Well, hopefully you do not soon hate me. I'm not really big on being hated. And actually I don't even really intend to be controversial. Makes for a great blog title, though. I'm all about the hook. haha
But, though I may yet hope to remain your harmless little lovable Nevets full of sweetness and light, I will warn you that Tactless Tuesdays are coming, starting next week.
Again, it's all about the hook. (Which, on a total tangent is the name of a very catchy bit of goofy story-telling in verse by Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks with a Rolling Stones-ish feel.) On Tactless Tuesday I will not be tactless. I'm way too much a of a goody-goody for that. But I will take of the infamous kid-gloves and cut to the chase of cliche.
Say what, Nevets? Speak English, Man.
To give you an idea of what I mean, the opening series of posts will cover Lies that Writers Tell Themselves, the first five weeks of which will cover...
- Stories exist outside of our imagination.
- Characters have lives of their own.
- We each need to just write however works best for us.
- If people don't understand what we've written, it's just because our writing is too artistic and intellectual.
- We need to write for a target audience.
For each of these, I will explain why I think it's a lie, how I think the lie manifests itself, and why I think the lie is dangerous. I will definitely not be targeting people or being rude. Just honest without window dressing. And I'm not talking to anyone. I'm a writer, and I buy into these lies all the time. I just hope to call attention to these issues, help get thought flowing, and maybe get some conversation started.
So look for Tactless Tuesday, starting next week!
.Nevets.
Nah, no hate. It'll be interesting to read your opinions.
ReplyDeleteHooray! Straight talking on the internets! Looking forward to your perspective.
ReplyDeleteWe could never hate you! What you have to say about these "lies" is another matter. Can't wait for it!
ReplyDeleteJust to skip forward to the fun part, I'd like to take a swing at No. 2. Characters have lives of their own. Is that a lie?
ReplyDeleteLet me answer that with another question. Do characters have depth?
If the lie you are tackling is whether the people in our stories become extant and live in Toronto, then I am 100% behind that as a lie. Like Stranger than Fiction.
But if we're talking about backstory, then well thought out and realistic characters do have lives outside of the story that we tell.
However, if what you are talking about is the "I didn't really expect Henry to kill the girl," that phenomenon is merely the wonderful mystery of the human psyche. "Henry" doesn't do anything than what the author tells him to.
Hope I didn't spoil your lie with my psychobabble. But when you post it in June, I'll probably say more of the same.