Is the Play the Thing?
The play's the thing, perhaps. Or maybe music's the thing. Or the beat, the rhythm, the lyrical style... the story, the story line?
The speaker (Brian Doyle) at our local writers' group called us storycatchers. He said the story's the thing. The story's what brings reader and writer to a place without words. And the story chooses its own form--poem, list, memoir, essay, novel... Catch the story when you can. Write it without form or reason (or thought). Then edit or throw away. You can always...
The speaker (Brian Doyle) at our local writers' group called us storycatchers. He said the story's the thing. The story's what brings reader and writer to a place without words. And the story chooses its own form--poem, list, memoir, essay, novel... Catch the story when you can. Write it without form or reason (or thought). Then edit or throw away. You can always...
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I like how you bring in all those different genres Jim. Sometimes I feel like an alien for choosing to read so many different things. (My sons say I simply have no taste.) But how I can quote you and claim to be feeding myself and my writing with a more complex diet.
Variety is the "spice of life" as they say, and I definitely believe that reading a variety of genres makes one a better writer. So keep going; You're definitely on the right track. You read more than anyone I know!
Lots to ponder here, Sheila--all of it helpful, starting with the suggestion given by your club speaker. It's been said many ways, but your story can stay fluid much longer, and you can travel many paths as they open for you--if you use it. I do when I feel vulnerable about the work I'm planning. For instance, if I've been on a steady diet of non-fiction and technical jargon, highly structured, I know I'd better loosen up with reading deeply emotional non-linear reading--poetry, novels-- and write some various-length poetry, anything that delves into murky places and can only resolve themselves on emotional terms. Without that effort my novels become stiff, structured versions of themselves, and worse, don't explore avenues MOST likely to make the pages pop. Find the metaphors, find the links between them, let the waters flow in their temperature layers. The book will be interesting, the author happy with the work, and reviews might just come trickling in. It all benefits reader enjoyment and enlightenment., and hopefully loosens tongues enough for feedback that you're on the right track.
September 27, 2016 at 10:25 PM