|
 |
 |
Monday, 02.06.2012 |
|
| From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction |
|
|
|
Product Details
Notes
archived webcast of story writing, Inside the Writing, at www.fsu.edu/butler
Akira Kurosawa said, "To be an artist means never to avert your eyes."
artists are intensely aware of the chaos of life, but also see the meaning behind it
get out of the habit of saying you have an idea for a story
you don't want to think, art comes from your unconscious dreams
you can't think your way into fiction or analyze your way into a work of art
things that can get in the way: i want to be published or famous or win a prize
it's different to say you want to create art than to say you want to be an artist
the primary point of contact is emotional, because emotions reside in the senses
emotions are experienced in five ways:
1) sensual reaction inside our body - temperature, heartbeat, neural change
2) outside our body - posture, gesture, facial expression, tone of voice
3) flashes of the past - images, sense impressions
4) flashes of the future - something we desire or fear or anticipate
5) sensual selectivity - choose which of hundreds of sensual cues we focus on
the artistic medium of fiction writers - language - is not innately sensual
most writers end up in their head instead of the unconscious because of fear
for two hours a day, when you write, you have to go deep to the place you fear
you have to stop the analytical voice in your head and get into a trance state
enemies of creative writing: rational thinking, analytical thinking, literal memories
literal memories lead to journalism
what you forget goes into the compost of your imagination
once you get into the unconscious, you must write every day to maintain it
functional fixedness - when you associate a certain environment with a task
try writing immediately as soon as you wake up
otherwise you put yourself into analytical language first, reading news, etc.
he recommends not doing a normal journal, it's too analytical
instead, write about an emotional moment from the day as if it's a scene
don't write your way into the unconscious by writing analytically first
let yourself meditate on your unconscious until you're inspired to write
writer's block is good, it means you aren't just writing easy junk from the head
writer's block is like insomnia, thoughts keep you from reaching the unconscious
voice is the embodiment of language of the contents of your unconscious
your unconscious chooses the natural form of the vision, novel or short story
good novelists have bad memory, forget your work and see it as a new reader
when revising, instead of analyzing your work, feel the points that don't resonate
then instead of rewriting those bad parts, re-dream them until they resonate
three fundamentals of fiction: human beings, human emotion, and desire
yearning is key to characters, plot represents the dynamics of desire
early in the story, sensual details should reveal a character's deepest yearning
when a story is admirable and smart, but doesn't resonate, it's missing the desire
literary fiction is often missing the driving desire that commercial fiction has
literary desire might be yearning for self, for identity, for a place in the universe
a vivid character is not enough, the story is ready only when the desire emerges
seek the inciting incident that upsets the balance of the character's world
this may happen before the story begins
the point of attack then introduces the conflict, the manifestation of yearning
conflict can be internal or external or both
internal conflict can resonate with the larger conflict in the external world
non-art, genre writing, entertainment writing, commercial fiction usually has:
abstraction, generalization, summary, analysis and interpretation
the reader fills in the emotional response from the abstract writing, that's not art
true art has moment-to-moment, fresh, organically connected sense impressions
in true art, the reader leaves themselves and enters the character
the writing of a work of art is as much an act of exploration as it is expression
all writing has inherent personality due to diction, vocabulary, and syntax
dramatic irony - we know something the narrator or character doesn't
when you read great fiction, it's like cinema of the inner consciousness
film concepts: the shot, cut, scene, sequence, close-up, slow motion, montage
montage is like using two sentences that make sense without extra words
when you feel your characters going one way, consider the opposite also
commercial novelists may outline, but literary novelists write freely
the trick is to revise without becoming analytical and intellectual
dreamstorming - you dream of your scenes throughout the novel draft
write down six to ten words that represent a potential scene
make sure every scene has a sensual, concrete hook
do not trust a scene that comes as an idea, it must have some sense attached
don't write the scene even if it all comes to you then, continue floating
do not try to organize, structure or manipulate scenes, but let them run naturally
keep even contradictory scene identifiers, go for maybe six to twelve weeks
at some point, the scenes will come more slowly, and you'll realize you're done
now you have a couple hundred scenes, write them each on an index card
start flipping through the cards looking for the first good scene in the book
continue picking out each scene from the cards in order, write scenes to fill gaps
eventually you'll have the entire order of cards (with some thrown away)
then look for continuity between scenes and follow the through-lines
try to apply your research to actual scenes, think of the senses involved
after you've got your "outline" in the form of index cards, you start the first draft
as you write, you find that things change in your outline of cards
now go back to the index cards and dream them again with appropriate changes
this allows you to rewrite your book structurally, rather than looking at sentences
try to write scenes in order, it's more natural to know what came before
another suggestion by the author is like the "headlights" system
you take the first eight cards you need to write the beginning, then the next eight
the cards allow you to stay fluid and open to new developments
but you have to use your unconscious and get into a trance mode
for a short story, the cards should represent smaller parts than a scene
find the motif naturally in your story, try to do "method acting" with your writing
when you're writing, manage your reading time, don't use it as an excuse
the reader's primary response to a work of art should be aesthetic, not analytical
you shouldn't be asking, what does this work mean, or what is the author saying
when you read a part that doesn't work, focus on the cause, not the symptoms
don't think about the technical problems, think about the root cause behind it all
read slowly so you can hear the narrative voice in your head
great resource for visual details: Oxford-Duden Pictorial English Dictionary
for names of colors see: The Pantone Book of Color
for naming characters: Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Madison and Montana
for architectural homes: A Field Guide to American Houses
opening with dialogue rarely works because there's no context
dialogue needs subtext, something going on beneath the surface, not just info
watch out for unrelated imagery, connect your sensual pattern to the motif
avoid writing from a literal memory, write for the deeper meaning, not the facts
don't have a passive narrator who has no yearning of his own
write an anecdote, full of summary and exposition, then try to make a work of art
zero in on specific details, really visualize and focus in on specific sense
don't generalize the overall view of the scene, and don't summarize it
if there's a sound, describe the sound, same with the other senses
don't abstract an image into an adjective, make it come through the description
don't analyze a character and describe what they're feeling, show it in them
the workshop of the written exercises is interesting, but the stories are too artsy
i don't personally connect with these stories, even though i'm understanding more
but my goal is to write for the masses, so i need to avoid getting too abstract
the problem i have with literary prose is that it reads slower, i like quick reading
there are no child prodigies in literature, there is no Mozart of fiction
learn to let it go, and let go to it without thinking or analyzing your way into fiction |
|
|
