tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984067990467963645.post8425791631185871439..comments2024-03-21T22:22:59.425-07:00Comments on Vintage Pop Fictions: Ethel Lina White’s Some Must Watch (The Spiral Staircase)dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984067990467963645.post-22536620777797015832018-12-30T21:30:50.382-08:002018-12-30T21:30:50.382-08:00Your comment about telling directly what character...Your comment about telling directly what characters are thinking reminds me of one of Elmore Leonard’s best rules for writers: Dialogue belongs to the characters . Just report it don’t explain or characterize it. Ken Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08207803092348071005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984067990467963645.post-46575188534999827712018-12-02T08:46:40.245-08:002018-12-02T08:46:40.245-08:00"In fact it’s a peculiarity of the thriller t..."In fact it’s a peculiarity of the thriller that some of the best movies in that genre have been based on mediocre source novels."<br /><br />- So true. Movies are about movement and action, which is why they're called "moving pictures." As with pictures (i.e., paintings that hang on the wall), detective/mystery fiction (at its best, anyway) encourages the viewer to enter into the work, to be an active participant. Films and TV, for all that I love some of them, are passive forms of entertainment that too rarely engage the intellect - which lends support to the derogatory term for television as the "Boob Tube." (Indeed, some people casually use it as a synonym.)Mike Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17182471386130948540noreply@blogger.com