I don't write a whole lot about the fact that I am a writer, because it seems self-indulgent and kinda creepy, but every so often I read something and get really inspired.
A few weeks ago, I finished a novel so huge and heavy that I had to prop it on a pillow to read it. I had not read a lot of Stephen King's books, but several of them were really enjoyable. I recently joined a book club, and soI read 11/22/63. Then I missed the meeting, because it was a day after I got out of the hospital, but so be it. I am still really glad I read it.
This New York Times intervew of the entire King family is a long read, but if you are interested in King, or in writing in general, you will likely enjoy it.
What the article reminded me is that what turns on a writer of fiction is the notion of story. You may think that's too simplistic. Fine. But it's true.
All writing is about STORY.
I was trying to help a client recently and we got into an argument about this very thing. If you communicate with a lot of terminology that's not immediately accessible to your audience, your story is lost. I don't care if it's a 250 word blog post or a 500 page novel, the goal is to communicate.
When I was in graduate school I was pretty unpopular with the professors because I steadfastly maintained that telling a story shrouded in obscure or incomprehensible language was simply wrong and I wanted no part of it. So when I took a course on Wallace Stevens I clashed a lot with the professor. He thought Stevens was brilliant. I thought he failed to communicate clearly or meaningfully.
Here's an example:
Anecdote of the Jar
By Wallace Stevens
I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.
The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.
It took dominion every where.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.
It still amazes me that we spent 2 or 3 class periods endlessly discussing that poem. I had the thought that if I set my hair on fire it would have been more fun. Certainly would've helped me stay awake.
My refusal to worship Stevens was just one of the many indicators that told me I should not pursue a Ph.D. - well, and the fact that I couldn't afford the tuition. I am pretty glad now I didn't even try, because I couldn't deal with the politics of a university. I had an uncle who taught at a small college for many years, and I know something of that world.
Anyway, I am not a literary snob. I am also not a rube. The fact that I firmly believe that the function of all writing is to communicate clearly, and/or to tell stories, is viewed as immature by a lot of highly educated folks.
What I also find irritating is that teachers don't take the time to teach kids how to write. Teach them how to do research and WRITE. It will be the best preparation you can give them for life. When I was a sophomore at Farragut High School, I had to write a well-researched and footnoted research paper. It was the main focus of the sophomore year. I viewed it as a huge headache and resented it. However, I realized much later how valuable it was. [My paper, BTW, was about female spies during the Civil War.] No other class was as valuable to me once I got to college.
If you want to communicate something and have it remembered, you need to tell a story.You also need to use language that's clear.
When I was trying to help Michael with Biology last year, we found that finding well-crafted videos on YouTube about the topic was a great way to help him learn. Just spewing out information in a textbook doesn't help a child remember. STORIES are the way to go, even if it's seemingly silly, like Phoebe the Photosynthesis Shirker.
I am not alone in this belief in the power of stories. This article, The Science of Storytelling explains it well:
"We know that we can activate our brains better if we listen to stories. The still unanswered question is: Why is that? Why does the format of a story, where events unfold one after the other, have such a profound impact on our learning?
The simple answer is this: We are wired that way. A story, if broken down into the simplest form, is a connection of cause and effect. And that is exactly how we think. We think in narratives all day long, no matter if it is about buying groceries, whether we think about work or our spouse at home. We make up (short) stories in our heads for every action and conversation."
When I finished college, I got an ear infection the day I was supposed to be packed up and driving home. I had rented a huge Uhaul trailer and loaded all my old furniture from my little apartment into it, and I was trying to finish cleaning out the place, and my ear started throbbing. My dad was able to come to Athens with a friend, and drive me home, for about 6 hours. My ear was killing me, it was 100 degrees outside in an un-air conditioned car, and I needed to be distracted. So he told me stories, all the way home.
It was one of the most terrible days of my life, and conversely one of the best days of my life. Thank God my father was a great storyteller.
When I was pondering all the issues that might arise after I adopted my son, I realized that I wanted to tell him a story about what it was like to live in an American family. Thus, I wrote Jack's New Family, so he would have a better understanding. He understood it in Russian, and later we read it in English. Stories are powerful.
Stories are life. Tell good ones. Tell stories that are understandable and meaningful.
