Conversation #3&psig=AOvVaw12wbyqDNFbbCTb_QuuuxkF&ust=1508561658592124)
This conversation will focus on your author's writing and stories. Remember with the whole
exercise, you are aiming to get to know a particular writer by stepping in his/her shoes. So
you are you going have to balance research and fact and interpretation and speculation.
The goal here is to step into the writer's personality, not just the facts of the writer but
adapting the writer's speaker mannerisms, personality, attitudes, and values.
Please read the guidelines for this conversation carefully.
For this conversation, do the following:
1.) Review the prompts below and choose at least 3 to respond to.
2.) Make sure you provide specifics from your author's writing and the short story collection that you read as you respond.
3.) In your response you are welcome to add pictures, videos, links, etc.
4.) Make sure you are speaking in first person in your author's point of view.
5.) Please respond to at least 3 other authors in this conversation.
Talking about Short Stories:
For this conversation, talk about story writing. Choose between 3-4 prompts. Try to write in paragraphs and conversational style rather than just listing.
--How does your writer get the writing done? What are some writing habits or mannerisms?
--What is the function of the story story? What should it do or not do?
--What is the most difficult part of your artistic process and why? What is the best part and why?
--What are your favorite stories and why?
--What was your favorite story to write and why (or least favorite)?
--What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
I get the writing done with a pencil. Pens leak. I always have a pencil. But what if the tip breaks? Well if you’re on an aeroplane you can’t sharpen it because you can’t have a knife. In that case, have two pencils. I do back exercises. Pain is distracting. I suggest one don’t be afraid of going back, or starting over. This, of course, is when I’m stuck in the writing.
ReplyDeleteA story should, first and foremost, hold the reader’s attention. Now, this is difficult because you don’t know who the reader is. What fascinates person A could bore the pants off of person B. The story should have something to say. It should be fun to be in. Now, I don’t mean it needs to keep your sides splitting all the time, but it should be a place you want to be. It could be frightening or heartbreaking, but it should be fascinating.
The most difficult part of the artistic process for me has got to be coming up with things you think other people will like. It’s easy to write as smart and witty as you like, but that doesn’t mean squat to someone who isn’t like you. This means that the best part must therefore be the act of writing itself. Being able to create whole, complex people and then the world that they inhabit is a unique and fascinating experience that I believe few other acts can compare to.
i sympathize with your dilemma, Margaret. Writing for others is difficult, but in my case it is necessary. My husband encourages my writing everyday. You see, i make more money than he does, and i know this annoys him. He grants it to me in allowances, but it's almost enough just to know how upset he is. i didn't always write to my satisfaction, seeing as i needed to continue publishing to provide for my family.
DeleteI'm more of a pen gal myself. I have quite the respect for pencils from my cartooning days, but the permanence of ink feels both stronger a tool and more reflective of what I want to get across in my writings.
DeleteI always found myself partial to pens. However, I see your point Margaret. For the back pains, I always recommend a nice glass or three of scotch. Now I can see your point on the pencil tip breaking. I highly respect your use support of your family.
DeleteI don't think a story necessarily has to have something to say. As long as it is written well enough that the reader is captivated by the story, then I think it does a good job as a story. I do agree that a story should be fun, though fun is a subjective term. My type of fun in a story is probably different than your type of fun.
DeleteWhen I sit down to write it is typically in the comfort of my own home. I draw a lot from the society I am somewhat a part of—which is why my works are typically set in Louisiana and feature people I encounter in my everyday life: peoples of Creole, Spanish, and French descent. Many of my works are modeled after people I have encountered in everyday life—some have been rumored to find the scandals of my husband’s acquaintance Edgar Degas directly mirrored within The Awakening. Works like “Beyond the Bayou” and “Ma’ame Pelagie” were heavily influenced by the people I saw through towns and in society.
ReplyDeleteLike others, my writing is not wholly my own. Of course, there are many other artists and writers I have taken a liking to; much of my writing is heavily influenced by them. Since I had the good fortune to be well-educated, I was exposed to many great writers: Walt Whitman and Guy de Maupassant being two of the largest. Unfortunately, I did not have many fellow-writers sharing the joys of the written word with me. I mainly turned to writing to find solace from the society in which I found no welcoming presence after my husband and I moved for his work. Often I was the subject of my own torment as my own habits often caused me to be something of an outcast within society. However, despite my lack of salons full of talented writers (filled instead with reviewers and others to keep up the appearance of socializing), I used my studies to develop my own style and learn the styles I have greatest appreciation for. Like others, my inspiration often comes from those I admire.
In all my studies I earned this to be true: a short story must be engaging, above all. The characters must come to life and transport the reader to the world you have built (in many cases, that world is my Louisiana). Like the works of Guy de Maupassant the story should bring the characters alive and make people feel. As The Awakening showed, sometimes making people feel may cast you out, but it is far better to have achieved this and contributed to society than to have sat mindless and bored. I want to show people what I see and make them understand.
i understand your isolated position in writing. Even though I came to know a number of established writers, my writing often reflected my feelings of isolation. i became dependent on alcohol and narcotics. i developed acute agoraphobia shortly after finishing my novel, "We Have Always Lived in the Castle." Though i don't relate to writing in the comfort of your own home. i was always left with the housework and child rearing, and in addition to that i wrote 1000 words a day. Often i wrote between cooking meals in the kitchen.
DeleteI couldn't agree more on isolation in writing. Granted, mine comes more from my illness making me unable to leave Milledgeville, but even when I could travel to bigger urban places like Chicago, I felt like there was too much hustle and bustle for me to stay focused on my craft. Being more or less alone in the world always transfers into my stories in their occasional nihilistic themes (though Lord knows I try to brighten my stories' endings up to varying degrees of success.)
DeleteI think the world that we live in is inevitably going to filter into the world of our writing. We know it so well, it makes sense to us, so when we sit down to write, and create new worlds, the outside one is inescapable. People thought The Handmaid's Tale was a sci-fi, predictive, dystopia, but everything that happens in The Handmaid's Tale has already happened somewhere else.
DeleteGood evening, I agree with your assessment on what makes a good short story, or a good novel for that matter. People go to read to be transported to another world to, even if it's just for a few moments, be transported from this world. Whether that world is good or bad, as long as it's engaging enough to keep the reader's attention, you've done an amazing thing as a writer.
DeleteWhen I write I tend to do so in my own home in Louisiana, which most of my stories take place in the surrounding areas, and those whom I have encountered also make it into my work. Some of the situations are exaggerated in order to prove a point to the society that tends to keep women down for the pleasure of men. “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour” deals with pain and freedom that women face. Some of this pain is hidden by secrets. Secrets that belong to men and that the women decide to keep in order to keep the waves calm in society or unspeakable things may happen, and sometimes they do and the woman’s dreams are shattered.
ReplyDeleteThe function of a short story is to get the tale across in a concise and formal fashion. Each sentence matters and they all deserve to be sharp, exact, and with a precise word choice. Writing should not leave the reader with the full story since it is rare for that to be the case in real life. Stories and short stories are meant to exaggerate daily events in extraordinary ways, and like in real life vagueness does happen. However, this is no excuse to give the reader nonsense like a beggar off the streets. They all deserve to know what you are trying to convey and this may take several paragraphs to describe one object or a specific moment so the readers know what you mean, and what your narrator's intentions are. When dealing with a short story I find it occasionally helpful to use one short sentence to sum up a complicated event. Do not try to rework a complicated situation; if that were to happen the reader would be dazed and confused due to your writing.
The most difficult part of my artistic process is to make sure that the real life influences do not come off as dull. I found the best way to do this is to take several themes from real life and put them together so they face-off. My novel “The Awakening” is a prime example of this. In the Louisiana society of which I lived in several things were important: respect and reputation, marriage, art and culture, and family. Along with these important aspects I also added some that were less talked about a well like repression, women and femininity, life, consciousness and existence. These were the best parts of my artistic process because I was able to bring certain issues and ideas to society like the thought that women can be as sexual as men. During my time it was unheard since women were told that we must be faithful to our husbands that it was scandalous to be flirtatious and reading about it was looked own upon as well. However, this has happened in society, but women learned to repress this behavior just like Edna did in “The Awakening.”
Good evening Mrs. Chopin. I will say that I agree with your solution to the dullness of real life events. It is important to talk about several of these themes, to make sure that the story is, for lack of better terms, readable. I especially liked how you talked about repression as one of the themes your book "The Awakening" talked about. Emotional repression is such a powerful emotion that I think is relevant for readers of every gender and age.
DeleteHello, Mrs. Chopin. I found your definition of the purpose of a short story very aligned to my own. I've written a few short-stories myself (collections of them actually) and I always try to be as concise as possible. That's one of the reasons I had to make "Ceremony" into a novel, it kept growing and growing in message and meaning. "Each sentence matters"; I agree with you wholeheartedly.
DeleteYour reasoning for keeping the sentences concise and making real life influences exciting is superb. Stories must exaggerate some to bring a new perspective to ordinary life happenings and to give insight to why people conform, why people repress their turbulent emotions, and how people think.
DeleteWhen reading and/or writing a novel, I look for exactly what you said the remedy for dullness was. It is important in real life pieces, to not bore the reader. Let's face it real life is boring at times, but its those little elements you pull into the pieces that heighten the story and kill the dullness, replacing it with a unique artistry of real life.
DeleteDear Chopin, you are so very right that one should not feel bogged down by trying to write what is correct and right. Exaggeration and lying is the way of writing, and as long as a story is told well, it does not matter how genuine it is. Though I might have to disagree with the need for being concise, for what is life if you aren't a little extra?
DeleteMrs. Chopin,
DeleteWhile I love to exaggerate myself, I mean whats fiction without a little bit of being extra, right? But I can't help but feel as though your want to be concise and precise and every word needing purpose to be a bit of a contradiction. How is one to exaggerate if you're on this mission of seeming concise? I find it best not to apply rules to your fiction and write what is there.
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ReplyDeleteI can't write at home, I found. I'm the type of person who needs a lot of sun to feel energized and inspired. Without access to sun and fresh air, I feel drained and depressed. When I was preparing to write a collection of short stories, I had to seek out an environment that could nurture my writing and inspiration to write.
ReplyDeleteI find it difficult to not be effective by my surrounding. When I was writing Ceremony, which was originally supposed to be a humorous short story, it had rained nonstop for days. The story of Tayo took on a life of its own far removed from what I intended it to be. I like to let my stories be what they want to be in the end.
The best part of my artistic process is the healing transformative nature of writing. For me, my writing is very in tuned with my being. When I'm upset, my characters are going through the same feelings. When I'm feeling good, good things are happening for my characters as well. The best part of my artistic process is that it has the power to transport me to another time and dimension. My art is more than a hobby, it is so closely tied to my overall being.
One of my favorite stories to write was Ceremony. I often tell my students that writing it saved my life. I was living in Alaska at the time and Alaska is very different from the town I grew up it. It's cold, dark, and isolated. I was very much affected by climate as well as dealing with personal stuff at the time. Writing Ceremony was a healing experience for me.
(I don't know how to get my full name to appear here but I'm Sheila Alexis and Leslie Silko)
Ms. Leslie Silko,
DeleteYou do have an interesting routine if it isn't so bold for me to say. Yet, I find it absolutely vital that we each find our won niche when it comes to our writing. I like how you need to be in nature to write. I never had that issues, and I wonder if it is because of the the time I am from. Back in my day we did not have the distractions that you endure, and I wrote with a sub pen and a bottle of ink. I also find it fascinating that you like for your stories to turn out the way you want them to. This simply, as the people today would say, blows my mind. This is a concept I cannot fathom, and it could simply be because of the time I am from. Some stories seem to write themselves and others cannot be coaxed on to the paper. So I envy this mannerism that you and others have obtained.
Good Evening, Mrs Silko. I would have to agree with Mrs. Chopin about letting your characters be whoever they want. I spend weeks and months, before I ever sit down before a computer and write, perfecting these characters. What are they're peculiarities, what are they're emotional struggles are. So for you to have your characters dictated by the day's weather, to put it in a much less 'hip' way than the eloquent Mrs. Chopin, astounds me greatly. But, that is the beauty of writing, isn't it? It's such a personel experience.
DeleteI too find it impossible to keep my writing separate from my emotions. Even my characters and stories are mere exaggerations of people I know (including myself) and events that have influenced me. However, I don't quite follow what you mean by letting your stories "be what they want to be in the end." If you are ever unsure of what your stories will become, then it is likely that your unconscious is taking over and following a pattern you have read before. I believe in having control over one's stories. If a story ever goes in a direction you didn't intend, take a break and figure out why, and if this new direction is the best scenario for the story.
DeleteI will have to read your novel, "Ceremony". It intrigues me that it is written outside, as you used nature to build this story settled with climate. I am a sit up, indoor writer, who seeks the world outside as a release after my writing is over. I can almost guarantee our stories differ in pacing and setting because of our writing process. I am sure you have beautiful nature aspects in your writing due to your process, as I believe I have well developed place, because of my residence.
DeleteHmm, your environment of choice is interesting. However, have you ever tried sitting in the attic by a window, allowing the quietness and solitude of the indoors, but the sunshine and energy of the outdoors? I could never write out in the open. There are too many distractions.
DeleteHi Leslie,
DeleteI think it is great that you know what environment is best for you when it comes to writing. I have always believed that the right writing space is important to producing an excellent piece of writing. I like how you describe stories as having a mind of their own. I find it rather interesting.
Roald Dahl
I've never been very particular on the place I write, but to each his own I suppose.
DeleteNeat. This is so interesting to hear that you felt you need so much openness to be able to really sit down and write. One time, I was working out of a crammed office space with my at the time boyfriend, and his typing started driving me up the wall. For a while I seriously considered creating my own "writing hall", where I would have literally been typing in a closed and moderated space like an oversized closet. Though my closet was a tad to crammed for comfort.
DeleteOne of the most difficult aspects of writing, for me at least, is in choosing the right time era to fit the story that I want to write. I work backwards from what I feel most writers do, who find a setting in history then write a story around this setting. When I first started writing I wrote in this way, especially with my first couple of novels A Pale View of the Hills and An Artist of the Floating World, I was fascinated with communities in war, and how these innocent people behave and react to the atrocities that war is brought on. But, as I continued to write I began to reverse my thoughts and began to work with emotions, first and foremost. I will come up with an emotional story which I want to tell and then work to find the perfect setting to tell that story. This was one of the reasons why it took me ten years to write my latest novel The Buried Giant, simply because I was trying to figure out exactly what kind of emotions I wanted to tell and then what would the perfect setting in history for that story.
ReplyDeleteThe story, I think, plays a very particular part in modern society. It has to delve into the world of human emotions, emotions which we often try to hide and try to push aside. A good story must deal with these emotions and force us to face these 'broken emotions' if you will, emotions which we hide under facades of duty or social expectations.
I don't know if I can really say that I have a favorite novel of my own, all I had terrific fun writing all of them. But, I will say that I did have lots of fun writing The Unconsoled. That's because the novel focuses on a concert pianist, and as such music takes a prominent place in the story. Growing up I wanted to be a rock star, I wrote music, played music, I wanted to be musician. So, in writing this novel I got to travel back to these old fantasies of mine, a really sort of nostalgic feeling for me.
Hello, Ishiguro. I find it fascinating that you were able to use a childhood dream as an inspiration for a story. To write from a place of fantasies mixed with nostalgia must have been exciting. I often say how much I love writings ability to transcend a specific space and time and take us wherever we want to go and it seems like The Unconsoled did that for you.
DeleteMr. Ishiguro that is a rather interesting testament to your writing. Writing throughout history seems rather splendid idea and fascinating. I would love to read the interruptions of others for the era of which I resided myself. I do agree with you, Mr. Ishiguro, that it is important to write with emotion and that these emotions can spark an idea almost anywhere.
DeleteI think it is best to start with emotion and work with setting afterwards as well. I will also add that emotion and character should be worked with before plot, too. Plot and setting are secondary. Get to know the characters, then see how they react to different environments.
DeleteI have in fact, tried to work with a certain date before coming with the setting, (out of sheer boredom and hatred for what I was writing at the time) but it never works out for me because place keeps showing up on my screen. My fingers take my mind prisoner and write on about place before I can even stop them. I always love to see a writer do something I hope to do, and do it so easily. Shows how different we all are. One thing works for one, but will not always work for the other. Interesting concept of writing.
DeleteMr. Ishiguro I find your writing style to be rather interesting. Even though it might not be my preferred method, far be it from me to judge a person's writing process. I personally like to develop my character's first and build the world and setting around them. Good day.
DeleteRoald Dahl
In my opinion, the most inspired novels are the ones without a time stamp. It is easier to create a lasting message when the time is left ambiguous.
DeleteThe esteemed author begins his day by rising out of bed and taking a moment to breath in the awesome potential that is borne from the earth as it turns toward the sun, that potential which keeps the atoms whirring with energy and the white blood cells fighting any invading bacteria in its eternal war. He gets out of bed and dons his only suit. He skips downstairs, eats the breakfast his wife has prepared for him, and kisses her on the cheek as he picks up his briefcase (typically a skimpy folder of hastily inked in ideas). Then he departs for work at exactly eight am. His job is in his basement. As he plods downstairs he eyes the coat hanger at the bottom. Once he reaches it he proceeds to strip down to his boxers and hang all other items of clothing accordingly. Afterwards he sits at his desk, likely the only other set of furniture in the room aside from the coat hanger, and sets to the task of rewriting and reorganizing his life events. The only tools to manage this task are a typewriter, alcohol, and self-deception.
ReplyDeleteNovels are meant to capture years of a person’s life. Like a film, they show the many moments, the entire photo album that shows one or many people change due to multiple actions and reactions forced upon them. The short story gives you one photo. One moment. One way a person shifts. When writing a novel one builds up a whole marble block full of life and moments and events and then must chisel it down to fit into a stack of papers someone can hold. When writing a short story the writer scrambles to gather every detail: the ritual Neddy Merrill performed as he got up from bed that fateful day he traversed the Lucinda River, the buzzing Irene Westcott heard as she listened to the Chopin Prelude turn into Kathy’s husband complaining about always having to listen to Kathy play.
My favorite stories are those that don’t try to convince you of anything. They give you a flawed character who will present himself as an idol, or a flawed idol at the very least whose trying his absolute best to be a saint. The character is not “likeable,” perhaps not even entirely relatable, but you feel like you know him because you too have once recited the same lies to others. Think Humbert Humbert in Lolita, or Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, or Ralph in Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
I absolutely loved your explanation of the purpose of a short story, Cheever. I liked that you compared it to a novel; a novel is to film as a short story is to a photograph or "one moment". I don't agree that novels capture years, a novel could capture a month, a week, or if a writer is bold enough, a single day. But the major difference like Kate Chopin says is that a short story has to "concise".
DeleteGood day Mr. Cheever and let me begin by saying that you make science seem poetic. Though, I am not caught up on the latest discoveries it did not stop your words from capturing me in my own abyss. Those habits mixed with the way you view the world is just stunning. I am also in agreement with your sentiment with the novel and the way you compared them to film is astounding. However, I'm sure by your time film had advanced quite a bit since the 1890s. I'm not too sure about your last point--yet, I can respect it since characters must be flawed since we as people also follow this uncertain pattern. Mr.Cheever you have brought up some interesting points and having characters present themselves as "idols" is not something I have done, but I can see the temptation in doing so.
DeleteJohn,
DeleteI'm a little offended that you didn't find Ralph "likeable." I thought we were pals.
I'm kidding with you, of course. I don't like him any more than he likes himself. I did get a kick out of "a typewriter, alcohol, and self-deception." Obviously those are not in order of importance, else the list would read, "alcohol, a typewriter, gin, alcohol, self-deception, and alcohol."
I find the best time to write is right out of bed in the morning, John. So I can appreciate your view as a writer being born out of the day. I also appreciate not wanting to force a character's intended purpose for the reader but rather letting the reader develop their own opinions of the character and where he/she falls as a character. I admire the human psyche so I love the freedom of development.
Delete--How does your writer get the writing done? What are some writing habits or mannerisms?
ReplyDeleteThe minute I wake up, I go straight for the computer. I need to write right after my dream state, keeping my brain focused on a fictional world, before turning into the real world four the day. Going out into the world for the day will distract me and then ruin any sort of fictional world I could have created in my head. I do consider myself a writer, so I do write 6 days a week, but I do not believe straining the mind to create all day long every day is beneficial, so I write for 4-6 hours a day.
--What is the most difficult part of your artistic process and why? What is the best part and why?
As a writer, I live a life of solitude at times. Being alone, trapped within my own mind, I feel I could go crazy at times. It is difficult for a person like me, who craves human interaction, to be locked away zoned into a computer and made up world for too long. It is my least favorite thing about writing, in all honesty. The best part for me is the place I am in. I chose to live in New York City, so I can abandon my solitude anytime I wish. New York City, saves me from myself, while also being one of the biggest influencers in my writing. Place is important in writing. What I see every day what I live and do, play a factor in my writing. That is why a lot of my writing is set in New York City, because it is what I know best.
--What are your favorite stories and why?
It is obvious that two of my favorites are, Virginia Woolf, who I highlight in my book “The Hours” and Walt Whitman, who I highlight in “Specimen Days”. But I like to credit Leo Tolstoy’s book “Anna Karenina” as one of my favorites, because I read it in college and it was one of first things that made me stop and think about becoming a writer. The novel got inside the mind and thoughts of a woman and showed a petty need for everyone to understand how and why life was so bad for her. It was a novel that was so true and obvious yet, not flat out, and had to come on intuitively.
i can't say i agree with your need for human interaction. i haven't been left with many good ones. My writing is usually about claustrophobic communities and escaping miserable families. Human interaction has never been a very positive experience for me.
DeleteAh, you're a morning person. I can admire that. I have the time at night after the toils of a day job cease. Writing from the whimsical mind post-dream is sure to have a magical effect, whereas I write after a long day's work. I would like to compare work to explore these effects.
DeleteI can't say I write every morning. Many mornings I will write, but sometimes it will hit me in the middle of the day. Plane trips, waiting rooms in the doctor's office, and any other place where you don't have do something else with your hands. For example, doing the dishes is not a very good time to write a story. It may be interesting, but I think the water stains would make it hard to read later.
DeleteI admire and can relate to your writing process. I have always said that writing can always be done, you just have to do it. Whenever the urge comes to you, just write. It's a healthy alternative to drinking all of the time, I think.
DeleteI think you have a great writing process established, though I can not personally relate to this. I hardly ever remember my dreams, and if I do they are very fuzzy when I wake up. I actually prefer to draw inspiration from observations of the public. I love to people watch, and find inspiration for my characters.
DeleteRoald Dahl
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ReplyDelete--What are your favorite stories and why?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite stories are those inspired by the African American tradition as well as folklore and experiences I am familiar with. These experiences are not respected or acknowledged by white society, which furthers the need to write them and try to display them. Experiences of the African American tradition have sat too long in shadow and obscurity. Even if I am not the writer who will unearth them from their forgotten tomb and hold them up for all to see, I hope to be one of the ones who helps pave the way to do so.
--What is the function of the story story? What should it do or not do?
The primary function of a story is to communicate an authorial truth. My truths are those inspired by my culture, traditions, and experiences. An author should strive to get across the kind of truth they see in the world, which will largely be inspired by their home as well as who they are as a human being. This truth may be mocked and criticized, but it is still a truth that has a right to be written by virtue of existing. It is a truth that ought to survive the mind and find its way to the writer's pen.
--What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
Unfortunately, in the time I live, I'm more likely to receive scorn that helpful inspirations in my personal life. Despite my relative obscurity, my personal criticism remains intact. Of what will be my most widely recognizable work, my contemporary Richard Wright wrote the following: "The sensory sweep of her novel carries no theme, no message, no thought. In the main, her novel is not addressed to the Negro, but to a white audience whose chauvinistic tastes she knows how to satisfy. She exploits that phase of Negro life which is "quaint," the phase which evokes a piteous smile on the lips of the "superior" race." This scornful slander, which attempts to undermine the authorial truth I've crafted and the experiences that I've attempted to rely on, is all too common.
I agree with your take on the function of a story. My mentor taught me a similar method, writing what one knows. What is truth but the observation of culture and humanity?
DeleteStories of all sorts require truths. We are all searching for these truths, and the job of an author is to expose those truths within the form. I wholly agree in writing a truth that may be scorned or mocked--for if we do not write it, then who will? -R. Dahl
DeleteI also love writing stories inherited by a certain culture. Though mine do not have an importance of race, they do have a history of geography. Many factors influence a culture and group of people. In Canada we have many that sneak into my stories.
DeleteYour idea of the function of a story is different from most. I find it very interesting. The cultural influences on your pieces is rather fascinating, in my opinion. BE proud of your observations. Thank you. - Jack London.
DeleteMany stories tell their writers' truths. Using one's own background and knowledge in a particular area or culture in writing is excellent. I find myself more inspired by the inner workings of a society I was brought up in and understand, and want to share it with those who don't.
Deletei make it a point to get my writing done. i write 1000 words a day without fail, in addition to the housework and child rearing. i usually spend the time between preparing meals in the kitchen writing. My husband encourages me. i find a reprieve in writing. That's one thing that keeps me going. You can indulge yourself endlessly with oddness and nobody can really do anything about it. So long as you keep writing, keep writing it away, nothing can really hurt you. And i never tire because the even the small addition of fantasy or imagination makes all the things that happen fun to write about.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was a good friend of Ralph Emerson. They taught together at Bennington College. Ralph wrote his novel, "Invisible Man," while staying with us. But Howard Nemerov was a close personal influence, as well as Kenneth Burke, who hired my husband. Together, Kenneth and my husband mentored me in psychology. More specifically, i studied multiple personality. This influenced my general writing, as well as my novel, "The Bird's Nest."
i also enjoy reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's work. We seem to share an appreciation for symbolism. Many people compare my use of symbolism in "The Lottery" with his in "Young Goodman Brown."
I find your position on writing fascinating. To write as a reprieve from pain I can understand. I do not know what child rearing is like as I never felt the call for children. Life is ironic and will come for you. I suppose writing is similar to drinking, the pain is there but it is much more manageable to handle.
DeleteShirley, I admire your dedication to writing. You definitely have a mindset like myself. I find that it is better to have a routine and to set a strict schedule for oneself, unlike our dear friend Henry Rene Albert Guy de Maupassant (aka Guy). -R. Dahl
Delete1000 words a day? A very strong goal for you to achieve. I also feel like I must commend your taste in literature. "The Lottery" is a great piece and the symbolism is fantastic and what more readers and authors should focus on.
DeleteMen kill for women with a dedication to writing such as yours. Being able to write down your ideas while having screaming children and cooking? Your husband is a very lucky man. Might I add that I once wrote in the middle of a brothel?
DeleteAs a mother and wife myself I must say that your ritual of writing a 1000 words a day is staggering. Between taking care of the kids and all that entails, I seem to only write when I can really find the time. I praise your dedication as well as your taste, Hawthorne is one of my favorites as well.
DeleteI truly am envious--1000 words a day. What a feat! Plus housework and caring for the children! I truly admire you. It is wonderful to have an encouraging husband, as well.
DeleteThe late Gustave Flaubert, author of Madame Bovary, was my cherished mentor and dearest friend. If not for him, I would not have had the courage to enter the realm of literature. He taught me creation for the sake of art, not money. A passion for lettering existed within me but he tended the flames and disciplined my mind. When melancholy would sweep my sanity into a fit, Flaubert would remind me to focus on my work rather than beautifully simple women. I have also been friendly with the likes of Emile Zola, Ivan Turgenev, and the wonderful Henry James. These writers helped ground me in the literary community.
ReplyDeleteThe most difficult part of my artistic process would be the bouts of madness. Black depression would drop me into a pit I couldn’t climb out of and prevent my words from reaching the page. I later found out I had syphilis, which directly influenced my mind to insanity. Stories became the place I could rest away from aristocratic French society, those hypocrites. Flirting with suicide prevented my artistic process from flowing freely. Oh the dastardly incredible mind.
For a time, I was a civil servant during hours of the sun and a raging bachelor by the moon. I would write during the night when breaking away from adoring women. Flaubert told me to write what I know, and this is what I would do. I would sit down and write my pages, not much to say about this process.
Henry, I think it is important that we derive inspiration from our experiences and our journeys. "Write as we know" as the adage goes. I wonder about your writing process because I am a man of such a strict regimen when it comes to writing, and yet it seems your are very liberal and sporadic with your process. It's quite an interesting comparison. -R. Dahl
DeleteIt is wonderful that you used your writing as a reprieve from the complexities of French society. Meanwhile, here I was: living, breathing, and writing my own society in Louisiana. But, writing what you know is such a simple but powerful idea. Taking one's experiences and translating them for an audience to understand. Often people overlook it, but real life is quite complex and fascinating if they'd just give it a harder look.
DeleteHello, everyone.
ReplyDeleteI’d like to talk a little bit about my writing process—everyone’s been so curious about authors and their different processes, so I’d thought to share mine. I’m a very punctual man, and I stick to a very strict routine—blame boarding school. I wake up early and have breakfast, after which, I go into the garden and into my writing hut—a shed, really. It’s a green shed, and inside, there’s an armchair that I sit on. I sit there with a wooden board that fits onto the chair—almost like a school desk, and I use that as my writing surface. I would sit there and write until noon, then I take a break, and go back to writing at 4 in the afternoon until 6 in the evening. One must have supper.
Now, when I moved to America, however, I discovered Ticonderoga pencils and American legal paper, and from then on, I never wrote with anything else. I always wrote with pencils, and I would have jar beside me with exact six pencils—it had to be six because I don’t like having to leave the shed. That destroys the work ethic, and pencils become dull very quickly, so I estimated that six pencils would last me the appropriate amount of time to write.
Perhaps the most difficult part of the writing process is to actually write. As long as you keep an open mind, the ideas can come from anywhere, but it is finding the right words that always get me stuck. As a writer, you must be a perfectionist. I have tons and tons of American legal paper that had to be thrown away just because I misspelled a word. If I don’t like a paragraph I’ve written, I throw it out immediately and I start over again. That’s the nature of writing. You must be able to throw away your work in order for it to grow.
To end, I’ll tell you about my favorite stories I’ve written. My favorite book would have to be The BFG—Big Friendly Giant—you know? It’s just a wonderful book, very lighthearted, and it’s a world all on its own, but the book I’m most satisfied with is Matilda. I think it has a lot of impact, and especially for young children, it must be something that should empower them. Matilda happens to be one of my favorite characters I’ve created as well.
Until next time.
Sincerely,
Roald Dahl
Matilda is a very charming book indeed. And I'm not just saying that because it has the same outlandish characters, religious themes or grotesque villains that one of my stories tend to include.
DeleteThe idea that the actual act of writing is the most difficult of the writing process is a very true statement that most might not understand. To agree with the author above me, props to your piece Matilda
DeleteI also enjoy handwriting for my stories. I agree that the hardest part of writing is the process, as it is the most important part as well. Matilda's impact on the youth is exactly the purpose of writing.
DeleteJames Joyce
Getting the writing done isn't the difficult part, not for me. It's really more so piecing it all together into a longer, fluid work. I'll admit to being absolutely capricious when it comes to life, and my writing is no different. I find myself often musing on the world, thoughts flowing into delightfully morose bits of insight, but finding the self-motivation to sit down and write for hours is really quite challenging for me. Maybe that's how it is for everyone, but I don't know. If I'm going to do it, really do it, I've just got to be alone. I've got to have no distractions, really complete isolation, and I've got to pour myself into it. I've also got to enjoy life though of course, and I find bursts of creativity come most often after a particularly exhausting social period.
ReplyDeleteMy most favorite story to write wasn't really a story at all, but my personal diaries. I'd spend hours there, escaping from our world and into my mind. Diaries are where Scott found most of his written inspiration from me, sometimes pulling direct lines from them. A particularly known one is from This Side of Paradise:
"The afternoon waned from the purging good of three o’clock to the golden beauty of four. Afterward he walked through the dull ache of a setting sun when even the clouds seemed bleeding and at twilight he came to a graveyard. There was a dusky, dreamy smell of flowers and the ghost of a new moon in the sky and shadows everywhere."
My diary is filled with thoughts like these, and they were my absolute favorite to write for that reason. I wrote without worry of what anyone might think, wrote in the truest way. Everything beyond that... well, it's just watered down, isn't it?
My writing habits are really just a product of my lifestyle. Maryann and I were students, and we had two kids by the time I was twenty. We were both working, both of us wanted to be writers, and so we were very busy. It was hectic. I had time to sit down and write a short story, and that was it. I had thought of myself as potentially a novel writer, but that never did happen. There just was no time for that. It was not even an intentional choice.
ReplyDeleteOver time, I guess I learned that the short story has wonderful potential for intensity. So I grew to appreciate that form in its own right. Gardner helped with that, and later on when Tobias Wolff and Richard Ford and some of those guys were writing the same sort of thing, we really leaned into it. I wouldn’t have told anyone this while I was living, but the severe, terse style I had while Gordon Lish was doing my editing was really his own addition. It wasn’t necessarily a part of my vision for my own work. And later, when Bill Buford started marketing us as “dirty realists” and “minimalists,” we didn’t really have anything to do with that at all. That was Lish’s editing and Buford’s marketing, turning us into a kind of sub-genre. We just wanted to write.
I never did think much about the purpose of my stories or put a lot of effort into the theories and all that. I listened to everything. To what people told me, how they talk, the things that happened to them and to me. Then I borrow it all, writing it down and making something of it in the form of a story and tuck it away in a drawer. Later I come back to it and change some things, add some and remove some. Eventually, if it seems like something publishable, I send it off.
Raymond Carver
Your writing process is quite intriguing and somewhat similar to my own. I do not put too much into the purpose or forms of my stories. I simple listen like you, listen to the sentences that come to me as I'm cooking or tucking my children into bed. All these sentences come to me as fragmented pieces and eventually I try to work them together into a story.
DeleteTo borrow from a French philosopher I admired quite a bit, art itself should function as a habit. I came to writing from the visual arts, in which observing things you can see, things you can experience is key. I think writing is no different. As a matter of fact, I often sketched out my characters to understand their physical traits better. Sincerely, just experiencing the world around you and articulating those experiences is the best habit a young writer can inherit. Everything else comes secondhand from that.
ReplyDeleteThe key to any story is to be vivid and engaging for the reader. Before I moved into writing, I was a cartoon fiend. Drawing all sorts of cartoons about various situations. I even submitted some to all kinds of newspapers and literary magazines. Writing, again, isn't much different of a process for me. I start all my characters visually, and give them some exaggerated traits. "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" is a great example, especially since it's the one thing most people have seemed to have read from me. Ever notice how most of the beginning of that story is very exaggerated and goofy? Just like a cartoon. It obviously takes a turn for the more bleak and somber, but it's still grotesque and exaggerated, like a cartoon. Everything fires on all emotional cylinders, so to speak, which hooks readers in and keeps their eyes on the page until the very last one.
My favorite types of stories are the more theological ones. Going back to my "Good Man" story, many people are confused by how it ends. It goes from funny to all sorts of violent and then has a moral tied to the end. Some people dislike that part, and I appreciate their dissent, but it helps reflect a concept real important to me, and that's the epiphany. Here in Milledgeville, there are all sorts of sinful and even Satanic things. To me, writing stories that have strong epiphanies or moral guidance is important. I often write grotesque and evil things in my stories, which is supposed to contrast with the more spiritual and upbeat endings I try and use.
Experiences are the best places to write from. Engaging the reader is purpose of any story. Humor is always good to have in any story. I also enjoy writing stories with epiphanies in them.
DeleteJames Joyce
As I’ve said continuously each and every time someone has asked me this age-old question: a writer only needs three things; experience, observation, and imagination. This is the perfect recipe for a phenomenal short story. To follow, here are a few pointers: Always write. Just write and don’t stop writing until it’s hot. Well, what does that mean, you say. That doesn’t make sense, you say. Why would I stop writing while it’s still hot, you say. Well, if you give your future self the chance to start writing while everything is “still hot,” you won’t be faced with writer’s block. Since it is such a period of conflict and tensions are high, the story will write itself.
ReplyDeleteThe most difficult and simultaneously the best part of my process is failing. I’m a failed poet. Complete failure. Absolutely terrible. Every time I try, it never works out. However, I had to fail enough times to realize that I’m a little better with writing stories, but failure still comes naturally at times. However, getting past those failing times isn’t hard for me. I’ve learned to come to accept failure. We have all failed to match our ideals of perfection at some point or another. If I were to rewrite my work I’m sure it would be infinitely better. Which is the healthiest mindset an author can have--so long as failure exists, the drive to make something much better than the failed work will always follow.
I wish I could have a particular “favorite” story. However, some of the works that I’ve had the pleasure of starting (and unfortunately not finishing, yet) are Don Quixote, Heart of Darkness, Nigger of the Narcissus, The Brothers Karamazov, Madame Bovary, and anything Dickens. These are works that I’ve always had a particular liking towards; however, I can’t say I know how many of these stories end. I go in and out of books the same way one would in a room of old friends. I read a few random excerpts, close it, and imagine how over the next few years I’ll finally have finished all of my “favorites.”
How does your writer get the writing done? What are some writing habits or mannerisms?
ReplyDeleteTo start writing, you need a bottle of scotch. Then maybe use another bottle of something stronger. In all seriousness, travel is the one thing any author should find themselves doing before they attempt to pass of experiences of others as their own. I spent years in the Alaskan wilderness to create the scope for my piece "The Call of the Wild" and for "White Fang". In 1892, I became a member of the ‘California Fish Patrol’ .The following year, I was sent to the coast of Japan for seal hunting and I based my story ‘Typhoon of the Coast of Japan’ on this journey. So in short, the most important thing to do before you write is experience.
--What is the function of the story story? What should it do or not do?
The short story is my favorite way to write. My pieces have been published far and wide. You should have read my most popular piece, "To Build a Fire". It is widely popular in your time I hear with the middle and high school aged teenagers. Which is sad, the rest of you should be reading my work more widely. Short stories should create a lasting image for their reader and make the reader experience the world of the narrative. My short stories exist to make the reader experience a story.
--What is the most difficult part of your artistic process and why? What is the best part and why?
The most difficult part of the artistic process is the hangover. Not just the alcoholic one obviously, but the one that comes after writing a piece. A horrific childhood and my younger years spent in the depression pushed me to my breaking point multiple times. To look back at my writing without the reassurance of someone else, it can be difficult. The best part of writing outweighs this completely though. The high of writing as the experience flows onto the page is unlike anything else. As an author, I create a world around these ideas in my mind and to put those ideas on the page... it creates the ultimate high. You should try it sometime.
I definitely think your stories are something to behold. The short story is a great medium for story telling. Its how I started in my career. I, personally, wanted to expand my writing, but short stories are just as an intricate art.
DeleteOh my, how dull of an imagination must you have to feel that experience is a necessity to good writing? If one spends their time getting caught up in all the accuracy of details, one surely would never get anything written at all. Its as I said in my novel, "“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.”
DeleteWe both share a need for travel when writing. There's no replacement for experience. It seems we approach stories differently however. Where you hope to have your readers experience the world of the narrative I hope to have them experience the thoughts and emotions of human's world. Understanding an identity is far more important to me than experiencing any single situation.
Delete-James Baldwin
I feel most authors enjoy a nice drink while writing. I have to agree that short stories are a very effective form of writing. Reliving experiences can be painful, but it is important to work on problems of our past.
DeleteJames Joyce
I have always thought that having a special place to write is important for every writer. You should be comfortable in your writing space. I have always believed you need to have inspiration in sight, but also be able to shut out the world. The smallest thing as having a window can be a distraction for any writer. To keep inspiration in sight put images of what inspires you in your writing room/space. I keep a model plane in my space as a reminder of my Air Force career.
ReplyDeleteI think the most difficult thing about writing is sitting down and beginning the process. It can be so daunting trying to figure out where to start. Do you start with developing character's? Do you start with the plot? It is completely up to the writer. I personally like to start with the characters and work from there. The best part about writing is getting to share it with others. I love to see people enjoy reading my stories.
My favorite stories to write are children stories. Most of the books that I have published are children's literature. I love telling stories to my children, and that is where my love for children's literature grew from. A lot of my children's books include very real conflicts that children face, and some of which I have personally seen.
Thank you for listening
Roald Dahl
I have the same problem you do when it comes to actually writing. Sitting down and getting all of the ideas down on a page is so hard to do because sometimes there is too much to write, and other times, there is nothing. My philosophy is that no matter what, always write.
DeleteI agree that every author needs their own space to write, but as a mother of two that has now become quite difficult. I used to write everywhere, all the time. Now I write when I have time and wherever I can find a quiet place. Being a mother has certainly changed how I approach the process of writing as well as my stylistic choices.
DeleteI agree with your statement on sitting down and writing. Making sure to just sit down always write as much as one can is always beneficial. Write what a reader can read in one sitting.
DeleteI like to find inspiration in a lot of things before I write and also try to step out of my comfort zone. For my story Carrie, I really wanted to write a story about a teenaged girl because I had never attempted to do that before. It was a difficult time getting through writing that novel. I wasn’t really sure where to start or how to go about writing in the mindset of a teenage girl, seeing how I am not one. The way ended up getting through this story was with the help of my wife. She basically gave me the intel of the mind of a teenage girl since she was one at one point. It definitely made writing the story so much easier.
ReplyDeleteI believe the function of a story is to entertain, to allow the reader to go into a new and exciting world that the writer created. A good and well written story should take the reader somewhere and keep them there. Captivating them enough to where they don’t want to put the story down. However, it shouldn’t force the reader into the world. What I mean by this is that the reader should be forced to assume anything about the story.
I’d have to say that the most difficult part about the artistic process is actually sitting down to write the story. It’s not only trying to get the motivation, but also the ideas. The best thing I do to combat this is to write every day. Even if it’s just writing about my day or writing a scene that’s been on my mind, I have to write. It gets the creative juices flowing.
I agree with your comment on having a reader stay into the piece. I believe that it is the best way to ensure the making of a story. It is a way that can ensure those reading my work will stay with my work and the characters.
DeleteMy writing process begins with sentences here and there. Fragments of a story that come to me at random times, perhaps when I'm cooking or spending time with my family. I remember and hold on to these sentences like pieces of a puzzle, and try to find the way in which they fit. To be completely honest I'm not exactly sure how I write. I constantly write and rewrite drafts, going over each and every line. I try to stick towards a simplistic writing style without frills and overwritten language. I believe it gives clarity to the piece and appeals to readers.
ReplyDeleteThere doesn't seem to be one singular function of the short story. A short story, or any story for that matter, should have form and function. I tend to be less strict with the form of my stories, opting for something stripped to its simplest form. A short story shouldn't overlay themes and ideas with poetic overwritten language. Simplicity has been the key to my own success and writing. It allows for the function of the story to shine through to the reader, which is ultimately what all writers want. For reader to understand and connect with their work.
I don't normally seek out other authors. Instead I turn to my friends who are writers. I'm quite protective of my work, which is another reason I hardly read reviews or google myself. While I don't reach out to other authors, I value the opinions of my friends. I turn to these writers instead when I have questions about my own work.
Personally, I find it easier to simply plan out what I am writing before I begin. I might suggest organizing your thoughts rather than using separate fragments for your different pieces. You may refer back to my conversation below for some ideas on how to better organize your ideas.
DeleteWriting for any utilitarian purpose is such a barbaric way of thinking. It's had it's base, but the next step in the writing evolution is to see that a story doesn't have to do anything but be good writing to qualify as a good story. That is the way of Aesthetes, Art for the sake of Art as we say.
DeleteAs previous mentioned in other conversations, I gather my inspiration for my work by what is happening around me. With the the passing of my wife, I wrote "Annabelle Lee" in my grief and sorrow. I drank many a times and gambled to assist me in my grief, so I suppose I would not say that I have a certain writing mannerism to my methods.
ReplyDeleteThe function of a short story is to achieve a unity of effect; meaning the author should know everything happening within the piece. I wrote something similar in my essay “The Philosophy of Composition.” Know the ending before you write - "Nothing is more clear than that every plot, worth the name, must be elaborated to its dénouement before any thing be attempted with the pen." Keep it short - if any literary work is too long to be read at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression. Decide on the desired effect - I desired to give the sense of exciting the sensitive soul to tears in my work "The Raven," which I find universally approachable. Choose the tone of the work - focus on the key-word of the piece. Determine the theme and characterization of the work - the lips best suited for the death of a beautiful woman are those of a bereaved lover. Establish the climax - In "The Raven" I had now to combine the two ideas, of a lover lamenting his deceased mistress and a Raven continuously repeating the word ‘Nevermore. Determine the setting - determine this after you determine why you are writing the piece to begin with, then determine your setting.
In my experience, writing a piece that I, as well as those who read more work, will enjoy can be most difficult. It is finding a balance as to how to incorporate many theories and ideas into one piece to convey a theme and overall meaning to the piece.
I have also suffered from drinking due to depression. Some of my finest work has come from my mind when I was under the influences of alcohol. Although I didn't have some sort of spontaneous moment that gave me my ideas for my stories. Instead I analyzed my thought process once I was sober and used those experiences in my writing.
Delete-Edgar Allan Poe
Grace Paley
ReplyDeleteSit in any writing class long enough and sooner or later you will hear “write what you know.” On the surface it seems like great advice. What else could you write about? Well, I would say, how about writing about the things you have seen, that have impacted you, but you do not yet understand. Pick a troubled moment of childhood, one you occasionally find your mind wandering to late at night but do not yet know what it is so captivating, and explore it. It is precisely because you do not yet know that you have something insightful to say. Words are always the most cutting the first time uttered. That is, the instance of creation for words is when they cut closest to the truth. If you have a good mind for writing and wish to explore something you already understand deeply, consider becoming a critic.
A story should be a mirror to your life nearly as exactly as you have lived it. Therein lies the value of fiction. The world is tragic and its people complex; and anything worth writing, worth reading, reflects that. This may sound ironic coming from a political writer but do not set out to write about specific issues. Do not try to write about feminism, or racism, or class struggle. Simply write things how they are, and if these issues are real in your life and dear to you, they will pop up in your fiction. Write about a wife in a kitchen. She is cooking, daydreaming, lamenting. Write about her life. Perhaps her husband, returning from work, degraded by menial labor and ungrateful for his lot in life, has an argument over the state of dinner with her. Perhaps he leaves her, or she him. The important part is to let these things happen as they do, not as you will them to.
Writing like this certainly isn’t easy. People may wonder why I only have six original pieces of published work. Maybe this gives you some insight. Writing is, should be, hard. Turn to the television for easy and clean. Time and energy are what it takes to get to know a person really well, especially if that person comes from your head. The single hardest part of writing anything is understand who you are writing about. Creating characters is your mind giving birth, complete with mental cramps and emotional anguish. But in that effort lies the best part of writing, creating the mirror to reality. Realization that what you have made is true, even truer than your own life, is a powerful narcotic.
In the simplest of terms the short story should overall be for you. You should not write a story expecting money. You shouldn't write one expecting a publishing house to pick you up for a novel. Even though a short story can do these things at it’s core it should be for the satisfaction for the writer. Only after that is achieved does it move on to greater and better things. A short story should also leave an emotional impact in the reader with a message. It is the writers job to some how convey the emotions they feel for the story to their readers. If the writer can not even feel that emotion than the reader will not feel it.
ReplyDeleteSomething difficult when it comes to the artistic process in writing would be separating me from my characters. Since a lot of the stories are based off of places that I’ve lived or experiences I’ve had I have to remember to separate myself from the character that I am creating. For example, in Brownies I was a Brownie when I was younger but I was never in the situation that Snot was in. So when I wrote her character I was constantly going back in fourth between POV because in first person I realized it sounded too much like myself. So I decided to switch to third person to distance myself from her as much as possible but then realized I was connected enough with the narrator. So in the end I switched back to first person again but she didn't feel exactly like my voice because I made that switch to third person.
When it comes to my stories they tend to take place in places that I live or have experience in so one of the habits that I have developed even before I start writing it is to revisit those places. By revisiting it helps me to remember some of the past experiences I had there, and it helps my brain begin to imagine the story I’m trying to tell in that location.
I believe while it's important to write for "you" the author I think it's also important to be able to write a story that is meant for the public and not you. For instance if you have story that you wish to accomplish something. It probably won't be able to accomplish what you want it to unless you release out into the world.
Delete-Edgar Allan Poe
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ReplyDeleteIt takes me a while to get my writing really going. I have a problem that may seem crazy to most writers, but if I don’t have the setting I can’t get much done. For most other writers, it’s the first thing they choose, the setting, but I often don’t have it. I work on the relationships first, the sort of things that will bring out my theme and questions I want. I go location hunting.
ReplyDeleteI suppose one of the more difficult parts of my writing is finding the location I want. I tried “Never Let Me Go” twice before I got it down. Setting it in a dystopic world made it work. Until I get the setting down I can’t get my books to really fly. I need that odd “something” to get my story to work, like cloning or some strange collective amnesia in a population like in “The Buried Giant”
There are quite a few stories that I consider favorites. Firs to mind is “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy. I became obsessed with cowboys when I was a child, having just moved to England from Japan. I watched the great western films, but “Blood Meridian” is one of the great literary westerns. I also like “South of the Border, West of the Sun” by Haruki Murakami. Murakami is one of the living major writers, and this short novel is great.
Tell me do you ever find travel to help with finding your setting? I always seem to be running way to one place or another trying to find myself rather than my setting, but it seems to be integral to my process. I tend to stick to locations I know well enough to understand the people in.
Delete-James Baldwin
I find I often struggle with setting. It's an odd problem to have, for a writer. Most of the time I can't get my stories to work until I find one. It's that last piece that snaps everything together. I usually do a lot of research on an area before I decide on one, reading up on local history and such.
Delete--What is the function of the story? What should it do or not do?
ReplyDeleteA story is neither moral nor immoral, it is only good writing or bad. Any suffering is worth it if one can make something beautiful out of it. Arts value is not in how it is received by the masses but in how it frees the writer. Art is not something that should be censored and restricted. It should not be be weighed down by facts rather it should be beautifully told lies. An artist's greatest work should always be their own life, which is why I strived to live as outrageously and fulfilled as possible. One should always do what they do to the fullest, whether it be pursuing their pleasures or stewing in their suffering, as long as it is in full.
--What are your favorite stories and why? AND What was your favorite story to write and why (or least favorite)?
My favorite stories are my own, of course. Art is enjoyed by the individual for the individual. As I have said in my childrens tales, ““I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.” A personal favorite of mine, though? Probably The Picture of Dorian Grey, for that is my only novel and the one who sparked a certain amount of excitement in the Victorian Elite. It is through a book that one can break through any and all real and imagined social constructs and augment the pleasure of rebellion to its fullest extent, and that is what my novel was for me.
In what way do you suffer when you write? Are you like me in needing extreme loneliness to write? I too find getting to know myself through the page to be a freeing process. Only by understanding the chaos within us can we hope to help society in the future. It is our responsibilities as artists to seek and understanding we can share with the world.
Delete-James Baldwin
As a writer, I have developed many habits over the years. For example, I handwrite all my work. I cannot type and do not dictate to a stenographer. It is important to take risks while writing. How you write is story is possibly more important than what the story is about. I also make sure to keep close to the facts, but it is also important to remember to add humor to any story.
ReplyDeleteA short story, like any work, should make a transfer of emotions to the reader. It is important to accurately portray the color and tone of the world the story is in. Writing’s purpose is to describe the life of the author’s day. A short story should show the reader the epiphany that the protagonist lives through.
My favorite story is The Doll House by Isben. His play brought on the greatest revolution of this generation. It led the fight for the emancipation of women in my generation; it led the fight for women to stop being treated as instruments by men in the battle of the sexes. His ideas practically founded this generation’s ideals.
I don't think I would have become as prolific as I have if I had written all of my work by hand. Surely you've got to have arthritis or carpal tunnel by now.
DeleteI like your thought process of writing by hand. It makes the work feel more personal in my mind. You can feel yourself pouring the emotions into work as their is nothing between you and your story.
Delete-Edgar Allan Poe
What is the function of the story story? What should it do or not do?
ReplyDeleteI suppose you meant to write “short story” to which I would first like to say proof reading is very important to any writing. I think an accomplished short story funnels a theme into a sharp point and leaves the reader with something to think about. All stories should have something they want to say and they should be self-aware of that something. Every facet of the story should be building to that something, that theme. What it should not do is hold the reader’s hand. The short story is the poem of the prose category just as the epic is the novel of the poetry category.
What are your favorite stories and why?
My favorite stories are the ones that stay in my mind for weeks or even years, thinking about them and all the different ways they can be interpreted and argued. I love a story that makes me audibly go “woah,” or gives me chills or leaves me with lingering questions to try and answer on my own. Literature is powerful, but most of its power is conjured by the reader in the aftermath of the reading.
What was your favorite story to write and why (or least favorite)?
“Rape Fantasies” was especially fun to write I think because of how conversational it was. Like talking to yourself almost. But I think my favorite yet still would have to be the one I wrote for the future library project. It was such a unique perspective to write for, to sit down and think about the problems of the future. I wanted to write a book that the people of the future would need, words that they would need to hear. Which made for an interesting writing experience.
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ReplyDeleteHow does your writer get the writing done? What are some writing habits or mannerisms?
ReplyDeleteAs a writer I find it necessary to cultivate a strong sense of being alone to do my work. I must linger in the knowledge of my aloneness. I must overcome the paralyses that usually accompanies this knowledge to attempt conquer the wilderness of myself and spread light into that darkness. I often find this aloneness unbearable as a I try to face what’s within me, so I found myself traveling a lot during my writing process. I was always seeking a place where it became acceptable in my own mind to be alone for at least a little while. I carry a single very beat up copy of my manuscript in my time worn briefcase. I write notes on it in both pencil and pen. Often I allow other authors to do the same. sometimes I will stare at a page for hours until I’ve fully enter my aloneness, then I can begin anew. My entire goal when writing is the same goal of any society to work against both inner and outer chaos.
What is the function of the story story? What should it do or not do?
The artist is present in society to correct the delusions to which we fall prey in our attempts to avoid the knowledge of true aloneness among human beings. I damage myself trying to tame the inner chaos so that in the future the damage done to similar humans might be minimized. My goal is build a road with my story; to further civilize the world and make it a more human place to be. If we understood ourselves better we would damage ourselves less. By allowing ourselves that dignity we may also allow it to humanity as a whole. A story should grant equal dignity to the human experience no matter what it may look like.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process and why? What is the best part and why?
The most difficult aspect is the monumental challenge of self-awareness. We hardly know our own depths. For instance there are aspects to ourselves that only other’s will ever be able to see. We will never see the true face we wear when we’re in love or facing true hatred. Only others will see those and be able to react to them. We will never know the receiving end of our own faces. There is a large border between me and what I know about me and the hardest part is climbing that wall and attempting to peer over.
How does your writer get the writing done?
ReplyDeleteWhat are some writing habits or mannerisms? Writing is methodical and analytical it is not spontaneous. It is a very tedious process that takes time and hard work. Also their is a limit to how much you write for a specific piece, for instance in poetry you shouldn't make the length of a poem longer than you can write in one sitting. You can decide to go back and spend time revising your work, but the "Creative" process needs to be done in one sitting. You should also only start writing something when you know how you want to end it I call this the "Unity of effect".
What was your favorite story to write and why?
My favorite story to write was "The Black Cat". I really enjoyed writing this story because it dealt with a lot of dark themes and the main character was a troubled man that turned to alcohol which only cause him more problems. I think the reason I enjoyed writing this story so much is because I also deal with alcoholism and it truly is a distinctive disease.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process and why? What is the best part and why?
The most difficult part of my writing process is Knowing the ending before I began to write. The reason why this is so difficult is because it's real easy to change your mind and in doing so it can my Poem or Short Story to lose its original meaning. I want my story's and poems to have meaning, I don't want them to be a waste of my time.
My favorite part of my artistic process is my keep it short rule. All my work should be able to be read in one sitting. If the reader has to take a break during my story than it would break the spell that my story had put them under. I like this rule because it keeps me motivated in my work. I know not spend time fluffing up my piece with nonsense. If it's not beneficial to the story it gets cut when I revise.
-Edgar Allan Poe
Talking about Short Stories:
ReplyDelete--How does your writer get the writing done?
When my sister and I lived in the country, she took care of our home on the estate I purchased. Mariya observed me during my writing hours, and said that I got up very early, had a cup of coffee then settled down to write, often choosing to sit at the windowsill instead of the table. I liked to look out at the park while in between writing. I did not eat or sleep very much, and I was particular about everything being tidy.
--What is the function of the story story?
The function of a short story is to portray human nature in as real away as is possible: all it’s flaws and beauty. Humanity is beautifully flawed. The focus of the short story should focus on the internal style for freedom. The world is often unfair and unpredictable, and this is worth exploring.
--What was your favorite story to write and why?
I am very fond of my story “The Student,” which is about a young clerical student named Ivan Velikopolsky, of 22 years. The student is returning to his home on a cold, gloomy Good Friday. He feels the gloom in his very bones and begins to despair about life, thinking, “[…] desperate poverty and hunger, the same thatched roofs with holes in them, ignorance, misery, the same desolation around, the same darkness, the same feeling of oppression -- all these had existed, did exist, and would exist, and the lapse of a thousand years would make life no better. And he did not want to go home.” Then Velikopolsky spots the two widows of his village by a fire. He stops to chat with the mother and daughter widows and recalls the story of Peter the apostle denying Jesus. The widows, are affected by his story, and he comes to the conclusion that they are moved not because of his emotional story telling, but because there is a truth and beauty in the story that connects the women to it, even centuries later. The student realizes that all of time is connected. A part in this story which I am particularly fond of is after Ivan speaks with the women, and thinks, “The old woman had wept, not because he could tell the story touchingly, but because Peter was near to her, because her whole being was interested in what was passing in Peter's soul. And joy suddenly stirred in his soul, and he even stopped for a minute to take breath. "The past," he thought, "is linked with the present by an unbroken chain of events flowing one out of another." And it seemed to him that he had just seen both ends of that chain; that when he touched one end the other quivered.” I am fond of the change Ivan has in my story. He feels utter despair and existential misery, and with one short exchange, he changes his perspective utterly.
--What other authors are you friends with?
A writer I admire, Dmitry Vasilyevich Grigorovich, wrote me a letter in the spring of 1886, and said, “You have real talent, one that separates you from the new generation of writers.” This impacted my greatly, and I replied, “Your letter has struck me like a thunderbolt. If I have a gift, then it should be respected, but I confess that up till now I've had no respect for it. Simply writing my stories for the fun of it, trying not to get to close to feelings that really matter to me, unconsciously trying to put them to one side.” This made me realize that I desired to delve farther into my writing, and explore human nature and all that comes with it. After this letter, I soon went back to my childhood home, Taganrog, and began work on “Steppe” which is a mostly autobiographical story. Returning to my hometown was helpful in my writing this story, which is from the perspective of a child. “Steppe” was published in a respected literary review known as Severny Vestnik or “Northern Herald” and at this point, I desired to move onto more serious works. Although I did keep an undertone of comedy in many of my works. So, I suppose you could say, Grigorovich’s letter helped to inspire me in a more mature direction.
It blows my mind seeing people try and "plan" their fiction. It seems the best work I do is when I am really allowing the unconscious to rule the page and then later I can go back and hack around and make sense of things but the queen of the story is that part of my brain and the stories wouldn’t work, wouldn’t move me, wouldn’t have any power, unless they had a strong connection to my unconscious. However, if the moment isn't there, it isn't there. I keep signs above my computer that read "faith". This is helpful in revving up the unconscious.
ReplyDeleteThe most difficult part of my writing process is telling myself when to stop. I set aside a strict two hour writing limit each day. I found in my study of psychology that setting a certain time frame to unleash the sub and unconscious helps your mind in breaching new boundaries, like dreams.
In my fiction piece "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake", I really let myself ave some fun, but even so my characters were constructed the same. Each character had a type of supernatural behavior while flowing through day to day normal life routine. It makes the stories more strange and throws the reader off from worldly occurrences. It allowed me to work with the psychiatric way more.