"There is only one type of story in the world - your story." ~ Ray Bradbury
Dennis Palumbo opens the second section* discussing the above quote by Ray Bradbury. I'd love to know what people think of it.
Palumbo uses it to illustrate a particular point - that despite all the how-to books, all the conferences, workshops, classes, tapes, etc., when all is said and done, YOU have to write YOUR story.He uses a really interesting story of a young man in one of his classes who had obvious talent, but whose writing was falling flat. He asked the man to retell the scene as if he were the protagonist instead of his fictional character. Palumbo says the story came alive - it was gripping, funny, scary - it reflected the man in a way his previous writing had not. He had been trying to write too much like he thought he had to.
Palumbo's point - which refers back to Bradbury's quote - is that all writing is autobiographical. What you choose to write about, what perspective you write from, what you include, what you leave out, your world view, your experiences and feelings - all is reflected in your writing. Palumbo suggests that to make your writing unique and powerful, you need to embrace that, not fight it.
Mine your life to enrich your writing.
The title of the chapter is Simple, but Not Easy because he says the concept is simple but it's not an easy one for us to accept or explore, hence the growth industry of "how-to-write" media.
He promises it's worth it to get out of the way of your own writing and let yourself emerge through your writing. "Getting out of your won way means being with who you are, moment to moment, whether you like it or not. And then being with your liking or not liking it, and writing from that place." (p. 48)
Sounds like a good challenge. Anyone have any experiences or thoughts about writing like that?
*Part of an ongoing series discussing Dennis Palumbo's Writing From the Inside Out (Transforming Your Psychological Blocks to Release the Writer Within).
I loved this -- and believe it is completely true. Sometimes, the rules have to be broken. Jenny Bent just did a piece on this from the perspective of submissions, but it is true of writing. The trick is, I think, that you have to know the rules to know when and how it is appropriate to break them to say what you need to say the most effectively.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the food for thought. I hope you don't mind if we include this in our Friday round-up of best articles for writers this week.
Martina
I know what you mean about getting out of your own way. Sometimes I have to write a lot of 1st person, to get into the "role" of a character, before I can write it in 3rd person and still retain the voice.
ReplyDeleteI've often heard that a writer should never go to school, or take classes, to learn to "write." That in doing so, they somehow lose their voice, they lose their own authenticity that they bring to the page. It makes sense that if we're focusing so much on the technicalities of the craft, we're not focusing on our hearts, our feelings. I guess the technical edits can come afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI love that quote from Bradbury - and the Palumbo book. Both are so empowering and thought-provoking.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, it almost scares me how much my fiction is "raw Michelle". It can make me feel exposed - though I could always just smile/laugh and say it's fiction if anyone challenged me on it. My Writing buddies (to echo a previous post) get it and me and that's so wonderful.
Martina, I agree. There's a huge difference between breaking rules out of ignorance of them and breaking them as a creative choice. I'd be honored to be included in your list.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I haven't tried that. It sure worked for the guy in the the book. In the beginning stage, I tend to write almost as a conversation with myself. Things like - "Maybe I could have him do this." or "I have to remember that in this scene she's thinking of..." I find that gets me over many of my fears.
Joanne, I think that's what burned me out on writing a few years back. I was so focused on craft that I lost my love of story.
ReplyDeleteHey Michelle, just think, all this time you've been writing "raw Michelle" you've been doing what people pay mega dollars for him to tell them to do. (And that's a sentence any writer should be proud of, no? :) )
My best writing buddy really gets me too. We had a marathon phone session on Saturday and at the end we were talking about how we work so well together because even though we have different styles, we get and respect each other as writers.
Thanks for stopping by.
In my evolution as a writer I've gone from pure writing joy with complete ignorance, to learning everything about craft I could, but worrying too much as I wrote. And now, I'm trying to swing back to the middle somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI've learned a lot of valuable craft lessons, but I need to be able to turn off that editor sometimes and just enjoy the process again.
Another great post, Mary.