The wrong kind of details: the components of wonder (aka lmp's rant)

[Kuruharan]

I was rummaging around in the back tunnels of the barrow and stumbled upon this gem. I thought this thread deserved a resurrection.

And I speak the magic words...

"HerenIstarion"

[drigel]

aaahh
Robert E Howards short story "Marchers of Valhalla" to me is a great example of what the writers skill of capturing wonder can do. In 30 some odd pages, he invokes what others fail to accomlish in a 3-4 hundred page attempt.

[HerenIstarion]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

And I speak the magic words...

"HerenIstarion"

lol

I must confess I haven't seen the thread before, so thanks indeed for bringing it up. I'm on my way through page one. Brief comment before I get to the end - sense of wonder may be worked up by characters too - but not if they act completely out of their character, but in a more half-expected or even hardly expected, but still believable way. Per instance, I never expected Eomer to let Aragorn & Co off, but I knew it could not have been otherwise once Eomer actually did let them go. Yet it was wonderfull all right.

More later. Or maybe not, and I'll keep quiet. Depends on what I'll find on pages 2 and 3

cheers

[Kuruharan]

Brief comment before I get to the end - sense of wonder may be worked up by characters too - but not if they act completely out of their character, but in a more half-expected or even hardly expected, but still believable way.

An excellent point.

There is an interesting train of thought to follow here.

I think there is a fine line between characters acting in character and adding to the wonder and characters acting in character and detracting from the wonder. The danger is that characters could behave in a monotonous fashion.

On the other side, it is sometimes easier to tell when a character just goes berserk and ruins a story. (I mean, you wouldn't have Aragorn pulling out a phaser and yelling at Gimli to ready the photon torpedoes. Or, at least, not this side of the Reunification of the Entish Bow, but I digress.) Bringing this back to reality, I think unpredictability is a good thing, but difficult to handle properly.

[Kuruharan]

In looking up Letter 246 for this thread, my eyes happened to drift to Letter 247 where I found this delightful passage which I had scarce regarded before.

Part of the attraction of The L. R. is, I think, due to the glimpses of a large history in the background: an attraction like that of viewing far off an unvisited island, or seeing the towers of a distant city gleaming in a sunlit mist.

I decided to post it because it sums up what we are talking about here so well.