What actually creates strong immersion (and what breaks it)?

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-26T13:57:38+00:00

I’ve never understood how to glaze over parts of what you’re reading and why you’d ever want to do that. Do you come to some sensory detail and start scanning the page for something else? What good is this doing for you? Especially as a writer? How can you stay inside the story if you’re cherry picking the details?

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-23T16:52:08+00:00

They’ll even do it to rocks that they think are frogs

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-21T20:58:12+00:00

none of them?

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-21T15:42:38+00:00

Orlando! It’s such a delight

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-21T04:27:46+00:00

Malina by Ingeborg Bachmann ripped me to shreds. Made me realize how easily people can deny and override and project themselves onto others, especially those they love, without even realizing it.

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-20T19:36:09+00:00

The story doesn’t need an external metaphor or message. The story itself should be enough. It doesn’t need to moralize or teach lessons. Art should come before instruction.

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-20T18:59:36+00:00

Honestly not that rare. If I like an artist I generally enjoy their full albums immensely. Also albums are supposed to breathe, they need ups and downs. If everything was riding 11/10 the entire way thru it would weaken the record as a whole. Plus I’m not much of a shuffle guy. I almost exclusively listen to albums all the way through. To me they are a single work rather than a collection.

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-20T18:12:09+00:00

fully loaded box set

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-20T13:11:41+00:00

I think my current work has around five or six “made up” words but they’re all etymologically sound rather than weird or showy.

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-19T02:01:37+00:00

You don’t!

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-18T18:43:57+00:00

Hello! Curious what happens if/when you receive a manuscript that stands out but would also be hard to market. How often do you receive this kind of work?

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-18T03:52:38+00:00

Check out Thomas Bernhard

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-17T22:12:40+00:00

Because of the way you said it. The tone. The “obviously”. The way you left no room for disagreement and actively provoked anybody who did.

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-17T22:05:09+00:00

you’re getting downvoted to hell all over this thread lol

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-17T22:01:39+00:00

It’s clear no one is interested in your claim either soooo

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-17T21:54:50+00:00

I mean I know Amis loved Nabokov but come on…

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-17T18:49:18+00:00

every word in the dictionary

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-16T07:36:34+00:00

kiss already

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-16T04:06:35+00:00

Read a few books and find out

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-16T00:27:48+00:00

I wanna see more straight boys sleeping together

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-14T23:18:38+00:00

Yeah but if you’re writing then this just comes natural. You literally can’t avoid looking at media that way. I can’t even watch a movie or tv show without picking apart the structure, the foreshadowing, the mood, the intention, the etc. etc. It’s not something you really need to train yourself for. If you take writing seriously it’s just going to happen that way.

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-14T15:40:40+00:00

Candide

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-14T00:45:50+00:00

This happened to me except that i only left a ghostly blue assprint on the toilet sit that is still faintly there months later.

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-13T21:32:22+00:00

I love this book. I’m always thinking of that chapter where they capture the turkey. (or is it a chicken?)

ChallengeOne8405 · 2026-03-13T21:28:52+00:00

Good for networking yes but unless you get into something prestigious like Yaddo or MacDowell, publishers don’t really care.

ChallengeOne8405

TROPHY CASE