I had a thought that interested me just now:
Just because writing has a bit more commercial possibilities than "painting," it is still a form of art. Fiction writing is in the Art department of a lot of Universities, not the English department. There is no real answer to a lot of questions about what the "correct" way to do something is. As a writer becomes more confident and mature, he/she is able to make better professional judgments regarding his/her work. A 16 year old trying to write a first novel after having written only a few English essays and a few poems and maybe a short story may need more "absolute" rules than a mature veteran who has been around the world, had many experiences and has written 30 books.
Each writer eventually creates a core theory regarding what he or she writes. I think that it has to do with your world view. Mailer saw the world as a cold cruel place and showed the hairy monkey for what it was. Some others may be interested in a more refined and joyful place. Although we say that stories come from our heads and hearts when it comes to actually writing them we back off, and ask experts what is "right." I went through years of writers block and plain disinterest in writing because I became worried about the "secret formula for success." Frankly, you do not know if your writing will sell or not until you have it together enough to finish the work, and then show it to publishing houses.
Jumping on the bandwagon is not going to help. Adjective free writing and Little Boy Wizards will be next years Avocado refrigerator. You have to do your own stuff, because you don't know if you will be the hot new property or not. (Hey, in the 50's and 60's multiple adjectives were in, not out).
Just like a painter, you find your place, hone your skills, work in silence with no certainty that your vision will create interest, and then you unveil it and take the good criticism with the bad. I feel that all writers should have develop a personal world view and also a "artist's statement." I'm like Mailer in a way. The world is not a nice place. My work tends to be a bit gamy, and characters are always on a balancing beam to reflect that thought that anyone had the capability to become perverse and to reject the rules-- you never know which way they will fall. I believe in chaos, where as others might believe in an orderly world.
Creation is a messy business, you grow and change as much as your characters.
I think everything in your writing reflects this world view. Just your choice of subjects-- something as simple as that, or the way your characters talk, what they say and don't say.
So what is your view? Have you developed an Artists Statement, or thought about it? Is your world view reflected in your books? Is your fiction the creation of an artist, or an employee?
Oh, I'm adding that a lot of these people who scare young writers are public school teachers, and often either failed novelists, or people who have never finished a novel at all. I wouldn't take writing advice from a no child left behind generation teacher.
Just because writing has a bit more commercial possibilities than "painting," it is still a form of art. Fiction writing is in the Art department of a lot of Universities, not the English department. There is no real answer to a lot of questions about what the "correct" way to do something is. As a writer becomes more confident and mature, he/she is able to make better professional judgments regarding his/her work. A 16 year old trying to write a first novel after having written only a few English essays and a few poems and maybe a short story may need more "absolute" rules than a mature veteran who has been around the world, had many experiences and has written 30 books.
Each writer eventually creates a core theory regarding what he or she writes. I think that it has to do with your world view. Mailer saw the world as a cold cruel place and showed the hairy monkey for what it was. Some others may be interested in a more refined and joyful place. Although we say that stories come from our heads and hearts when it comes to actually writing them we back off, and ask experts what is "right." I went through years of writers block and plain disinterest in writing because I became worried about the "secret formula for success." Frankly, you do not know if your writing will sell or not until you have it together enough to finish the work, and then show it to publishing houses.
Jumping on the bandwagon is not going to help. Adjective free writing and Little Boy Wizards will be next years Avocado refrigerator. You have to do your own stuff, because you don't know if you will be the hot new property or not. (Hey, in the 50's and 60's multiple adjectives were in, not out).
Just like a painter, you find your place, hone your skills, work in silence with no certainty that your vision will create interest, and then you unveil it and take the good criticism with the bad. I feel that all writers should have develop a personal world view and also a "artist's statement." I'm like Mailer in a way. The world is not a nice place. My work tends to be a bit gamy, and characters are always on a balancing beam to reflect that thought that anyone had the capability to become perverse and to reject the rules-- you never know which way they will fall. I believe in chaos, where as others might believe in an orderly world.
Creation is a messy business, you grow and change as much as your characters.
I think everything in your writing reflects this world view. Just your choice of subjects-- something as simple as that, or the way your characters talk, what they say and don't say.
So what is your view? Have you developed an Artists Statement, or thought about it? Is your world view reflected in your books? Is your fiction the creation of an artist, or an employee?
Oh, I'm adding that a lot of these people who scare young writers are public school teachers, and often either failed novelists, or people who have never finished a novel at all. I wouldn't take writing advice from a no child left behind generation teacher.
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