"But too often these days, I'm afraid we writers of nonfiction fall into the opposite fallacy: We enter the story whether it needs us or not." --Philip Gerard, page 50 of Writing Creative Nonfiction
Creative nonfiction is one of my favorite genres right now, and part of that is the challenge involved in writing the truth. It's so much harder to write the truth artfully than it is to write fiction--in fiction, you determine everything that happens, how it happens, etc. You have total freedom to do whatever you want (which can be a challenge too). The limitations set up by having to tell a real event and keep it real make telling the story more interesting, and force you to get more creative. Keeping myself at the right distance from whatever I'm writing is one of the hardest obstacles in CNF. You have to remember that not every story focuses on you, even if you are an important part of it.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Revising--With and Without an Editor (Ch. 10)
"But a writer is not an artist until he is unwilling to be published at all costs." --Philip Gerard, page 192 of Creative Nonfiction
Artists must not be willing to sacrifice their integrity or principles simply to be in the limelight or even to be paid. I'm willing to write journalistic stories I might not necessarily care that much about or even view as art, but I'll be damned if I ever let someone compromise my art. If I have an artistic vision for a piece, I'll take some criticism to heart and make it more accessible to the reader, etc., but I won't change it completely just so it will be printed in a journal or magazine. If you're willing to write whatever someone tells you all the time, and not what you feel you need to write, then you're a puppet, not an artist.
Artists must not be willing to sacrifice their integrity or principles simply to be in the limelight or even to be paid. I'm willing to write journalistic stories I might not necessarily care that much about or even view as art, but I'll be damned if I ever let someone compromise my art. If I have an artistic vision for a piece, I'll take some criticism to heart and make it more accessible to the reader, etc., but I won't change it completely just so it will be printed in a journal or magazine. If you're willing to write whatever someone tells you all the time, and not what you feel you need to write, then you're a puppet, not an artist.
Mystery and Structure, Style and Attitude (Ch. 9)
"But if you make the right marks in the right order, you can change a reader's life. Change enough lives, you can change the world." --Philip Gerard, page 158 in Creative Nonfiction
I am a huge believer in the power of words to make change happen. That's what makes writing worthwhile, despite the difficulties of being a writer. "We're trying to express the world of the senses through little black marks, and it's damned hard to do" (page 157). It is very hard to express everything that we want to through words, but I love writing as a means of expression. I love the flexibility of words, all the ways we can arrange them, all the perspectives, all the possibilities. You can create any story, any place, any person you want with words. It's not easy, but I'll take that over tubes of oil paint any day. As I said in an earlier post, writers are usually considered the rebels of their time, seeing through the bullshit and lies that society tries to press onto the masses. Even if a work doesn't enact change during a writer's lifetime, anyone could be inspired by that same work at any point in time. Changing the way that just one person sees the world is good enough for me.
I am a huge believer in the power of words to make change happen. That's what makes writing worthwhile, despite the difficulties of being a writer. "We're trying to express the world of the senses through little black marks, and it's damned hard to do" (page 157). It is very hard to express everything that we want to through words, but I love writing as a means of expression. I love the flexibility of words, all the ways we can arrange them, all the perspectives, all the possibilities. You can create any story, any place, any person you want with words. It's not easy, but I'll take that over tubes of oil paint any day. As I said in an earlier post, writers are usually considered the rebels of their time, seeing through the bullshit and lies that society tries to press onto the masses. Even if a work doesn't enact change during a writer's lifetime, anyone could be inspired by that same work at any point in time. Changing the way that just one person sees the world is good enough for me.
Putting Yourself on the Line (Ch. 8)
"To get it right, we'll have to lose some sleep over it." --Philip Gerard, page 140 of Creative Nonfiction
One of my only definite goals in life is to write something that I truly consider a great work of art; I don't think I have done that yet. I strive to make my writing art, more than just an essay or article, but I don't know if I've reached greatness yet. I think I'm on my way, though, especially according to this chapter by Gerard. One of the most important steps a writer has to take to achieve greatness, even if it's just in their own eyes, is to write about the hard stuff. Every writing professor I've ever respected, or writer for that matter, has reiterated that point. Go for the jugular! Write down the bones! Delve deep. However it's worded, the sentiment is the same. We have to go for the harder subjects in life to get anywhere with our writing, and in my opinion, to get anywhere in our own existences. Gerard also touches on the problem of cliches, especially in beginner writer's work, and how our culture just seems to breed these "preexisting formula[s]." Writers are rebels; we have to stand strong and work towards originality whenever we can during this age of globalization and homogenization. Society wants to sugarcoat life, to make problems easily solved by buying something. We bear the burden of seeing the pain in life and try to make that digestible to the reader. I haven't lost much sleep over what I've written, but I have been disturbed and shocked by what I've discovered through writing. And I hope I keep on doing that.
One of my only definite goals in life is to write something that I truly consider a great work of art; I don't think I have done that yet. I strive to make my writing art, more than just an essay or article, but I don't know if I've reached greatness yet. I think I'm on my way, though, especially according to this chapter by Gerard. One of the most important steps a writer has to take to achieve greatness, even if it's just in their own eyes, is to write about the hard stuff. Every writing professor I've ever respected, or writer for that matter, has reiterated that point. Go for the jugular! Write down the bones! Delve deep. However it's worded, the sentiment is the same. We have to go for the harder subjects in life to get anywhere with our writing, and in my opinion, to get anywhere in our own existences. Gerard also touches on the problem of cliches, especially in beginner writer's work, and how our culture just seems to breed these "preexisting formula[s]." Writers are rebels; we have to stand strong and work towards originality whenever we can during this age of globalization and homogenization. Society wants to sugarcoat life, to make problems easily solved by buying something. We bear the burden of seeing the pain in life and try to make that digestible to the reader. I haven't lost much sleep over what I've written, but I have been disturbed and shocked by what I've discovered through writing. And I hope I keep on doing that.
Telling a True Story: Using the Techniques of Fiction (Ch. 7)
"But honest sentiment--true human feeling--is the most valuable literary commodity there is." --Philip Gerard, page 130 of Creative Nonfiction
I love to read, and have always loved to read, because it is one way to really connect with a person. When a story or book is well-written, it shows us something about life that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. In this sentence, Gerard is referring to the difference between true sentiment and being sentimental, a difference that every writer must learn if they want to be original and make real art. I think that writing isn't always seen as art because there is so much fluff writing out there--words that just reiterate the same, tired ideas and feelings we've been exposed to over and over. Being able to express the human condition is something that all good writers do; that's why their work is timeless. Any human could read it and feel a connection to the writer.
I love to read, and have always loved to read, because it is one way to really connect with a person. When a story or book is well-written, it shows us something about life that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. In this sentence, Gerard is referring to the difference between true sentiment and being sentimental, a difference that every writer must learn if they want to be original and make real art. I think that writing isn't always seen as art because there is so much fluff writing out there--words that just reiterate the same, tired ideas and feelings we've been exposed to over and over. Being able to express the human condition is something that all good writers do; that's why their work is timeless. Any human could read it and feel a connection to the writer.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Speak, Memory--Ch. 15
"Whenever I start to think of my love for a person, I am in the habit of immediately drawing radii from my love--from my heart, from the tender nucleus of a personal matter--to monstrously remote points of the universe." --Vladimir Nabokov, page 296
I find it kind of odd that Nabokov waits until the last chapter to introduce the reader to the "you" that he has been referring to throughout the novel, his wife, but also fitting, too. I guess he leaves the story of his wife and child to the end because he views as an ongoing story, whereas the rest of his memories are for the most part "over" and in the past. He is still living out his life with them. I would like to know more about the love affair that eventually led to marriage for him, since he goes into such detail about some of his other romances. But maybe he purposely leaves that story to the imagination--he doesn't want to lump it with the other moments in his life; he wants to retain the "specialness" of those moments. Either way, I find his description of love and raising a child beautiful. It's beautiful, and yet not sappy at all. He really found an original, real way of talking about the stuff of Lifetime movies and greeting cards. He was writing in a less commercialized time, granted, but I think this is a testament to his abilities as a skilled writer. I'd like to read more about his life, if he has published another volume of his life.
I find it kind of odd that Nabokov waits until the last chapter to introduce the reader to the "you" that he has been referring to throughout the novel, his wife, but also fitting, too. I guess he leaves the story of his wife and child to the end because he views as an ongoing story, whereas the rest of his memories are for the most part "over" and in the past. He is still living out his life with them. I would like to know more about the love affair that eventually led to marriage for him, since he goes into such detail about some of his other romances. But maybe he purposely leaves that story to the imagination--he doesn't want to lump it with the other moments in his life; he wants to retain the "specialness" of those moments. Either way, I find his description of love and raising a child beautiful. It's beautiful, and yet not sappy at all. He really found an original, real way of talking about the stuff of Lifetime movies and greeting cards. He was writing in a less commercialized time, granted, but I think this is a testament to his abilities as a skilled writer. I'd like to read more about his life, if he has published another volume of his life.
Speak, Memory--Ch. 14
"Across the dark sky of exile, Sirin passed, to use a simile of a more conservative nature, like a meteor, and disappeared, leaving nothing much else behind him than a vague sense of uneasiness." --Vladimir Nabokov, page 288
In this chapter, Nabokov skips from subject to subject, as usual, to lead us into the final chapter of his autobiography. I've admired how well he can look back at the people he has known in his life throughout this whole book--and this sentence is just one more example of that. I really like his memories of other writers and their work, and how he admires them. This is another beautiful metaphor in this piece. I also love the artful way he describes chess in this chapter. I'm sure Sirin would love to read this beautiful summation of himself by Nabokov. I'm hoping that if I keep writing, once I've put some more years behind me, I will also have this gift of looking back and lifting up into art the experiences, people, and places of my life.
In this chapter, Nabokov skips from subject to subject, as usual, to lead us into the final chapter of his autobiography. I've admired how well he can look back at the people he has known in his life throughout this whole book--and this sentence is just one more example of that. I really like his memories of other writers and their work, and how he admires them. This is another beautiful metaphor in this piece. I also love the artful way he describes chess in this chapter. I'm sure Sirin would love to read this beautiful summation of himself by Nabokov. I'm hoping that if I keep writing, once I've put some more years behind me, I will also have this gift of looking back and lifting up into art the experiences, people, and places of my life.
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