Friday
Apr232010
I Think I'm Missing Something
Friday, April 23, 2010 at 02:19AM
No, I know I am. Or rather, I'm on the verge of a massive novel breakthrough. Something that's a progression of Scarlet and a natural product of the environment I'm working in, and also yet a continuation of one of my greatest intellectual curiosities.
So I'm going to talk it out, bitches.
One of the things that I was testing out with Scarlet was the idea of creating character through language. Essentially, the way we speak defines us because it instantly expresses our culture, typically our socio-economic background, the references we find important and our touch points for "good" and "bad". Writers have long been fascinated with defining cultural reference points through the character's use of swear words-- "By the Goddess!" instead of "Oh my God!", or like Scarlet is wont to proclaim, "Christ's bones!" instead of "Jesus Christ!". In the first example, we instantly know that we're not in Kansas anymore. If it's a modern religion, it would have to be possibly Greek or India, most likely from a polytheistic culture because (I believe), with the exception of Wicca recognizing "Mother Earth", there are no sole goddess figures in the contemporary understanding of religion.
Which, on a side note, sucks.
In the second example, I was striving to show that Scarlet was definitely Christian, but Christian through a very plebeian experience. Peasants often flocked to churches that had saintly reliquaries, like their bones, and considered them personal talismans or sources of religious connection.
Anyway, language defines character. But working where I work, there's a huuuge emphasis placed on atmosphere defining culture, especially the sensory experience dictating a cultural experience. It's about total immersion, and defining the world around you not in a visual way, but in a sensory way.
Which, frankly, is damn literary. You can see why I love my job.
But I think that these two should be combining, coming together somehow, in my writing. It just lacks a concept. And of the two stories that I'm loosely working on, one is about the sensory experience of the water, but it's not coming off right. Everything is hackneyed somehow. Something is just not gutsy or original. Something's not working.
The other story is about this weird mystery involving jewelry, and I just don't know how I could commit fully to it. Especially because it's a contemporary story; I'm thinking maybe it shouldn't be contemporary? Basically part of the story references WW2 Europe, but I am woefully unqualified/pretty uninterested in writing about that time. I don't think I have anything to offer it.
Maybe not though. I mean, it certainly wouldn't be like on the beaches at Normandy type stuff (that is WW2 right? I'm terrible with the WWs) but maybe it would be in some place that I haven't considered yet. Some place the war skirted but didn't fully lance through.
HMMMMMMM.......actually that might be kind of inspiring.
So I'm going to talk it out, bitches.
One of the things that I was testing out with Scarlet was the idea of creating character through language. Essentially, the way we speak defines us because it instantly expresses our culture, typically our socio-economic background, the references we find important and our touch points for "good" and "bad". Writers have long been fascinated with defining cultural reference points through the character's use of swear words-- "By the Goddess!" instead of "Oh my God!", or like Scarlet is wont to proclaim, "Christ's bones!" instead of "Jesus Christ!". In the first example, we instantly know that we're not in Kansas anymore. If it's a modern religion, it would have to be possibly Greek or India, most likely from a polytheistic culture because (I believe), with the exception of Wicca recognizing "Mother Earth", there are no sole goddess figures in the contemporary understanding of religion.
Which, on a side note, sucks.
In the second example, I was striving to show that Scarlet was definitely Christian, but Christian through a very plebeian experience. Peasants often flocked to churches that had saintly reliquaries, like their bones, and considered them personal talismans or sources of religious connection.
Anyway, language defines character. But working where I work, there's a huuuge emphasis placed on atmosphere defining culture, especially the sensory experience dictating a cultural experience. It's about total immersion, and defining the world around you not in a visual way, but in a sensory way.
Which, frankly, is damn literary. You can see why I love my job.
But I think that these two should be combining, coming together somehow, in my writing. It just lacks a concept. And of the two stories that I'm loosely working on, one is about the sensory experience of the water, but it's not coming off right. Everything is hackneyed somehow. Something is just not gutsy or original. Something's not working.
The other story is about this weird mystery involving jewelry, and I just don't know how I could commit fully to it. Especially because it's a contemporary story; I'm thinking maybe it shouldn't be contemporary? Basically part of the story references WW2 Europe, but I am woefully unqualified/pretty uninterested in writing about that time. I don't think I have anything to offer it.
Maybe not though. I mean, it certainly wouldn't be like on the beaches at Normandy type stuff (that is WW2 right? I'm terrible with the WWs) but maybe it would be in some place that I haven't considered yet. Some place the war skirted but didn't fully lance through.
HMMMMMMM.......actually that might be kind of inspiring.
tagged Writing, character, sensory experience, voice in Life, Novels, Work, Writing, Young Adult Fiction
Writing, character, sensory experience, voice in Life, Novels, Work, Writing, Young Adult Fiction
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