Do We Write to Entertain, or to Challenge?
Some stories are meant to be rough roads.
Don’t apologize for them.
I love writing workshops. I’m an unashamed supporter of them; they give us accountability, which is what really helps me turn out work, and they give us fellow writers to talk writing with. I could go on all day about writing workshops, and I’ve written about them a lot in the past.
That said, workshops aren’t perfect. One problem with them is that they tend to encourage a certain kind of writing. The readers and students in a workshop have a lot on their plates; they tend to support the stories that are the most sensational or entertaining. They would rather smooth out all the interesting rough edges of an experimental or heavy work, and laugh or be pulled in by the sure entertainment of a page-turner.
Nothing’s wrong with writing entertainingly; I’m all for it! But it does mean that other kinds of work have a harder time surviving. Some writing is designed to give the reader a rollicking good time; some is designed to ask tough questions, to challenge us as readers and as people, and to take us on spiritual or emotional journeys. These books are not always the easiest to read, or the best-suited for breaking into digestible, workshop-sized pieces. But that doesn’t make the writing any less necessary.
After the jump: choosing what your story will do.
What Do You Want Your Story to Do?
If an author’s goal is blurry, the story will suffer. We as readers will feel confused if the story is half-joking, half-serious, or seems to accuse us at one point and be in cahoots with us at another. You the writer must ask yourself some tough questions: do you want to push the envelope of style? Raise difficult political issues? Challenge established religious ideas? If so, you may have a very heavy, intense piece of writing ahead of you. Prepare accordingly!
What Kind of Writer Are You?
This is the difficult judgment writers must make — they must decide what they want to write. That doesn’t mean crafting an elevator pitch for yourself or deciding what blurbs will be on your book jackets; it means deciding whether you want to push the reader, deconstruct things, soothe the reader and provide a balm, enliven a feeling of nostalgia and shared experience, make the reader laugh — or all of the above. Your writing will be special in one way if you focus on sharpening and honing it, but it won’t be special at all if you try to do everything at once, or pander to what you think your audience wants. Too much now, there is a divide between reading as entertainment (often looked down upon) and reading as intellectual exercise (often too divorced from the pleasures of reading). If you’re going to be tough on your reader, don’t be apologetic about it! Don’t compromise the principles of your story by throwing in cheap entertainment just because you think you need it.
Query: WHERE are all those people who opined on the topic of ‘Talent: Needed or Not?’ several days back? Was that printed as a ‘Guest Blog’ on another site & that’s why tons of new people showed up?
If not–start writing in, you slugs. I’ve said it before. BLH does NOT deserve to come home to an empty Comment Section. It’s a lot of work to keep this site fun & you guys aren’t pulling your load. So to speak.
Addressing the topic: I did not hit my writing ‘groove’ until I wrote to entertain, or to challenge, ME. I thrashed around, first writing stories based really close to events from my own life. I thought I could write only about ‘what I knew.’
These efforts blew.
Then, I got some writing books that gave lists of characters & places. I was to pick 2 characters, a situation & go. These stories came out a lot better. Still, they were straight ‘drama’ style stories. I actually cranked out 2 handwritten novels that were not half bad. I still may work with them.
However, one night, I picked up my boyfriend’s never-read copy of the King James Bible. I was raised Catholic & new a lot of Bible history but from the RC Bible. I became intrigued by the Olde English phrasing & got an idea.
I am rewriting the story of Jesus & putting back in all the funny bits. I’d put an italicized quote from one of the 4 Gospels, then run with it. I kept pounding away while laughing my fool head off. Hours passed & I didn’t notice.
These have been my best efforts to date. The ease with which my mind spun ever more imaginative situations & funny dialogue amazed me.
I believe YOU must enjoy your writing if others are ever to do so.
Recently, I got together with a friend who was the lead guitarist in a band I fronted as singer 20 years ago. We were blues/rock then, but now he is totally bluegrass-traditional.
He asked if I’d sing with him & I agreed.
He sent me some songs to consider & I sent some to him. He liked one of my choices. I hated all of his, always due to the insipid words.
He is so picky about songs that I threw up my hands & decided it would be easier to write one myself, shaping it to his (many) requirements.
I hummed a melody into a handheld recorder, then set about writing lyrics.
Thanks to all my writing practice, I dashed off the lyrics in a day. I made some improvements the next day & may make more, of course–BUT I LIKE THE WORDS! And my friend said he’d be “proud!” to add the music back-up.
This means we’ll be doing ORIGINAL material for the first time ever & it is all because I’ve been writing so much.
20 years ago, I had no belief in my ability or ample practice at putting pen to paper. Now I do. And I think my big breakthrough was when I began writing to please myself, first & foremost.
Thanks, BLH, for all the help YOU have given me, too!
L&K, MaryB