Poetics

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  • Poetics

    Just finished reading this book and I can't even understand what I've read. I don't know why this book is so highly recommended for writers as there is almost nothing about it that hasn't been said in other books in understandable English.

    Seriously, it's worse than reading Shakespeare.

    There are about a hundred footnotes on each page so you can follow along if you like being interrupted during every sentence to look up what you don't understand.

    My thought is...why bother?
    Last edited by Pencey; 10-14-2005, 10:02 AM.


  • #2
    Re: Poetics

    yeah man, really.

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    • #3
      Re: Poetics

      Originally posted by Pencey
      Just finished reading this book and I can't even understand what I've read. I don't know why this book is so highly recommended for writers as there is almost nothing about it that hasn't been said before in other books in understandable English.
      Which books came before Aristotle's Poetics, that have been parroted in that old B.C. hack's incomprehensible text?

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      • #4
        Re: Poetics

        I didn't mean to write "before". Mistake.

        I just don't see why this book is so highly regarded. Like I said, most of what I read I didn't understand. Aristotle's writing is almost cryptic and it's very hard to follow. The points I did pick up on seemed 101ish in nature and no thought of his seemed very well explained. I just don't get all the gushing over this book.

        Some have said that Poetics for Screenwriters is a good book which breaks down what he's talking about. Has anyone read this and does it indeed make things clearer for the reader?

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        • #5
          Re: Poetics

          It does, but I guess if you've had the opportunity to peruse a bunch of contemporary books on the subject, you'll have already taken the gist of it, since it's those books that pay homage to it, but come with the benefit of having been written in simple English.

          It also isn't really an "Idiot's Guide", which is what quite a number of the modern books have ended up being. "Poetics" was written as a text to be taught in the classroom.

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          • #6
            Re: Poetics

            Some people like a roast chicken with dressing and all the trimmings. Others like McNuggets.



            It's easier to discuss chicken wings and legs and breasts and understand how they all connect if you have actually seen a chicken. It's much harder to do that if all you have seen are McNuggets.



            Would you like fries with that?



            Fortune favors the bold - Virgil

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            • #7
              Re: Poetics

              It reads much easier in the Greek.
              We're making a movie here, not a film! - Kit Ramsey

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              • #8
                Re: Poetics

                You don't start getting into the meat of things until you read "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell.

                Poetics is great because of its influential impact on the history of dramaturgy and literary thought, not because it's highly necessary reading material these days.

                I say skip it and read Campbell.
                "Tact's just 'not saying true stuff.' " - Cordelia Chase

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                • #9
                  Re: Poetics

                  The Poetics? It's all Greek to me.

                  But seriously folks....

                  I've read it, along with The Hero With A Thousand Faces and The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri. You know what? They were the least enjoyable books I've ever read about story...outside of Robert McKee's Story -- which I found to be unreadable. No kidding.

                  I like The Elements of Style by Strunk & White and found that to be a better book about screenwriting. Really. Hear me out. That book is all about clarity. That's a major key to screenwriting, in my honest opinion. Section II and V are very applicable to screenwriting. It's a keeper.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Poetics

                    FWIW, Campbell's book wasn't really meant to be an instructural manual for literature. It was simply an anthropological exam in mythology.

                    But, it's still got some great stuff in it.
                    "Tact's just 'not saying true stuff.' " - Cordelia Chase

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                    • #11
                      Re: Poetics

                      Originally posted by Pencey
                      Just finished reading this book and I can't even understand what I've read. I don't know why this book is so highly recommended for writers as there is almost nothing about it that hasn't been said in other books in understandable English.

                      Seriously, it's worse than reading Shakespeare.

                      There are about a hundred footnotes on each page so you can follow along if you like being interrupted during every sentence to look up what you don't understand.

                      My thought is...why bother?
                      Kindly check Amazon for "Artistotle's Poetics for Screenwriters: Storytelling Secrets from the Greatest Mind in Western Civilization (Paperback)" - by Michael Tierno
                      (I will get it in a week and let you know about understanding issue of an old classic book v/s. this modified book for screenwriters.)

                      If you have a similar problem with "The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Mythos Books) by Joseph Campbell (Paperback - March 1, 1972)" and "The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers (Paperback - June 1, 1991)" , kindly buy A Modern Classic Hero's Journey based on Joseph Campbell and Carl G. Jung's Theories: "The Writer's Journey, Second Edition : Mythic Structure for Writers (Paperback) by Christopher Vogler "

                      Masters are original but they are tough to understand, modern teachers can only polish (mainstream popularity) on behalf of Masters.






                      Last edited by kurushdeboo; 10-23-2005, 05:18 AM. Reason: spell check

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                      • #12
                        Re: Poetics

                        Is it time for another ''natural v learned' story teller thread?

                        Books can help. Definitely. Poetics is the Daddy. Others distill it and perhaps say it more succinctly.

                        Reminds me of Neil Sedaka. He studied every chord sequence in every pop song and then wrote a load of hits. Could others do it? Maybe. But his natural affinity gave him an edge, whether he knew he had that natural affinity or not. He had a talent. There is a craft to storytelling that can be learned, but it can only be learned to advantage if you have the mindset of a storyteller.

                        That might sound pompous and I'm sorry if it does. Many on here know exactly what I mean, I'm just not erudite enough to clarify it.

                        Ah, books !! I knew they had a use!
                        http://wasitsomethingiwrote.blogspot.com/

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                        • #13
                          Re: Poetics

                          English Dave, that was more than erudite enough. I'd say it slightly different though: Learn as much as you need to and then forget it all and write from your gut.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Poetics

                            Writers are the children of Prometheus, seeking to steal fire from the gods and bestow it on mortal man.


                            The more you read - the brighter your flame will be.
                            Fortune favors the bold - Virgil

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                            • #15
                              Re: Poetics

                              Yes, Deus, exactly. Read: screenplays, teleplays, novels, plays, comic books, and even books on writing. But, don't allow reading to become a substitute for writing, or a form of proscrastination. Read, and write, and then write some more, and then just keep going. It's too easy, for some writers, to get caught up in theory and research -- at the expense of their own writing. Sometimes it's easier to just start writing, and to pick up the theory stuff on the fly.

                              An acquaintance of mine studied screenwriting theory and received an MFA in Screenwriting. He read dozens of books on craft, and wrote a stack of scripts that were structurally sound, and by-the-book perfect. Problem was, something was missing from the writing -- an X-factor of enthusiasm and life was absent.

                              He packed up all of his screenwriting books in boxes and donated them to a library. Then he sat down and wrote a spec from his heart. It got him meetings all over town, sold, and launched his career. There's a time to study craft, and a time to write. Sometimes they aren't the same time. Maybe they should be, I don't know. Perhaps it's different for everyone. I would assume so. Learn as much as you need to -- and that may be different for everyone -- and then forget it all and just write. Maybe it's all about inspirational thinking versus critical thinking. Maybe a writer has to alternate between the two. Maybe they have to do them both at the same time. I don't know, really. I tend to think that you learn your craft, primarily, by doing it. Studying it can also help, quite a lot, but not at the expense of doing it.

                              I'm digging a hole here, probably. So, ciao.
                              Last edited by NiteScribe; 10-21-2005, 01:57 PM. Reason: clarity, yeah, sure

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