Saturday, October 30, 2004

ONCE IS AN ACCIDENT, TWICE IS COINCIDENCE, THREE TIMES IS ENEMY ACTION

I was watching Alien before the power blacked out yet again. And I was noting all the "plotholes" that are necessary to get the deadly critter onto the Nostromo. Why do they let the bug onto the ship? Why don't they just freeze Kane? Waaaaal, it's enemy action.

This same solution turned out handy for Unseen, where I was in plothole hell. It's so much easier to make unlikely things plausible if someone is causing them to happen than if they're supposed to happen by accident.

Which brings to mind a neat quotation from one of Stephen Brust's Vlad Taltos novels. A fellow is explaining why he is no longer with his (recently deceased) bandit comrades.

"They met with an incident."

"You mean, they met with an accident."

"Oh no, my lord. There was nothing accidental about it."

10:23 PM

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