JPM1
Monday 6th December 2010 5:11pm
London
117 posts
far be from me to deny anyone a pie!
jacparov - I think you've hit the nail on the head which is that the work is well-written if it achieves what the writer set out to accomplish.
So how does an audience determine the writer's intentions? How do we avoid a writer simply saying "well I never intended the characters to be "x" so you can't hold me to that standard"
?
Nat - Your definition could work well, absolutely - in another context. In this context I think we're specifically seeking out those areas which are less subjective.
On the subject of subjectivity:
I'd argue that a great many points of debate, this one included, lie somewhere on a scale between objective and subjective. It seems likely that very little is totally one or the other. I'm interested here in those areas of writing which can be seen to lean toward the objective.
Let's try this framework: BAFTAs are given for writing - if you were a BAFTA judge, what criteria would you use?
You would be obligated (I'd hope) to base your decision on something more substantive than "this one made me laugh the most"
How would you take the nominees, line them up and compare them?
far be from me to deny anyone a pie!
jacparov - I think you've hit the nail on the head which is that the work is well-written if it achieves what the writer set out to accomplish.
So how does an audience determine the writer's intentions? How do we avoid a writer simply saying "well I never intended the characters to be "x" so you can't hold me to that standard"
?
Nat - Your definition could work well, absolutely - in another context. In this context I think we're specifically seeking out those areas which are less subjective.
On the subject of subjectivity:
I'd argue that a great many points of debate, this one included, lie somewhere on a scale between objective and subjective. It seems likely that very little is totally one or the other. I'm interested here in those areas of writing which can be seen to lean toward the objective.
Let's try this framework: BAFTAs are given for writing - if you were a BAFTA judge, what criteria would you use?
You would be obligated (I'd hope) to base your decision on something more substantive than "this one made me laugh the most"
How would you take the nominees, line them up and compare them?