A classic of indirect exposition, I don’t see three moods there. In fact, I don’t really even see beginning-middle-end. Rather, it has a long middle (since the method of telling drops us right into the ongoing story to start) and a very short end.
I wonder if Jennings is mostly thinking about genre stories. Non-genre stories may often be structured differently?
And yes, I would enjoy hearing your takes on oddball books, what makes them tick. I imagine there’s probably an X factor with unusual works outside of structure and the rest of it. Trying to pin that down should be interesting.
First of all I had never read that Welty story and it was hilarious. Thank you for sharing!!
Personally I do see three moods here: jealousy >> defiance >> loneliness. I actually originally came up with five moods and then stripped them down: jealousy >> humor >> maniacal >> defiance >> loneliness. But I think the emotional throughline from jealousy >> defiance >> loneliness is cleaner.
For me, I think the three-mood structure in general is more about tracking how a story *feels* rather than what it's *doing,* if that makes sense. And because it's about feeling and not action, there's no real right way to do it -- and no wrong way, either, not like e.g. Freytag's pyramid or some other, more plot-based version of breaking down a story. For me, this allows me to be more flexible and free, which I often have a problem with when outlining a story or adhering to a more standard structure.
You’re probably right. It’s like a great song or poem, sometimes it’s hard to point to exactly what makes it so good beyond just how it makes you feel. Usually these things have memorable lines, as Welty’s story does, which might be a sign of their greatness. Sister’s grandfather “looping out his beard” — so visual. And at the end “I want the world to know I’m happy.” But is she? And of course the diction, Welty’s ear for how her characters sound, is so perfect: “Mama said she like to made her drop dead for a second.”
But any shift in feel here is subtle, right? I would guess this story has been imitated a lot, but probably very hard to do.
Yes, I was thinking that too while I was reading it – that the style was so particular and excellent, and that I had never read a story quite like this in my life before and did not expect to do so again. I ought to read more Welty!
I try to do five-minute sparks of new ideas, which I'm pretty sure I got from Kathleen Jennings. I love her work and did you know? She did the cover art for my novella. <3
Not sure if I get what Jennings is on about with her three-mood structure. Without specific story examples, it’s hard to test her ideas.
Take this famous ~5K-word comic story, Eudora Welty’s “Why I Live at the P.O.”:
https://art-bin.com/art/or_weltypostoff.html
A classic of indirect exposition, I don’t see three moods there. In fact, I don’t really even see beginning-middle-end. Rather, it has a long middle (since the method of telling drops us right into the ongoing story to start) and a very short end.
I wonder if Jennings is mostly thinking about genre stories. Non-genre stories may often be structured differently?
And yes, I would enjoy hearing your takes on oddball books, what makes them tick. I imagine there’s probably an X factor with unusual works outside of structure and the rest of it. Trying to pin that down should be interesting.
First of all I had never read that Welty story and it was hilarious. Thank you for sharing!!
Personally I do see three moods here: jealousy >> defiance >> loneliness. I actually originally came up with five moods and then stripped them down: jealousy >> humor >> maniacal >> defiance >> loneliness. But I think the emotional throughline from jealousy >> defiance >> loneliness is cleaner.
For me, I think the three-mood structure in general is more about tracking how a story *feels* rather than what it's *doing,* if that makes sense. And because it's about feeling and not action, there's no real right way to do it -- and no wrong way, either, not like e.g. Freytag's pyramid or some other, more plot-based version of breaking down a story. For me, this allows me to be more flexible and free, which I often have a problem with when outlining a story or adhering to a more standard structure.
You’re probably right. It’s like a great song or poem, sometimes it’s hard to point to exactly what makes it so good beyond just how it makes you feel. Usually these things have memorable lines, as Welty’s story does, which might be a sign of their greatness. Sister’s grandfather “looping out his beard” — so visual. And at the end “I want the world to know I’m happy.” But is she? And of course the diction, Welty’s ear for how her characters sound, is so perfect: “Mama said she like to made her drop dead for a second.”
But any shift in feel here is subtle, right? I would guess this story has been imitated a lot, but probably very hard to do.
Yes, I was thinking that too while I was reading it – that the style was so particular and excellent, and that I had never read a story quite like this in my life before and did not expect to do so again. I ought to read more Welty!
I try to do five-minute sparks of new ideas, which I'm pretty sure I got from Kathleen Jennings. I love her work and did you know? She did the cover art for my novella. <3
https://www-test.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/exclusive-cover-reveal-domnall-and-the-borrowed-child-by-sylvia-spruck-wrigley-a-tor-com-novella/
What! I didn't know that, that’s so neat! (Although now that I *do* know, I can see her style in that illustration for sure.)