OK, so more thought has come to this project in the interim of last post. I do not want to be the guy who remakes Julie and Julia, but with writing. So, I won't do that. As I work through the book, I will post what I believe is helpful. When that is not happening, I will throw out some stuff which I feel people who are wanting to write should know.
Making your scenes or locations real, this, above all is something which people seem to overlook. People in 200 and higher level college classes still seem to have issues with this, and it baffles me.
For instance, let's say I live in Portland, Oregon, and I want to write a scene on Alberta street, I could just say we're on Alberta. This works for me, since my eyes have seen it, and people in Portland will get a picture, because they have too. This, however, is wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Boring, and fucking wrong.
You could describe the whole goddamn street, right down to the ants walking across the uneven sidewalk. You could, but I submit this is also wrong. It's dry and hard to read, anyway.
Your best bet is to pick a few locations that make Alberta street different than any other place. Any good place has these characteristics and this place is not any different.
Showing posts with label first person. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first person. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Thoughts on Reluctant Narration Prompt
Now, let's talk about what we learned doing this. For most people this is hard to do, so if it pissed you off don't worry. In some styles of writing the amount of times the writer says “I” directly correlates to their competence. If this isn't for you then it isn't for you. I do this, right now, exclusively, and that is part of why this project is happening.
The main problem with this I see is that your character is instantly relegated to the role of follower. He is always going to be the second banana to a more interesting character (like Tyler Durden from “Fight Club”) not to say that this result is not without merit, but it gets worse. Instead of toadying to charismatic like Durden, your narrator's role in the story could potentially become the worthless and incompetent camera man from any horrible first person movie you can think of. The worst I can think of is “Cloverfield”. Don't write that. No one wants to read that shit.
Of course, if you do this well, your character can cruise through every scene and say “me, me, me, you fucker!” and be in every scene like Daniel Day Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” and do it without a blazing neon sign pointing at him, and establishing his authority at the beginning of ever paragraph or sentence.
A great book that makes this point is Dermaphoria by Craig Clevenger.
The main problem with this I see is that your character is instantly relegated to the role of follower. He is always going to be the second banana to a more interesting character (like Tyler Durden from “Fight Club”) not to say that this result is not without merit, but it gets worse. Instead of toadying to charismatic like Durden, your narrator's role in the story could potentially become the worthless and incompetent camera man from any horrible first person movie you can think of. The worst I can think of is “Cloverfield”. Don't write that. No one wants to read that shit.
Of course, if you do this well, your character can cruise through every scene and say “me, me, me, you fucker!” and be in every scene like Daniel Day Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” and do it without a blazing neon sign pointing at him, and establishing his authority at the beginning of ever paragraph or sentence.
A great book that makes this point is Dermaphoria by Craig Clevenger.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Points of view: the reluctant/observer
Who tells your story is almost as important as the idea you're writing, hopefully without over-thinking. Over thought is something we will get to when the writing starts, I promise. For now, we're only talking about who is telling the story, and how the hell they're going to tell it to your reader.
There are several ways you can do this, in both first and third person, obviously. This writer prefers first person, and the approach of the first activity in my chosen writing text for this here project. Kiteley calls this the “reluctant” narrator, I call this style the observer. This narrator is more likely to follow someone who is more interesting than himself, presumably. Although, as your story progresses the way your cameraman sees things may become just as interesting or moreso than the events which he is taking in. These observer types will establish authority when it is needed and only then. The pronouns of the first person will appear as scantly as possible with these narrators. Some authors who prefer this are:
-Chuck Palahniuk
fight club
choke
invisible monsters
-Craig Clevenger
contortionist's handbook
dermaphoria
There are, obviously many more, and Chuck Palahniuk has written a dozen novels.
Drowning out the pronouns in your writing sounds easy, but it takes a lot of practice. Kiteley's first writing activity is vague and rightly so, since it throws you into this style head first. What you and I will do over the next, hell, I don't know, twelve hours or so? That sound good? Is to follow this prompt: Write a story of around 500 to 600 words (around two pages courier double spaced) and use the pronoun of I no more than twice, but use it in a way that establishes without question your narrator's authority in the story.
There are several ways you can do this, in both first and third person, obviously. This writer prefers first person, and the approach of the first activity in my chosen writing text for this here project. Kiteley calls this the “reluctant” narrator, I call this style the observer. This narrator is more likely to follow someone who is more interesting than himself, presumably. Although, as your story progresses the way your cameraman sees things may become just as interesting or moreso than the events which he is taking in. These observer types will establish authority when it is needed and only then. The pronouns of the first person will appear as scantly as possible with these narrators. Some authors who prefer this are:
-Chuck Palahniuk
fight club
choke
invisible monsters
-Craig Clevenger
contortionist's handbook
dermaphoria
There are, obviously many more, and Chuck Palahniuk has written a dozen novels.
Drowning out the pronouns in your writing sounds easy, but it takes a lot of practice. Kiteley's first writing activity is vague and rightly so, since it throws you into this style head first. What you and I will do over the next, hell, I don't know, twelve hours or so? That sound good? Is to follow this prompt: Write a story of around 500 to 600 words (around two pages courier double spaced) and use the pronoun of I no more than twice, but use it in a way that establishes without question your narrator's authority in the story.
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