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Story Sunday: A History of Violence

February 24th, 2013

Hey, everyone! It’s Story Sunday again and today I’m talking about A History of Violence. This movie came out in 2005 while I was still in high school. Over the years, this movie has really stuck with me. It’s a story that I enjoy.

The plot is a pretty classic idea and one that occurs fairly often in movies in books. The main character, Tom Stall (played by Viggo Mortensen), is a man with a secret past. He lives in a small town, has a family, owns a little diner, and is known as a man of the community. One day, a couple of people try to rob his store at gunpoint. He’s willing to let the money go but can’t stand by as they begin to threaten other people in the diner. Stall kills them, the media puts his face in the news, and his past begins to catch up with him.

One thing that sticks out in my mind is how he kills the men in the diner. It’s a great scene. He kills the men, obviously reveals some experience with a gun, but does so without looking like Jason Bourne. Too often, in a story where the main character has a violent past, the audience is shown someone who looks like they should’ve been hired by the government for their extreme abilities. Tom Stalls violent past involved being a thug of sorts, and as a thug, he’s familiar with weapons and violence but he’s not James Bond.

Does the story work?

Honestly, I think the story works on some very simple levels. The plot itself is straightforward because the focus is truly on the character of Tom Stall. If you don’t expect a plot with lots of twists and turns, I think you’ll really see what the story has to offer through the main character.

Why does it work?

It’s not complex but I don’t think that’s really the point. The issue on display is who we are clashing with who we may have been. The idea of who we really are, who we want to be, and the conflict of opposing identities. Where does Tom really fall in regard to being a person? Is this new identity truly fake or is it who he really is, who he has become?

David Cronenberg’s style of directing and storytelling resonates with me. I’m sure I’ll talk about a few of his other movies on this blog eventually. I’m also a big fan of Viggo Mortensen. I think he’s an amazing actor and brings a lot to this character in this role. Without giving away the ending, I will mention something about it. There’s very little time spent on wrap up. When the conflict ends, the movie ends. Some people didn’t care for this ending but I really liked it. While some things were resolved, issues of identity and forgiveness were left open. An open ending can be annoying, believe me. However, in this case I think it allowed the reader to come to their own conclusions about the characters and the path set before them. Eastern Promises, another Cronenberg movie, has a very similar ending.

Here’s a link to the trailer… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74FdnDxptH4 If you’ve never seen it, I think it’s worth checking out. The movie isn’t for everyone but I enjoyed it and you might too.

Now it’s your turn. What do you think? Have you seen the movie? Have you seen Cronenberg’s other films? Have you seen Mortensen’s other films? When you see a movie or read a book, do you prefer complete closure from an ending?

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WRITING WEDNESDAY: USING PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

February 20th, 2013

Hi, everyone! It’s Writing Wednesday again and this week I’m writing about using personal experience in your stories. I decided to talk about this because it’s something I struggle with. I’ve tried many times and I haven’t really had much success with it. This is one of the reasons that I tend to stay away from writing non-fiction about my own personal experiences. Actually, it’s part of why I was hesitant to start a blog.

Right now, I’m working on a novel that requires me to dig deep into my own life. It’s fiction but I’m drawing a lot from my life. Certain people, places, and situations are inspired by things I was involved in or witnessed a few years ago. However, the story as a whole is fiction and I’ll label it as such. The title of fiction allows me to take creative license with dialogue and situations.

My difficulty with pulling from personal experience usually comes from being too close to the subject matter. Being too close to the subject matter can go in a lot of directions, so today I think I’ll focus on writing about a relationship or friendship. This is what I’m pulling from right now so I can discuss some of the challenges I’ve faced.

The difficulty with writing about something like a relationship is creating tension that brings in the reader. A common mistake when beginning to write a non-fiction piece (or pulling from personal experience for fiction) is something I’ll call “assumed importance.” The subject is important. Why? Because it happened to you. Well, that’s great but it needs to be important to the reader as well. The significance of this moment, day, month, or year needs to be shared with the reader in a way they can make their own.

I’ve worked through this issue a few different ways. The most useful technique has been to write out a whole scene or argument that I can remember. Then I let it sit for a day. When I come back, I put on my fiction glasses (they have googley eye lenses, a miner’s light, and horned, glittered, brimstone rims) and I alter things. I add things to make a point clearer but mostly I cut things. I cut the uninteresting things people tend to say but keep the stuff that sounds natural, as well as interesting. If this is near the beginning of a story, or introducing a new character, I then write down why it’s important. Not why it was important to me, but why it’s important to the narrative as a whole. Then I try to work that in near the beginning as well as I can.

To be honest, working in personal experience, especially relationship troubles with family, friends, or a significant other, takes a lot of work. It can be harder than just making it up because there’s personal attachment. Everything feels important but, in truth, not everything is important. Why do it? Well, I’ve seen people produce some really potent writing when bringing in personal experience. If you can distance yourself from the subject and treat it like a story, you’ll find that you can do the same thing.

By the way, if you’re in a fiction workshop but secretly write a non-fiction story, brace yourself for a difficult workshop. In non-fiction workshops, I’ve encountered a strong sense of respect among writers and certain subject matter. It’s non-fiction, we’re all aware that the things mentioned usually happened near the people writing about it. If you disguise your non-fiction as fiction, people won’t react the same way in a fiction workshop because they assume you’re making it all up. So, for example, if you’re writing about a relative that passed away, your classmates won’t hesitate to tell you that the character may not be relatable or likable. They’re not doing this to be mean (I hope), they’re doing it because they assume the story fiction. I’ve seen this, and things like this, happen many times over the years. It’s always heartbreaking to see someone break down over a situation like that. So that’s my warning, since I’m already talking about personal experience, fiction, and non-fiction.

Also, I should mention something else near the end here. We all drop in personal experience from our lives. Whether it’s internal struggle over doing the right thing, or a fight with a significant other, these things have a way of coming out. What I’ve written today is just about trying to consciously work in large chunks of personal experience into your writing.

Now it’s your turn, do you work personal experience into your own writing? What challenges have you encountered and what techniques do you use to overcome difficulties?

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STORY SUNDAY: SHORT STORIES, NOVELS, AND THE LAST WISH

February 18th, 2013

Hey, everyone! It’s Story Sunday again and today I’m writing about a novel called The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski. I recently took part in a discussion about the differences between short stories and novels. During the discussion, someone asked about short story collections presented as a novel. Sapkowski’s novel follows this format, which led me to look at it again for this week’s Story Sunday.

The Last Wish follows a protagonist known as Geralt, a witcher. The witchers are an order of monster hunters. A witcher is trained from birth to be stronger than normal humans, they’re sterile, and they possess immunity to many different poisons. The idea the witcher order is interesting. Since they take children into the order from birth, the children never have a choice, which can lead to an interesting debate about ethics and necessity.

The book is woven together by chapters called “The Voice of Reason.” These chapters are placed between the short stories. This format establishes “The Voice of Reason” arc as the present, while the other chapters are flashbacks of Geralt’s past encounters with humans and monsters. Ultimately, you spend a lot of time looking back on Geralt’s life, which would normally be discouraged when writing a novel. However, the short story format allows the reader to feel very engaged during these flashbacks, making them an asset.

Does it work as a novel?

Yes, this book absolutely works as a novel. While it’s comprised of short stories, the stories work together to form a narrative. Each story gives the reader a glimpse into Geralt’s past. With each one the reader understands more about the protagonist, the world, the order of witchers.

Why does it work?

I think the main reason this story works has to do with Geralt as a protagonist. If a reader is interested in a protagonist, they don’t mind flashbacks into the character’s past. Furthermore, each short story plays off of an old fairy tale. This links the stories in yet another way. It gives the stories a theme that the reader can hold onto and enjoy while reading. The protagonist and the running theme are enough to tie this novel up.

Another reason I think this works so well has to do with Sapkowski’s world building. I think it’s difficult to write a great fantasy short story because so much of fantasy depends on world building. The audience actually expects world building. Bringing these short stories together unfolds the world little by little. With just one of them, I might not have a firm grasp of the world Sapkowski has created. Together, I understand the world, the character, and how these experiences have influenced one another. They take what was once episodic and bring it together as a whole.

Have you read The Last Wish? Have you read any other short story collections that are presented as a novel?

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WRITING WEDNESDAY: A RIFT AMONG WRITERS!

January 30th, 2013

Hey, everyone, it’s Writing Wednesday again! This week won’t be talking about writing advice. Instead, I want to focus on something I’ve heard a lot about lately. During my residency at SHU, the topic of literary vs. genre fiction came up pretty often. However, the focus wasn’t on what people enjoyed reading. The focus was on how genre writers have been treated in various academic settings. Other students brought up this issue everyday while I was there and I quickly realized that my own experience didn’t match the majority.

If you’re taking part in Seton Hill’s MFA program, you probably came from a school where you received (at least) an undergraduate degree. If you’re like me, your undergraduate experience was probably where you experienced some of your first writing workshops. Now, I know this isn’t true for all SHU students but that was my experience. I enrolled in seventeen writing workshops during my undergraduate career. My background covers fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and screenplay writing, pretty much in that order. When you go to graduate school, you bring your own set of experiences. This doesn’t just mean how many workshops you’ve taken or what your degree is in, but also how your work has been received in the past.

My undergraduate school, Stetson University, was a great place to write. Their creative writing program was relatively small but I never felt boxed in because the professors were incredibly open-minded about writing. I felt encouraged to write literary fiction as well as genre fiction. Their goal focused on writing well, not writing to a specific audience.

Various students shared their experiences with me and I was shocked by what I heard. Apparently, a lot of undergraduate professors won’t even accept genre work. They won’t teach it, they won’t accept it, and they try to stamp it out wherever it appears. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. There’s a pretty big problem with this approach. I’m in a program full of genre writers. I’m in a program with people who have been published and people who will be published in the future. Well, genre writers who feel slighted by their former literary professors may carry those feeling over to literary writers in general. These feelings (on both sides) create an unnecessary rift in the writing community.

My own experience was very different. I wrote what I wanted to, when I wanted to, and everything was received equally. I’m still friends with literary writers and I have nothing bad to say about my undergraduate professors or their creative writing department. A woman in one of my undergraduate workshops went on to get a three book deal shortly after graduation. She wrote, and still writes, genre fiction. Other students in the class went on to publish literary short stories. They had the same peers, the same professors, and the same encouragement from people in the department.

Let’s take a quick look at Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. In short, this is a story about a man and his child trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic setting. Now, I love The Road and spent quite a bit of time studying it for a research paper. During my research I came across various critics arguing about whether or not The Road is genre fiction. Well, it’s post-apocalyptic and that sounds a lot like science fiction to me and other seemed to think so as well. However, many critics claimed that there was a lack of other science fiction elements. They also argued that the writing style belonged to literary fiction. Everyone is right. The Road is literary science fiction and I think it’s an absolutely great piece of writing. Obviously, I’m not the only one.

The simple truth is that genre fiction and literary fiction aren’t going anywhere. Creating animosity, holding onto animosity, and poking each other with sticks won’t actually accomplish anything. If someone keeps a talented writer out of their classroom, they’ve only succeeded in telling me that they like to put personal preference above creative productivity. Let’s not do that. Instead, let’s write, write well, and give each other a pat on the back when we accomplish that goal.

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