rm | LJ IDOL: thoughts on writing

So, I've been reading LJ Idol entries, and I've been seeing a strong desire from people to really tell stories, but a lot of people who either don't really know how or have been given some really bad advice in the past.

Now, this list of advice may not be the best either, because afterall, we're talking about a subjective thing. And my credentials as a storyteller are in many ways mediocre. However, I have published fiction, non-fiction, poetry and journalism. And I'm a performer. I have a lot of flaws as a writer and a person, but I was well educated and do know how to hold someone's attention, so here's some stuff you may want to consider.

Don't be cute.
This is not a college admissions essay. You're not going to get extra points for writing on tree bark or thinking of adjectives that start with each letter in your name. It's not as original as you think, and it's not as cute. It's trite, jejune, and distracting.

Know where to start.
You don't have to start at the beginning. In fact, sometimes it's best to start at the end or in medias res. Sometimes, you have to start before the beginning. But you have to choose a place to start and you have to choose a reason for it. Rephrasing the question, although I know you were told to do that in some sixth-grade essay writing class, IS A SHITTY, BORING PLACE TO START. It immediately identifies your writing as amateurish and removes the power from the story you're going to tell. If you have to do this to get going, fine, but chop that shit off before you post.

Be strong.
Storytelling is an act of proclaiming your existence. It is an act of prayer, of remembrance, of hope, of fury, of claiming. Regardless of the tonal quality you choose and the type of story you are telling, tell it with conviction and certitude. Among other things, be careful of over qualifying or mitigating your words and beliefs - "It sort of seemed like", "Maybe I thought at the time", etc. These constructions have their places, but you must use them deliberately and not as apologies for choosing to be a storyteller. There's a huge difference between "My mother never loved me" and "Sometimes, I thought my mother never loved me." Know which one you mean and use it, unapologetically. The fact is, whether you remind us this is just your opinion or memory or not, the reader knows that, so why weaken your position for any reason other than intentional art?

Know which details matter.
One or two key, trivial and possibly irrelevant details per character (this can include inanimate objects) in the story, tends to work really really well. Too much description can bog you down and causes the reader not to know what to focus on. When you meet a person face to face you immediately seize on something -- the shape of their jaw, the curve of an eyebrow, a crooked smile. Too many details and the reader doesn't know what to seize on. Choose carefully. Help them love or loathe.

Remember that there is magic in the world.
One of the things that really struck me about the response to my LJ Idol story about Chicago is how much people seemed to be saying that nothing like this had ever happened to them. I don't think this is true. The world is full of magic and serendipity, the hand of God, the mathematical beauty of coincidence. Find it. Use it. Believe in it. Even a day climbing a tree by yourself can be made into a day where you were chosen the strange master of a certain private earth. Find that power, and in telling the story, loan it to your reader.

Skill matters.
There are two ways to be defiant about lack of skill in writing, or really, anything else. One involves telling your audience, "tough, this is how it is" and/or apologizing for it. The other involves not drawing irrelevant attention to your flaws (self-perceived or otherwise) and working on them. There's this real tendency, particularly in America, for people to be defiant about their lack of education, training and skill in communication and writing, and to be frank, I find it tacky. Defy it by working at it, but unless that's the very story you're telling, I don't want to hear about it.

CADENCE.
Words have rhythm, sound and shape. So does life. Walking, dancing, traffic, sex, flight, anger, frustration, sport, politics -- everything has a pace, a speed, an internal syncopation, a heartbeat, a cant, a turn, a rasp. Think about how your story sounds aloud, how it feels to listen to, how it feels to speak. If it feels good to you, it's going to feel good to your reader, and even the stories of the most terrible things we read for a feeling, for a sensation, for a hush, for a visit to foreign flesh and soil. Find your beat. Then make the act of reading your story change mine.

Finish deliberately.
Sometimes this is a punchline, sometimes the whisp of a haunted heart. But make sure, at least for a moment, that the reader feels like they will never, ever forget what you just told them. Whatever you do, don't trail off in a ramble or apology or with a lack of any conclusive point, focus or emotion.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

jennieknits.livejournal.com

These constructions have their places, but you must use them deliberately and not as apologies for choosing to be a storyteller.

Reminds me of auditions. "Thank you" has it's place, but not as an apology for taking up the director's time, and not as an "Okay, I'm done" statement. :)

I'll have to take another look at this a little later when I have more time to really read it.

From:

lawnrrd

You said "jejune"!

From:

spiralflames.livejournal.com

nobody really SAYS 'jejune', do they? write it, maybe, and only when one can get away with it..

(which she did :-D)

a devotion to vanishing things

LJ IDOL: thoughts on writing

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