Progress or Contamination?
commentary on graphics used in stories19 total reviews
Comment from judiverse
I'm going with a six, you express the frustration so well. I have a very old cell phone which I rarely use, and it takes me a while to work up courage to order something on-line. "Stages of adjustment" to the electronic age is a good way to put it. My progress is slow. I was interested in your comments about the use of multi-media elements, especially with poetry. Some of them are awesome, and the poetry is excellent, but I think they sway voters in a prompt contest. Maybe they should have a special category for the multi-media presentations. I have a WhitePaper Kindle, and all I have to do is touch the screen to turn the page. You have many interesting personal examples, and keep your focus throughout. judi
reply by the author on 03-Aug-2014
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I'm going with a six, you express the frustration so well. I have a very old cell phone which I rarely use, and it takes me a while to work up courage to order something on-line. "Stages of adjustment" to the electronic age is a good way to put it. My progress is slow. I was interested in your comments about the use of multi-media elements, especially with poetry. Some of them are awesome, and the poetry is excellent, but I think they sway voters in a prompt contest. Maybe they should have a special category for the multi-media presentations. I have a WhitePaper Kindle, and all I have to do is touch the screen to turn the page. You have many interesting personal examples, and keep your focus throughout. judi
Comment Written 03-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 03-Aug-2014
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There's a bit of a battle going one here about the subject. I am somewhat ambivalent enjoying the innovation, but hating to lose against graphics--and I have. and there is the crux of the argument. The author, that I think has been singled out, in my mind is a superb writer. Even I have felt that I lost based on his vision, but I honestly never felt victimized by someone who was clever or smarter, or attracted more attention. I did my normal thing, snorted, declared to the world, 'I should have won,' and simply moved on.
Thanks for all the star power. I plan to invest it in a better attitude.
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You're so welcome. Maybe they can have their own contests, although I haven't noticed very many on FS who are dong the multi-media thing. judi
Comment from ExperiencingLiphe
It took my parents awhile to get a dvd player at first. I live on my own, am 24 years old and still own a VCR and yes it still works, at least last time I used it it did. I'm not a huge fan of E-Readers even though I own one. I hate that if I buy a book I can't just loan it someone who I think would benefit in reading it. It's kind of annoying. I get my magazines on it but even those are just okay on it because the pictures don't show like they would in the actual magazine. They are either taken out completely or you have flip til the every end of the article and by the time you get to them you forgot what kind of jeans you were looking at. I also have problem with advancing and changing into new things. Technology can be great but it also has its cons
reply by the author on 03-Aug-2014
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It took my parents awhile to get a dvd player at first. I live on my own, am 24 years old and still own a VCR and yes it still works, at least last time I used it it did. I'm not a huge fan of E-Readers even though I own one. I hate that if I buy a book I can't just loan it someone who I think would benefit in reading it. It's kind of annoying. I get my magazines on it but even those are just okay on it because the pictures don't show like they would in the actual magazine. They are either taken out completely or you have flip til the every end of the article and by the time you get to them you forgot what kind of jeans you were looking at. I also have problem with advancing and changing into new things. Technology can be great but it also has its cons
Comment Written 03-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 03-Aug-2014
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I've wanted to say this to a younger person for a very long time, and you, my charming writer, just happened to step into my parlour at exactly the right moment.
I like many, hauled books around from house to house, overpaying movers for the weight, but I found it hard to part with my books. One day it became crystal clear that it was a ludicrous habit and donated them all to the library--20 cartons full.
What I wish I'd thought of and would advise, is to start a journal, and write down every book you read. Add the author and date it, perhaps a quick reference note, but I promise you, years down the road, you'll impress yourself with how much you've absorbed, and in this electronic age, could always go revisit something you've read.
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Yeah I just love my books. I'm not convinced on the whole E-book thing. I like to buy a book and hand it to my friends and family and share the book. You just can't do it that on an E-Book
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Still keep track. I think I've read hundreds--maybe thousand of books--and sometimes wonder whether a turn of a phrase come from creativity or memory.
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Will definitely keep that in mind
Comment from GeraldS
I think the gist of your commentary is contained in a sentence near the end:" I want my imagination to be engaged and graphics don't match what I envision from the words." That is precisely how I feel not only when I read, but also when I write. Some people think they are missing something if the image in their mind might not exactly match that in the mind of the author. I don't agree. Everyone has a different and unique frame of reference. Everyone has a different imagination, ripe to be stimulated. It is unrealistic to think that everyone should picture exactly the same images in his/her mind. If two people witness the same event in real life, they rarely see it in agreement. The same is true with story telling. Each reader's experience is different and unique.
To be honest, I've stopped reading the postings with multiple moving images. The narrative is broken up by them and I can't concentrate on the words with all the gaudy moving distractions.
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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I think the gist of your commentary is contained in a sentence near the end:" I want my imagination to be engaged and graphics don't match what I envision from the words." That is precisely how I feel not only when I read, but also when I write. Some people think they are missing something if the image in their mind might not exactly match that in the mind of the author. I don't agree. Everyone has a different and unique frame of reference. Everyone has a different imagination, ripe to be stimulated. It is unrealistic to think that everyone should picture exactly the same images in his/her mind. If two people witness the same event in real life, they rarely see it in agreement. The same is true with story telling. Each reader's experience is different and unique.
To be honest, I've stopped reading the postings with multiple moving images. The narrative is broken up by them and I can't concentrate on the words with all the gaudy moving distractions.
Comment Written 01-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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I thought a lot about movies when I wrote this essay. the casting director sees a certain person as being either suitable or all wrong for the role. while there may be obvious reasons, he/she hold the image of the screenwriter's vision and words in his mind when hi awards a role. Not much different is it?
then I thought about how very used to the music, the score that plays in the background, building the tension and creating the mood. We hardly notice it anymore, but it effects us, stirs the emotions, and we are not even aware of it.
When talkies came in and the proverbial piano player that accompanied the oldies was thrown off stage, I'd bet the background music screamed in the audience's ears--so aware were they.
I can see a genre evolving in literature with this same learning curve. I like the odd shot, but as stated, I'm a purist. I want to read my way.
Still, I think any mud thrown at an innovator is unfounded and terribly unkind.
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Comment from DALLAS01
Recently there has been a lot of chatter about melding multi-media elements into stories being posted on FanStory. Some of the comments have inferred that the inclusion of sound effects and moving graphics identifies the authors and that casts an unfair tactic into the competition of blind contests
I have been able to identify a few authors this way.
I can relate to everything you shared about resistance and eventual submission. Think it might be generational.
I have a nook, but like you, continue to buy books. No substitute for turning the pages.
And none of us would cast the same actor or actress in a the film version of a good book, or choose identical backgrounds. Imagination is the gift of absorbing the author's words and making it your own story.
You are so right again, enhancements or no, it is all good.
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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Recently there has been a lot of chatter about melding multi-media elements into stories being posted on FanStory. Some of the comments have inferred that the inclusion of sound effects and moving graphics identifies the authors and that casts an unfair tactic into the competition of blind contests
I have been able to identify a few authors this way.
I can relate to everything you shared about resistance and eventual submission. Think it might be generational.
I have a nook, but like you, continue to buy books. No substitute for turning the pages.
And none of us would cast the same actor or actress in a the film version of a good book, or choose identical backgrounds. Imagination is the gift of absorbing the author's words and making it your own story.
You are so right again, enhancements or no, it is all good.
Comment Written 01-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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You know, what bothers me the most is this superior attitude that some take. I've enjoyed the innovation, but I wouldn't want a steady diet of the stuff. My reading, like yours is a solitary adventure into my imagination fuelled y words, not sound effects or moving pictures. But holy damn, someone does something cool and different and he gets s**t on--that bothers me--a lot.
This little controversy has been brewing, I just managed to throw it o the front page.
Thanks for the stars, my friend.
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I think some folks need to get a life.
Comment from adewpearl
Excellent use of illustrative examples to trace your journey of acceptance and adaptation of electronics into your life along with those places where you're still resisting.
I like the nostalgia in the opening that will surely appeal to all those of a certain age. I too have been a resister, and yes, gradual user of some devices - like the microwave, which I cannot now live without, but I still don't own a cellphone, though I've operated my daughter's. LOL And yet I know she couldn't exist without her camera/GPS device/gaming machine/video camera/internet accessor...
Brooke :-)
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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Excellent use of illustrative examples to trace your journey of acceptance and adaptation of electronics into your life along with those places where you're still resisting.
I like the nostalgia in the opening that will surely appeal to all those of a certain age. I too have been a resister, and yes, gradual user of some devices - like the microwave, which I cannot now live without, but I still don't own a cellphone, though I've operated my daughter's. LOL And yet I know she couldn't exist without her camera/GPS device/gaming machine/video camera/internet accessor...
Brooke :-)
Comment Written 01-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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I own a blackberry that was expensive but what do I know? I have absolutely NO idea how to install an app, including GPS, though the device is capable, and I get lost all the time!
Thanks Brooke.
Comment from Erik McGinley
I think I would be like you if I had not been forced to almost abandon reading at a point when my mind just could not fix on the words.
Not really sure how to rate this. It's written well enough and makes it's point but its not an original thought nor one expressed in an original way.
I think it would have had more impact had you written it as story rather than commentary.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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I think I would be like you if I had not been forced to almost abandon reading at a point when my mind just could not fix on the words.
Not really sure how to rate this. It's written well enough and makes it's point but its not an original thought nor one expressed in an original way.
I think it would have had more impact had you written it as story rather than commentary.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 01-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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How enchanting. Are you drinking or did I simply bore you by bringing all the back door chatter on FS to the front page?
It's a commentary and just as most preachers bore the hell out of me for their lack of originality, I can accept easily that you are not impressed with the controversy that has been stirred up. I imply brought it off personal profile pages and to the forefront where people might discuss it.
Now if you wanted a solution the crises in Gaza, Syria or Russia, I could have given the readers some original thoughts, but then I'd have to reveal my true identity. Not even for a five. LOL...at least for me.
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OMG NO! :D
In 2000, or thereabouts, I had a mental illness that made it next to impossible for me to re a paragraph without having to reread it several times to get the gist of it.
Previously I would read, on average, 4 hours a day tucked up with a friendly paperback. I never really recovered so, "I would have been like you".
I hope that puts the rest of my review into context. I was not bored, I simply felt it was a commentary already made many times and in the same way by other people.
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OK, chill. I'm working on the economy. Too busy to banter.
Comment from maggieadams
You are singing to the choir about the technological "progress". Sometimes, I feel like my grandmother felt about electricity and the jet engine...not ready for it or able to fathom them. Books, yes, books...the best of all information and human connection. You bring up an interesting point about the fan story conflict...I feel as you, thanks for sharing.
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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You are singing to the choir about the technological "progress". Sometimes, I feel like my grandmother felt about electricity and the jet engine...not ready for it or able to fathom them. Books, yes, books...the best of all information and human connection. You bring up an interesting point about the fan story conflict...I feel as you, thanks for sharing.
Comment Written 01-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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I sometimes think it's a witch hunt with one specific target and while I don't subscribe to the method, I've been impressed as all get out. More so because this person is an exceptional writer. To each his own.
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Yes, I agree...I have been in contact with Dean...he is a fabulous writer, and he was really hurt...everyone who enters those contests has a signature of some sort....I now know who the authors are, even though it is blind...I have only been on this site for 8 months, and I know, so what is the big deal.
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This was all raging on profile pages. all I did was bring it to the front page. I've told the author how much I admire his writing and hope he feels that I simply broadcast the shots he was taking. I definitely mean him no harm, and in some way, hoped I was lending support to his innovation.
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You were...I totally took it that way...your article did not hurt him...it was the profile page argument that went on with you know who...that is what I was referring to. I haven't exchanged messages with Deannfor several weeks...I was not referring to your article...it is supportive.
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Good. I mean no harm, and have exceptional respect for both his writing and presentation skills. I was clear that I don't want to go in that direction, I think it is criminal to offend or finger someone who is inspired to do something new.
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I think we all feel that way...there was no need to single him out....unnecessary...I think we are all a bit intimidated to stand up to the author of the year....
Comment from GWHARGIS
I'm with you on the cell phone thing. I don't want to have to answer or be made to feel guilty if I choose not to answer. I like being unreachable sometimes. I agree with the sound effects on some of the piece here. I often times get distracted. I never put a picture with a novel I am posting, mainly because, like you I want the reader to create his own pictures. I don't mind putting one with a poem, if I can find what I want. Great piece of writing.
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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I'm with you on the cell phone thing. I don't want to have to answer or be made to feel guilty if I choose not to answer. I like being unreachable sometimes. I agree with the sound effects on some of the piece here. I often times get distracted. I never put a picture with a novel I am posting, mainly because, like you I want the reader to create his own pictures. I don't mind putting one with a poem, if I can find what I want. Great piece of writing.
Comment Written 01-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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Thanks. funny, I never noticed a picture or lack there of in your chapters.
Comment from Cumbrianlass
I've noticed a few wee spats about this issue recently. I'm with you on this one when it comes to my own reading experience. I understand the allure, for some people, of video and music accompanying the written word. Electronic comics have been around for ages.
I love my Kindle, too.
As usual, you rock the essay world with your skill. A virtual six, my lady, cuz I'm all out at present.
Love Av
x
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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I've noticed a few wee spats about this issue recently. I'm with you on this one when it comes to my own reading experience. I understand the allure, for some people, of video and music accompanying the written word. Electronic comics have been around for ages.
I love my Kindle, too.
As usual, you rock the essay world with your skill. A virtual six, my lady, cuz I'm all out at present.
Love Av
x
Comment Written 01-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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I'll trade a gross of stars in exchange for your friendship and honest opinion. Hugs.
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If it had been on Sunday, you'd have had all three. You'll always have the latter two. :)
Comment from Drew Delaney
This is a great post. In fact, it is too bad I posted something kind of similar concerning Opinions. But this would have been a great chapter to this new multi-author book I created this morning. I don't know whether you would like to post it in the book, but I just wanted you to know that. I guess some of us are feeling the vibes going on. The Multi-Author book is titled, Opinions Galore. Nice piece.
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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This is a great post. In fact, it is too bad I posted something kind of similar concerning Opinions. But this would have been a great chapter to this new multi-author book I created this morning. I don't know whether you would like to post it in the book, but I just wanted you to know that. I guess some of us are feeling the vibes going on. The Multi-Author book is titled, Opinions Galore. Nice piece.
Comment Written 01-Aug-2014
reply by the author on 01-Aug-2014
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I went over and read your prologue before answering your review, for which I thank you.
I'll be happy to write you a chapter. Using this one is unnecessary, unless you want it and then you're welcome to it, but I can give you something better and geared towards 'opinions' without invoking the FS controversy.
Happy to participate, but if you want to attract other writers to your book, you really need to let them know though a contest or by invitation.
And may I ask, what is the purpose of the book?
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I guess the whole idea begins with so many things in my life. Opinions often ruin you if you take them too seriously. Then when I read some comments regarding a certain Fanstorian, I felt compelled to write something to motivate writers to continue their road of presentation, even though some find it distracting or whatever. I would like to make people aware that sometimes, opinions are damaging. Especially, when some seem to be over opinionated in some cases. I really liked what you said and I wanted to stick with the topic so that the underdog gets some pat on the back too. I don't know if that explains it all. Can you help me out with this invitation or contest? When I was attempting this, nothing seemed to work my way. Maybe you have a better idea how this all works. Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.
