A long time ago... when I first began to write creatively, I learned that the rules of grammar could be broken. I was reminded of this as I listened to three literary authors talk about their work in the Library Foundation of Los Angeles' ALOUD series. My Big Brother sent me info regarding the library event and I'm glad I decided to go. This talk was Sentence After Sentence After Sentence: Three Writers on the Not-Exactly-Random Extraordinary Ordinary Key of Life.
After a brief reading from each author, each author then sat in a fire-side chat setting and spoke about their work, the use of fragments, and a little bit about their writing processes, taking questions from the audience.
A few take-aways - breaking the grammar rules or conventional forms take thought. One of the authors, Anne Germanacos, talked about how deliberate she was in the editing process, cutting out about 80% of the original draft in order to insert the necessary fragmentation and abruptness that was needed in order to get the right "feel." Using fragments - because of how normal thought gets interrupted - gives the sense of presence in the present. The use of fragments and pauses hints to what is possible and gives the readers a chance to contemplate what is between the lines. What's left unsaid.
The writing was a form of self discovery and reflection. They brought the stories forth from their own experiences.
One of the most profound statements of the night -- when you're writing, what question are you answering? (Sometimes, you won't know that question until you've discovered the answer.)
The second most profound piece of writing advise - it isn't so much as a beginning, middle and end. Rather, it's more of finding a good starting point and a good stopping point.
As writers, we are imposing sense to an experience.
Coming out of the ALOUD event, I was... thoughtful. It was definitely a change of form from the work I'd been reading lately and reminded me of the difference between the fine art of literary work and the popular art of mass market fiction.
With this, I'm going to change the direction of my work in progress. I'm keeping the basic premise, but I'll be shifting the approach. I think I've been fighting my natural inclination of writing a short story and trying to push for a novel. Let's see what this new direction takes me, and how many short stories I can piece together into a cohesive story.
For info about the talk and links to the podcast, click here. If any of you are in the LA area, I highly recommend going to one of these talks and supporting the library.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
On What's Original (and what's derivative)
I was having a conversation with my husband the other day and an interesting point came up... a point that most artists struggle with - the idea of original work vs derivative work.
Specifically, it was about that moment when what you're working on seems like such an awesomely original idea that you furiously write it all down. And as you're working on it, as you're working to revise it, or you're getting it reviewed/critiqued, you realized.... it's been done before. The horror.
But what's wrong with derivative? Can one truly have an idea/theme/story that's never been done? In today's time? I don't think so.
I think writers/artist take their inspiration from the world around them and from other forms of art. That's how ideas generate - when people are exposed to new/foreign ideas or view something from a new perspective. Derivative art is original art.
Imagine if some of our favorite writers didn't write because something's "been done." What if Laurel K Hamilton decided to give up on her Anita Blake books because the whole Vampire-Hunter love-hate thing's "been done" ala Buffy? Or Stephanie Meyer decided to not write her Twilight series because Vampire-Human-Werewolf stories "have been done." Or the creators/writers of Vampire Diaries decided to not do pursue the series since there's so much Vampire-Werewolf-Witch- Supernatural stuff already out there? Or how about where the stories of Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and other supernatural beings originate? Are we not supposed to write about them because Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley got there first? These supernatural beings can be traced back to folktale origins... so when or what constitutes as the line for something that's "been done before?"
A personal experience of when I was confronted with the "It's been done" monster - when I was in college, I was in a creative writing class. For one of my assignments, I'd written an crime story from the POV of the person committing the crime. It was a girl who was bent on revenge, aiming to kill a man that was the leader of a crime group. Twist at the end... he's her father!
One of the guys who critiqued it said I ripped off Star Wars. Imagine my surprise and distress... since I've not ever seen Star Wars. By this time, all 6 episodes were already out and many many many people had seen it. I was one of the few whose parents were not big movie people, and i didn't have friends who were into the sci-fi/fantasy scene. But that's not the point. The point is... the ONLY commonality between Star Wars and my short story was the "I'm your father" twist.
Umm... the Greeks got there first. Oedipus. Kills his father, marries his mother - all because (surprise!) he didn't know his real parents! It was prophesied. And in Daytime soap operas... the real parent of the baby/child reveal or hidden/lost love child reveal was almost an annual thing. It's a drama trope! I'm pretty sure they did it before Lucas wrote it into Star Wars.
So... if you have an idea, run with it. Someone else did something similar? So what? You may have similar ideas, but your execution of the story will be different. Every writer has his/ her own distinct style and voice and how (s)he treats the theme/idea is just as important as what is told. Don't keep from writing what you want to write because of the idea that someone else wrote about it first.
Did you have an enthusiasm dampening experience where you stopped working on a project because, "It's been done?" What did you do to overcome it and move on?
Specifically, it was about that moment when what you're working on seems like such an awesomely original idea that you furiously write it all down. And as you're working on it, as you're working to revise it, or you're getting it reviewed/critiqued, you realized.... it's been done before. The horror.
But what's wrong with derivative? Can one truly have an idea/theme/story that's never been done? In today's time? I don't think so.
I think writers/artist take their inspiration from the world around them and from other forms of art. That's how ideas generate - when people are exposed to new/foreign ideas or view something from a new perspective. Derivative art is original art.
Imagine if some of our favorite writers didn't write because something's "been done." What if Laurel K Hamilton decided to give up on her Anita Blake books because the whole Vampire-Hunter love-hate thing's "been done" ala Buffy? Or Stephanie Meyer decided to not write her Twilight series because Vampire-Human-Werewolf stories "have been done." Or the creators/writers of Vampire Diaries decided to not do pursue the series since there's so much Vampire-Werewolf-Witch- Supernatural stuff already out there? Or how about where the stories of Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and other supernatural beings originate? Are we not supposed to write about them because Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley got there first? These supernatural beings can be traced back to folktale origins... so when or what constitutes as the line for something that's "been done before?"
A personal experience of when I was confronted with the "It's been done" monster - when I was in college, I was in a creative writing class. For one of my assignments, I'd written an crime story from the POV of the person committing the crime. It was a girl who was bent on revenge, aiming to kill a man that was the leader of a crime group. Twist at the end... he's her father!
One of the guys who critiqued it said I ripped off Star Wars. Imagine my surprise and distress... since I've not ever seen Star Wars. By this time, all 6 episodes were already out and many many many people had seen it. I was one of the few whose parents were not big movie people, and i didn't have friends who were into the sci-fi/fantasy scene. But that's not the point. The point is... the ONLY commonality between Star Wars and my short story was the "I'm your father" twist.
Umm... the Greeks got there first. Oedipus. Kills his father, marries his mother - all because (surprise!) he didn't know his real parents! It was prophesied. And in Daytime soap operas... the real parent of the baby/child reveal or hidden/lost love child reveal was almost an annual thing. It's a drama trope! I'm pretty sure they did it before Lucas wrote it into Star Wars.
So... if you have an idea, run with it. Someone else did something similar? So what? You may have similar ideas, but your execution of the story will be different. Every writer has his/ her own distinct style and voice and how (s)he treats the theme/idea is just as important as what is told. Don't keep from writing what you want to write because of the idea that someone else wrote about it first.
Did you have an enthusiasm dampening experience where you stopped working on a project because, "It's been done?" What did you do to overcome it and move on?
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