Last night I published a flash fiction story, Letting the Dream Go, on Associated Content. The story was part of a contest they’re running in which I had to choose from three opening sentences to launch the story. In essence, it’s a story about grieving the loss of love. Enjoy!
Back in 2002, I bought a copy of Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway. I keep asking myself why. I have no interest in bullfighting - even less now that I’ve read it. The only answer I have is that I was interested in studying Hemingway’s writing style. I also bought and read The Sun Also Rises for the same reason. I enjoyed reading The Sun Also Rises. Death in the Afternoon ignited a love/hate response in me.
I couldn’t stop reading Death in the Afternoon, but there were parts of it I really didn’t like. There were times the prose was difficult to follow. Other times the redundancy annoyed me. There were times the graphic detail disgusted me - inevitably it seemed like I’d hit a graphic point just as I sat down to eat. Still I pushed on. I was studying a “master” after all. It was like taking a class. There were parts that were fascinating and enlightening. Overall, the book was really interesting. I’m glad I read it.
A few things struck me. The publishing world, readers’ expectations, and writers styles have changed a lot since this book was written in the 1930s. I honestly doubt this manuscript would find a publisher today if submitted as is, but that’s a related but different topic.
Writers read other writers’ books both from love of the written word and to study writing techniques. I’ve read several books, both fiction and nonfiction, as research. I’m not talking about the writing books that I’ve read. I’m talking about mysteries, mainstream fiction, historical fiction, and nonfiction books covering topics like psychology, sociology, and just about any topic I need to know more about to write a book or to enhance my writing in general. Sometimes I forget I’m reading for research and really begin to enjoy the book. Other times, it’s the knowledge I’m seeking to gain that drives me to continue reading. Either way, reading for research is simply part of my job.
Last year I read Chris Bohjalian’s The Double Bind after an agent recommended it as a book to read to study tecnhique in relationship to a manuscript I discussed with her at Murder in the Grove. I started the book very studiously paying great attention to the technique used. As it turned out, the technique wasn’t particularly helpful in regards to my book, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book. So much so, at some point I forgot I was supposed to be studying it and just went along for the ride.
When I read books for fun, I often find myself dissecting them. If I like it, I look for what works about it. I look at language, technique, and atmosphere. If I don’t like a book, I try to figure out why. Is it just a story that doesn’t appeal to me? Is there something about the characters I don’t like? Does the writing flow well? Are there points of bad grammar that distract from the story, especially if they’re not essential to the plot? Occasionally, I just don’t like a book and never can figure out why. This happened to me last winter. I read the entire book, Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel, trying to figure out why I didn’t like it. It never redeemed itself though about 2/3 of the way through I thought it might, but that only lasted for a couple of pages. This was a book I started reading for pleasure but as I realized I didn’t like it, I felt an intense desire to know why. I still can’t give a reason why I didn’t like it. Someone else may read this book and love it.
One of the pieces of advice writers are always given by authors is to Read, Read, Read. A bit like Location, Location, Location. And, there is some truth to this. You learn a lot by reading other authors - both what to do and what not to do. Reading enhances my writing, but I have to be careful not to get so caught up in reading that I don’t have time to write. I love books whether writing or reading them. Often when I really get into a piece of fiction I’m writing, I won’t read fiction for months. When I finally pick up a good novel after that break, it’s always refreshing and often inspires me to get back to my own work.
Readers, read books by authors you love and don’t forget to try a new author from time to time. Writers, read books to enhance your writing. After all, it is part of the job description.
Writers have a particular responsibility to use words well. They need to apply wisdom and knowledge to their use of words. Writers will sometimes use labels to convey a message but that’s rarely acceptable. Characters are more than the labels assigned them. They are rich and diverse. A well written novel or story will provide everything the reader needs to know about someone without ever applying a label. People, in real life, are much more interesting than the labels we apply them. Characters should be as well. I started thinking about the use of labels in America today.
We apply labels to things every day, both good and bad. We look for “brand” name clothes to find quality, or at least spend more money. We label things we like as good and things we dislike as bad. We label people based on skin color, ethnicity, religion, politics, and their occupations among other things. Labels are often misleading or twisted to mean something that will polarize a position. Let’s take two words we hear every day on the news, liberal and conservative. Liberal literally means “favorable to progress or reform.” The literal definition of conservative is “disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc. or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.”
Neither sounds as terrible as they do when pundits spew them on television, so I read more. Liberal also means “pertaining to, based on, or having views or policies advocating individual freedom of action and expression” and “free from prejudice or bigotry: tolerant.” Further definitions of conservative include “traditional in style or manner, avoiding novelty or showiness.”
Adhering to these definitions, most people are probably both more liberal and more conservative than they admit publicly or readily.
Few conservatives would eliminate all modern advances to preserve the traditions of old. Few liberals want to abandon all traditional values. There are conservatives who are free from bigotry, and there are liberals who aren’t.
These one size fits all labels no longer work in today’s world. I’m not sure they ever really did. Change is here, always has been, always will be. Change does not have to mean abandoning tradition.
The conservative point of view encourages respect for the past. The liberal point of view moves us toward our full potential. Neither is right. Neither is wrong. In fact, they need one another.
The hypocrisy of both sides misrepresenting each other and fighting is more akin to playground bullies fighting over territory than it is to adults trying to solve the huge problems our country faces. Saying something is right when your side presents an idea means it can’t suddenly be the wrong idea when the other side presents essentially the same idea. Let’s get real, folks, it’s all recorded. Do people really think no one is going to pull out their hypocrisy and play it for the world?
It’s time to stop with the venom and create a situation where things can get done.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could put a group of people in a room without a “liberal” or “conservative” agenda to live up to and see if they could come to an agreement on how to solve some of the problems the United States faces today? Wouldn’t it be nice if those same people were more interested in serving the American people and their needs and less interested in keeping lobbyists happy? Everyone is more worried about using the right words to get re-elected than in taking the right action and risking… Honestly, I’m not sure what they would be risking by actually accomplishing something that helps the country and the citizens of the country. There seems to be a struggle against letting something good happen when the other is “in power”. Huh? Is this really what we’ve come to in this country? We’re more worried about adhering to a label and being given credit than about doing the right thing for the country?
Whether you consider yourself liberal or conservative, I challenge you to stop the next time you hear something and ask yourself a few questions.
We would accomplish so much more in the United States if we got over bashing each other based on labels like conservative and liberal, Republican and Democrat, black and white, etc. But bashing sells, so I doubt our news commentators, our political pundits, our politicians, or their bosses would be willing to resort to reporting the facts and letting the American people make up their own minds. Instead, they insult the American people’s intelligence by telling us what we’re supposed to think even if they have to misconstrue the truth or outright lie to do it.
Sadly, most of us don’t even bother to be offended anymore.