What would I take from Conroy? There are so many different techniques in The Prince of Tides that it is difficult to choose. Conroy’s ability to tell a story within a story with such flawlessness is an amazing feat. His natural talent for shifting back and forth in time, point of view, and action is something that I find difficult, but necessary. In my ghost hunting story, I swap back and forth between finding the group members (the past) and fighting and capturing ghosts (the present). I have found that this can be a tricky endeavor at times. Conroy makes it look effortless and easy.
Conroy also has the amazing talent with settings. He spends such exquisite words describing the people and places. His use of imagery and figurative language solidifies the importance of the places and the events that take place there. In the ghost hunting novel, there are a vast amount of settings that need a variety of detailed descriptions. Making sure I depict the setting with enough characteristics without overwhelming the reader or losing the story flow is a very fine balance. Conroy knows when to go into great detail and when to give surface details. Finding this balance is important to any story and he does it beautifully.
Conroy also uses expressive and colorful words that are always clear and easy to understand. With the simple, yet meaningful language he conveys an underlying feeling and gripped me and made not want to put it down until I understood the story. Every writer wants to hear that about their own book, and I am not any different. The idea that young adults would be so wrapped up in my story that they couldn’t put it down would be my fondest wish!
Melissa- I was also impressed with the way Conroy seemed to jump between different times. He manages this without losing or confusing the reader. I have flashbacks in my own current work; I hope mine come off at least half as well as Conroy's do.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't bothered by the flashbacks either. They were particularly helpful when Conroy wanted to make connections and parallels between events that occured at different times. I agree with you about the expressive and colorful language. Simple yet effective.
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