I saw your line about confusing the reader, I immediately thought about the way my hubby sometimes lists things, "1. This thing. 2. That thing. C. This other thing." Yep! not always, but it happens. Which goes to the old saying, "Life can be unbelievable, but fiction has to make sense."
There was a whole video (and other blogs) about the problem with "Tiffany". Many people think it's a modern name, but it's not, it's been around since the middle ages. And "Epiphany" which is what the name derived from has been around even longer. There are some other words like this, where if you put it in a middle ages or dark ages story, the readers will tell you that it's an anachronism, even though it's not. And it will confuse them and throw them out of the story. So you might have to avoid the words that are like that, or names that are like that.
I like lists like that unless you get to the last item and it starts with "But first." :-)
I think fiction should mimic real life. The difference (and the challenge, and therefore the fun) is that in real life everything happens in more or less a blur. But to create that effect in fiction, you have to list things in order. Just remember that one thing you're listing might be interrupted by something else you have to list because it's happening too. I do that a lot in my fiction so the reader can see the overall scene unfolding just like it would in 'real' life.
Dan Baldwin is SOOOO right! (As are you, Harvey!)
I saw your line about confusing the reader, I immediately thought about the way my hubby sometimes lists things, "1. This thing. 2. That thing. C. This other thing." Yep! not always, but it happens. Which goes to the old saying, "Life can be unbelievable, but fiction has to make sense."
There was a whole video (and other blogs) about the problem with "Tiffany". Many people think it's a modern name, but it's not, it's been around since the middle ages. And "Epiphany" which is what the name derived from has been around even longer. There are some other words like this, where if you put it in a middle ages or dark ages story, the readers will tell you that it's an anachronism, even though it's not. And it will confuse them and throw them out of the story. So you might have to avoid the words that are like that, or names that are like that.
I like lists like that unless you get to the last item and it starts with "But first." :-)
I think fiction should mimic real life. The difference (and the challenge, and therefore the fun) is that in real life everything happens in more or less a blur. But to create that effect in fiction, you have to list things in order. Just remember that one thing you're listing might be interrupted by something else you have to list because it's happening too. I do that a lot in my fiction so the reader can see the overall scene unfolding just like it would in 'real' life.
Thanks for the shout out UH!!!