RK Wallis's latest activity

It's soooo good! The three-hander thing... it blows me away. That's what I thought (that it was about reading vs watching to be a writer). But I was starting to doubt myself after your and @JohnBertel's comments, so I'm glad you reread the...

Ah… I just re-read that Substack article (better this time) and I get what he’s saying now. It’s not about screenplays vs novels at all, it’s about reading vs watching to learn how to write. Sorry, I got confused. Yeah, it seems kind of crazy...

@Rich. I think that is indeed the problem. Film uses fine actors to convey emotion and character depth. Can you imagine trying to write Captain Jack Sparrow? Maybe also what's happening on a screen is like when someone sits in a park and watches...

Agreed, very much. Could it be that a script or screenplay isn't supposed to be the finished product? They can be extremely well written, but ultimately they exist to be interpreted by actors, directors, etc. Whereas a novel or short story is...

Yeah, I agree. If this was formatted as a screenplay, it would also be bad writing. Screenwriting seems to get a bit of a bad rap in terms of showing what characters are thinking and feeling. Done well, it's awesome and can be very personal and...

Very aguably. I don't think movies would be very popular if they lacked 'interiority and perspective.' His argument seems to be that because the camera shows us everything, 'TV-brain' has led this writer to describe everything. But just because...

I watch far less TV now than I used to, and I read far more than I used to. My writing is improving. It's not the reason, but it might be a small, contributory factor. The converse is also true: the more I write, the less I want to watch TV and...

Interesting, indeed! Reminds me of Ursula Le Guin saying that screenplays are written in present imperative, which just adds weight to the dangers of writing novels using the TV brain -- you end up asking the reader (now standing in for both...

Here is a really interesting post about writing that reads like a camera or TV show, and how this is increasingly prevalent among writers who don't read...

I came across this (doing something unrelated to writing) and thought... hey... could these principles of good design be applied to writing? I liked the idea of relating physically well designed objects to a well designed story. Some things might...

“When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls. What is to happen next will take place within the four walls of the story. And this is possible because the story's voice makes everything its own.”...

I just finished listening to The Housemaid by Freida McFadden. Another wow. Gripping. Finished in 2 days.

It definitely reads like historical fiction now but the style of her writing and the flow of it is captivating. As a writer, I found myself in awe of the writing and that's what interested me, more than the subject.

Definitely worth it. I couldn't have appreciated her voice as much when I was younger.

I loved The Bell Jar in my youth. I've read it a few times, but not recently. Maybe time to revisit.