[stylist] More things to ponder

Jacobson, Shawn D Shawn.D.Jacobson at hud.gov
Wed Dec 12 18:56:42 UTC 2012


Jackie

Thanks for sharing, and that is an interesting (kind of scary) question to ponder.

Shawn

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jacqueline Williams
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 1:47 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] More things to ponder

Bridget,
Yes, you have started a good discussion.
Consider a rather off beat scenario. A sociopath can mimic true feelings without really feeling anything. Some serial rapists have mimicked very trustworthy and high-minded people and have fooled all of their targets.
Are some of our best writers who have never experienced that about which they write, sociopaths? 
Perhaps the human psyche has the ability to mimic anything even if honest and true.
At any rate, I am attaching a poem I wrote when still recovering from the battering from the man I lived with for four years. He passed  a polygraph test, It turned out he was a felon, at which time I started my research on all kinds of scenarios concerning the development of sociopaths.
Kind of makes me wonder how many writers hop over the line!
Oh, well, just something more to ponder!
Jackie 

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 5:57 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] More things to ponder

Amber,

Thank you for your thoughtful comments. I'm not seeking advice for a particular situation or anything involving personal writing. I had posted the Thoreau quote to spark discussion on the list. The post you have commented on here was just my way of challenging more thoughts on the subject. To truly learn, I think we need to consider multiple points of view and ponder on differing opinions. In a nutshell, be open-minded, grin.

And to add to your thoughts... One of my all-time favorite novels is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Bronte was an unmarried recluse, and yet she writes this beautiful novel about a tumultuous, dysfunctional relationship. It's full of drama and life and pain. It's considered one of the best written novels of all-time. And keep in mind this was written long before information was readily accessible to all people.
Research, of the kind many writers rely on nowadays, was simply not available back then.

Switching sides though... Consider method acting. Method acting is a contemporary form of acting many actors practice nowadays where one literally places themselves into a situation in order to convey a character realistically. For instance, an actor playing a drug addict may speak to addicts and those who work with addicts in order to drawn upon real experiences. In the film Blue Valentine, the two leads lived together for a couple of months in order to depict a couple on the screen. Some feel the same about writing.

Now some actors take it too far such as a young actor in the film Lawless. To portray a druggie, he actually took LSD and other drugs to personally understand what being on LSD feels like. I think this is taking it too far just to depict a person or emotion whether you are an actor or writer.

Hunter S. Thompson intentionally sought "experiences" in order to write about them. This, in my opinion, seems to be manufacturing experiences as opposed to letting them happen naturally. Thompson's writing is really good, but he was purposeful in seeking out people and situations in order to write about them.

To put yet another spin on it, think about war correspondents. Can a journalist accurately portray the devastation of war if not at the frontline?

So how does any of this relate to creative writing and how we convey stories?

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter, editor, Slate & Style Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world."
C. S. Lewis

Message: 5
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:12:05 -0500
From: "Herrin, Amber" <herrinar at muohio.edu>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Something to ponder
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Hello Bridgit,

I am not the ultimate authority on this-but I personally do not believe anyone is.  Keeping that in mind, here is what I believe:

While you may not know what something feels like, you can certainly try to imagine yourself in the position you are trying to write about.  Set the sceen inside your head and ponder it.  Really allow yourself to imagine that this is what you are facing.  Then write down how that makes you feel.  This is just a basic idea of the feelings that are possibly linked to this experience, because it was only pretend, after all.  So the next step would be to research.  Even after you research, though, since people are...well...human (no getting around that one is
there?) And each of us are unique, how we react (or fail to react) to various situations cannot be dictated by a 'what if?' or 'supppose that...'

What I mean is that I believe that you can write about it realistically enough to pass off a storyline as long as you do actually do the research needed to present a full picture, because no one would question as long as it seems sincere.

If, for example, you are writing about the loss of a loved one and you are writing about the reactions of a teen-aged child, there would be a little leeway in what is expected because children will be children, and their reactions to any situation-dire or not-are going to cover a wide range of possibilities.

On the other hand, if you write that the child was running around the funeral home pretending nothing was amiss, I suspect that someone would question the quality of your writing or research.

I think it would be a little easier to talk about the situation if I knew what you were trying to set the sceen for.

Hope this helps,

Amber


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