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There is a technical, literary term for those who mistake the opinions and beliefs of characters in a novel for those of the author. the term is 'idiot'.
-Larry Niven
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There Is A Technical, Literary Term For

Larry Niven
There is a technical, literary term for those who mistake the opinions and beliefs of characters in a novel for those of the author. the term is 'idiot'.
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Topic
Mistake Character Belief

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But to be perfectly frank, this childish idea that the author of a novel has some special insight into the characters in the novel ... it's ridiculous. that novel was composed of scratches on a page, dear. the characters inhabiting it have no life outside of those scratches. what happened to them? they all ceased to exist the moment the novel ended.
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There are characters in some short stories who exist as people, and there are other characters in different short stories who exist as purely literary constructs. you know, the young man in "forbidden brides of the faceless slaves in the secret house of the night of dread desire" - i probably got that right - is a literary construct, and enjoys being a literary construct. he has no life off stage, whereas the young men in "how to talk to girls at parties" were as near to being real human beings as i could possibly get them.
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Too many creative people don't wanna learn how to be technical, so what happens? they become dependent on technical people. become technical. you can learn that. if you're creative and technical, you're unstoppable.
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It is not a mistake to commit a mistake, for no one commits a mistake knowing it to be one. but it is a mistake not to correct the mistake after knowing it to be one. if you are afraid of committing a mistake, you are afraid of doing anything at all. you will correct your mistakes whenever you find them.
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It's very bad to write a novel by act of will. i can do a book of nonfiction work that way - just sign the contract and do the book because, provided the topic has some meaning for me, i know i can do it. but a novel is different. a novel is more like falling in love. you don't say, 'i'm going to fall in love next tuesday, i'm going to begin my novel.' the novel has to come to you. it has to feel just like love.
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There are technical tricks that may help you create more effective characters. my approach to characterization is not at all technical. i can't really analyze how i do it, but i am sure of one thing. to write convincing characters, you must possess the ability to think yourself into someone else's skin.
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