Diary format
- rovet
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Diary format
Shada managed to make herself comfortable in what were going to be our quarters. Which meant, yes, she cleaned. Or supervised cleaning, anyway;
Whited, Garon. Nightlord: Sunset (Kindle Locations 4820-4821). UNKNOWN. Kindle Edition.
If he is writing that entry on the day it happened, you would think the tense would be "Shada is managing to make herself comfortable in what are going to be our quarters. Which means, yes, she cleans. Or supervises cleaning anyway." I keep finding episodes of past tense, when it is supposed to be happening in his present. On top of that, he never mentions carrying a journal, pen, or paper around. With as much as he has written, you would think that he would need to find more paper - would it be parchment and ink? Or is he using his Mental Note? He also never mentions taking breaks to write his entries.
Maybe I am being too picky, but it really is distracting to me and makes it unbelievable as a diary. The tense would be more accurate as a memoir. Is anyone else having this issue?
- Gravy
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What is grief, if not love persevering?
Grief is just love with no place to go.
- rovet
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Good point. It got me thinking if there are any fictional diary style books I like, and I couldn't think of one. All the ones that initially came to mind were in fact memoirs. "Dracula" is close, but not truly a diary, since it pulls from several people's journals and letters. The best I could do was "Cloud Atlas," which wasn't all written in diary format, but the parts that were in diary form were done well.Gravy wrote:I'm not the biggest fan of the "diary" format, anyway. It always takes away from the story, in my opinion. After all, the character lived to write the entry, and that prevents some of the enjoyment for me. If I can't worry for the character, it's harder to actually care.
- Heidi M Simone
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Gravy, you bring up a good point about not having to worry about the character since you know he's lived. I didn't think about that, but it makes sense.
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- Gravy
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I've never understood the point of telling a story that wayhsimone wrote:I don't think I've read enough diary-formatted books to have a clear opinion of them in general. However, in this read, I felt very similarly - the different tenses, the exact quoting (it's a diary, you're not going to remember the exact words that everyone says), and the general tone of the story. Honestly, I think this was one of the issues I had with the read itself.
Gravy, you bring up a good point about not having to worry about the character since you know he's lived. I didn't think about that, but it makes sense.
What is grief, if not love persevering?
Grief is just love with no place to go.
- Heidi M Simone
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Well, now the idea is planted in my head, I will most likely be questioning it from now on when I do pick up a diary-based read. Thanks!Gravy wrote:I've never understood the point of telling a story that wayhsimone wrote:I don't think I've read enough diary-formatted books to have a clear opinion of them in general. However, in this read, I felt very similarly - the different tenses, the exact quoting (it's a diary, you're not going to remember the exact words that everyone says), and the general tone of the story. Honestly, I think this was one of the issues I had with the read itself.
Gravy, you bring up a good point about not having to worry about the character since you know he's lived. I didn't think about that, but it makes sense.
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- Gravy
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Sorryhsimone wrote:Well, now the idea is planted in my head, I will most likely be questioning it from now on when I do pick up a diary-based read. Thanks!Gravy wrote:I've never understood the point of telling a story that wayhsimone wrote:I don't think I've read enough diary-formatted books to have a clear opinion of them in general. However, in this read, I felt very similarly - the different tenses, the exact quoting (it's a diary, you're not going to remember the exact words that everyone says), and the general tone of the story. Honestly, I think this was one of the issues I had with the read itself.
Gravy, you bring up a good point about not having to worry about the character since you know he's lived. I didn't think about that, but it makes sense.
I've read some that worked (can't think of them right now), but they all tend to grab you immediately, and you don't have a chance to think about it. It can work. But when it doesn't, I find it so disappointing
What is grief, if not love persevering?
Grief is just love with no place to go.
- MerryLove
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Still, I feel like in this case the diary format has made the story thus far feel a bit more unstable in tone (sometimes lighthearted, sometimes serious) and the events more disconnected. I can't help but wonder if the story would have had a smoother ebb and flow if it wasn't written in this format.
- Heidi M Simone
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No worries! I always like to broaden my views as a reader, so it's just a new way of thinking.Gravy wrote:Sorryhsimone wrote:Well, now the idea is planted in my head, I will most likely be questioning it from now on when I do pick up a diary-based read. Thanks!Gravy wrote:
I've never understood the point of telling a story that way
I've read some that worked (can't think of them right now), but they all tend to grab you immediately, and you don't have a chance to think about it. It can work. But when it doesn't, I find it so disappointing
It's kind of like what MerryLove said - something with a more realistic setting, diary form would work better. Maybe those are the types that you read, Gravy?
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- rovet
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- Gravy
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I don't read very much strictly realistic fiction. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head!hsimone wrote:No worries! I always like to broaden my views as a reader, so it's just a new way of thinking.Gravy wrote:Sorryhsimone wrote:
Well, now the idea is planted in my head, I will most likely be questioning it from now on when I do pick up a diary-based read. Thanks!
I've read some that worked (can't think of them right now), but they all tend to grab you immediately, and you don't have a chance to think about it. It can work. But when it doesn't, I find it so disappointing
It's kind of like what MerryLove said - something with a more realistic setting, diary form would work better. Maybe those are the types that you read, Gravy?
Now it's going to bug me
What is grief, if not love persevering?
Grief is just love with no place to go.
- Heidi M Simone
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Sorry about that, didn't mean to make it bug you.Gravy wrote:I don't read very much strictly realistic fiction. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head!hsimone wrote:No worries! I always like to broaden my views as a reader, so it's just a new way of thinking.Gravy wrote:
Sorry
I've read some that worked (can't think of them right now), but they all tend to grab you immediately, and you don't have a chance to think about it. It can work. But when it doesn't, I find it so disappointing
It's kind of like what MerryLove said - something with a more realistic setting, diary form would work better. Maybe those are the types that you read, Gravy?
Now it's going to bug me
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- Janetleighgreen
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I really love this book; but I can see where the diary entry format could be difficult to follow. I turned that off in my mind, and thought of it more as chapters for the same reasons you mentioned, and was able to enjoy the book immensely.rovet wrote:I am having a hard time really sinking into the story, and I think part of the problem is the diary format. Supposedly Eric is writing each entry that day (not at some point in the future and remembering it) and yet he refers to things in the wrong tense, as if it happened to him, not currently happening. For example:
Shada managed to make herself comfortable in what were going to be our quarters. Which meant, yes, she cleaned. Or supervised cleaning, anyway;
Whited, Garon. Nightlord: Sunset (Kindle Locations 4820-4821). UNKNOWN. Kindle Edition.
If he is writing that entry on the day it happened, you would think the tense would be "Shada is managing to make herself comfortable in what are going to be our quarters. Which means, yes, she cleans. Or supervises cleaning anyway." I keep finding episodes of past tense, when it is supposed to be happening in his present. On top of that, he never mentions carrying a journal, pen, or paper around. With as much as he has written, you would think that he would need to find more paper - would it be parchment and ink? Or is he using his Mental Note? He also never mentions taking breaks to write his entries.
Maybe I am being too picky, but it really is distracting to me and makes it unbelievable as a diary. The tense would be more accurate as a memoir. Is anyone else having this issue?
-- 10 Dec 2016, 22:05 --
The fact that he is still alive was an issue for me at first, but I got past that and enjoyed the book.Gravy wrote:I'm not the biggest fan of the "diary" format, anyway. It always takes away from the story, in my opinion. After all, the character lived to write the entry, and that prevents some of the enjoyment for me. If I can't worry for the character, it's harder to actually care.
- Randomgold
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That being said, if I had to give some kind of justification to some of these things, it all boils down to how he's writing things. He's not "physically" writing things, so he can go back and alter things after the fact, just by thinking about it. At least, that's what I think.
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