop in strange ways as their nature seeks to fill the social vacuum.

As fascinating as this is, it is well beyond my abilities as a writer.

 

[Bamagan]

As fascinating as this is, it is well beyond my abilities as a writer.

Mine too, at least for now. But it's like a scab in my mind, one I can't stop futzing with.

 

[Statius]

Keep picking at that scab! I bet something interesting/ exciting will come of it, even if it's not your original intention.

 

[NuclearFairy]

That's how you get scars and infections.

 

[Bamagan]

Keep picking at that scab! I bet something interesting/ exciting will come of it, even if it's not your original intention.

Cognitive infection is exciting, I guess.

 

[Statius]

That's how you get scars and infections.

True! But we are talking about a brain scan and since we're all already scarred psychologically, what's one more?

 

[StillStunned]

I was experimenting with trying to adapt 'negative space art' into writing. That phrase may be interpreted in various ways, but in the art class I was thinking of, the idea was to capture the shape of an object by drawing/painting the 'empty' space around it. How can that be rendered in text or verse? Kind of a "tell me without telling me" situation. I'm still probing the void, but I figured I might mention it to see if the concept provokes anyone else. Might be an interesting writing exercise for some.

For context, the idea came to me while I was trying to write a philosophical conversation between characters discussing how being part of a community 'compresses' people into 'shapes' that can fit (more or less) into the whole, and how being removed from that pressure can prompt them to develop in strange ways as their nature seeks to fill the social vacuum.

Off the top of my head, there are probably a couple of ways to do this.

The first would be to provide information without explaining it. For example, in one of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy shows/books, Ford meets Zaphod again after a long time, and Zaphod says, "Put it there! Put it there! Put it there! Put it there!", implying that he now has four hands (and arms) instead of his previous three.

Another is to use language and words to break the flow. One example I've used in discussions here a few times is "then":

"How did you know?" she asked. Then: "Of course. The bottle opener."

I use this to shorthand a break, a brief moment of reflection and realisation, or possibly a change of heart.

But you're a master of prose, you could do more. If your prose is smooth and rhythmic, any break in that rhythm, or any consonant that breaks the flow, will draw the reader's attention to that space. Like the opening line of Keats's "The Eve of St. Agnes":

St. Agnes' Eve - Ah, bitter chill it was!

The break there, right at the very start of the poem, does more with an em dash than the poet could have done with three lines. Or "Out, out, brief candle", from Macbeth's soliloquy, which interrupts the flow with successive stressed syllables and leaves you slightly breathless.

This is all pretty vague, and I don't know if it's what you meant. But it might be a place to start.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I was experimenting with trying to adapt 'negative space art' into writing. That phrase may be interpreted in various ways, but in the art class I was thinking of, the idea was to capture the shape of an object by drawing/painting the 'empty' space around it. How can that be rendered in text or verse? Kind of a "tell me without telling me" situation. I'm still probing the void, but I figured I might mention it to see if the concept provokes anyone else. Might be an interesting writing exercise for some.

For context, the idea came to me while I was trying to write a philosophical conversation between characters discussing how being part of a community 'compresses' people into 'shapes' that can fit (more or less) into the whole, and how being removed from that pressure can prompt them to develop in strange ways as their nature seeks to fill the social vacuum.

What about the Lovecraftian style where something (usually in HPL's case something horrific) is described mostly indirectly, by hints and by people's reaction to it? Does that count as "negative space" here?

My current work in progresspause involves a narrator who's been damaged by seeing her brother die in an accident, and one of the things I've been toying with is the idea of never directly saying what the accident was (her self-defense mechanism, since she's trying not to relive it) but just letting readers figure it out, or not, from the way she reacts to certain things. I don't know whether it'll make the final cut but that seems similar to what you're discussing.

 

[Trionyx]

My current work in progresspause involves a narrator who's been damaged byseeing her brother die in an accident, and one of the things I've been toying with is the idea of never directly saying what the accident was (her self-defense mechanism, since she's trying not to relive it) but just letting readers figure it out, or not, from the way she reacts to certain things. I don't know whether it'll make the final cut but that seems similar to what you're discussing.

Sounds interesting. I look forward to it.

 

[Bamagan]

The first would be to provide information without explaining it. For example, in one of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy shows/books, Ford meets Zaphod again after a long time, and Zaphod says, "Put it there! Put it there! Put it there! Put it there!", implying that he now has four hands (and arms) instead of his previous three.

What about the Lovecraftian style where something (usually in HPL's case something horrific) is described mostly indirectly, by hints and by people's reaction to it? Does that count as "negative space" here?

My current work in progresspause involves a narrator who's been damaged by seeing her brother die in an accident, and one of the things I've been toying with is the idea of never directly saying what the accident was (her self-defense mechanism, since she's trying not to relive it) but just letting readers figure it out, or not, from the way she reacts to certain things. I don't know whether it'll make the final cut but that seems similar to what you're discussing.

I think these examples are basically what I meant, and upon reflection I believe they're more common than I initially realized. Many of us know more about our characters than we put down in writing, but there are hints and clues to suggest things about their pasts or their lives outside the main narrative. To cite my own example, there was a subplot that I excised from one of my more recent stories, about the POV character being estranged from her parents when she leaves town, but after the father has a nearly fatal heart attack they manage to mostly reconcile. But it distracted from the principal relationship (and the resulting anal sex), so the whole family drama is only hinted at, because the main character has her eyes locked on the (booty) prize (or, to be less crass, she's telling the story of how she got to live out her fantasy with her straight-girl crush, and the story pretty much focuses on just their interactions, sexual or otherwise).
Still, it kind of feels like beginner level stuff.

 

[Euphony]

We seem to be back to cats