[stylist] More things to ponder

[Ashley Bramlett]

Bridgit,
all good points. I believe we need to either experience the emotions we
write about or research the scene and emotions.
So, if you write about divorce but are married, talk to those who are
divorced.
Also, imagining your reactions to some events is a good idea as another
lister suggested.

Hadn't heard  of method acting; good idea for actors though so they can
learn how certain people act in those situations.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 7:56 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
Message-ID:

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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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