ON THE VIRTUES OF FICTION

A while ago a friend told me she was unable to read novels because she felt the events could never happen. This surprised me because almost everyone I know reads stories in one genre or another, but if the first rule, suspension of belief, doesn’t come into play then yes, you might find the fictional constructed worlds contained within books difficult to accept. However, reading is entertaining and beneficial. So here are a few reasons (I know there's plenty more) why people should read fiction.

Reading is an immersive process, where we enter into another world through our imagination. In stories we experience the struggles, losses and triumphs of lives other than our own. This opens the possibility of altering, modifying or even transforming concepts we hold about ourselves, our attitudes and behaviour. When we enter the world of what if, this allows us to become, however briefly, someone else. This enhances and enriches our understanding of life. 

Several studies have shown that because fictional stories give us an intimate view of the main character’s inner life, this develops empathy. Reading about someone who comes from a different cultural, historical, or socio-economic background, and is undergoing a difficult experience we are unlike to encounter, deepens our comprehension of the human condition. Empathy is a quality not listed on any country’s school curriculum, but it should be, because it increases the possibililities of improving the lives of others.

Writing involves the use of metaphors, and other figures of speech, which work because they rely on commonly known phrases, which when placed in a new context result in the creation of strong images in the mind of the reader. These new associations expand the thinking process, encouraging flexibility and innovation. (I did once read that the creation of metaphors increases left/right brain integration, but I couldn't find the article.) 

One criticism of fiction is that presents a simplification of life, along with the question of whether this is helpful or not? Do our lives follow a dramatic arc or have Hollywood endings? No. Life can be chaotic, it’s unpredictable, and the only thing we can control is our response. Yet there is a gratification in reducing the world to black and white, to good versus evil, because it gives us hope. And life without hope is miserable. Fiction shows us heroes, and while we may not view ourselves as heroic in our daily lives, we’re able to find examples of how fictional others survive. I mean who does not in some corner of their imagination admire how Scarlett O’Hara overcomes adversity?

Books can be friends and comforters, a place to escape to, because the theme, the characters or the setting resonates with something inside us. The pleasure gained, whether you enjoy thrillers about betrayal and revenge with complicated twists and turns or straightforward linear romcoms, means we come back for more. 

I feel sorry for my friend, but let’s face it, if most of us didn’t enjoy fiction, there would be no writers, readers, books, or publishing industry. However, the latest developments in digital and online publishing show that even if the methods of delivery change and evolve, fiction remains alive and well. 

Writing Update

I may have, after a number of changes, worked my break-up story, Cupid’s Game, into a form that satisfies me. Although I started with 3^rd person omniscient, past tense, the story is now 1^st person POV and told in the present tense. I haven't posted it yet because Wattpad has allocated the Parental Guidance or Restricted Content classification to the story, and I've requested they alter this as it’s misleading. There’s no sex or eroticism as such – only a look at the end of a relationship and the aftermath.  Or maybe I'll put it up with a disclaimer? (Check it out...I have posted it with a message about the classification!)

Tomorrow I start back with Vance the Vamp, my WIP. Working on the Wattpad project (three short stories - including covers - and editing a previous nano effort) was enjoyable, but I’ve missed the absorption of the longer form of the novel with the slow rise of tension, greater scope for character development, subplots and setting. I’ll finish the final bit of research today, then, re-read here I come! Yeah!

Today’s Haiku

COFFEE

one Guatemalan

Soya latte, small, to go –

sipping on the run

Useful Links

A brilliant article on reading by Neil Gaiman

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/24/neil-gaiman-face-facts-need-fiction 

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku

Thanks for visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.

To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.

ON BEHALF OF THE ADVERB

I feel like a wee ant going up against a colossus, but today’s post is about something which bugs me. So, here goes. Fashion goes in cycles – one year something is in, the following year, it’s out. Education also promotes various initiatives which find favour for a while, before being discarded. Literary style is no different. If you take a writing course, one piece of advice your tutor will give is remove your adverbs and replace them with stronger verbs.

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

(Page 1, paragraph 1, sentence 1.)

The twelve men congregated in the smoking room of the Crown Hotel gave the impression of a party accidentally met.

(Winner of the Man Booker prize 2013. P.S. She also used ‘bodily’ in the second sentence.)

If you challenge this current wisdom, you’ll hear that adverbs tell, and don’t show, that they bog down and over-complicate whatever it is you are trying to say. Adverbs are the tools of the weak and the lazy.

 

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

(Page 1 paragraph 3)

Mrs. Southcott had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday....

 (This book heads Wikipedia’s list of the bestselling books of all time – with over 100 million copies sold. P.S. The same paragraph has another two adverbs – supernaturally and lately.)

When studying English grammar, first nouns and adjectives, then verbs and adverbs are the normal order in which we teach these parts of speech to young children. We wouldn’t dream of saying, adverbs describe verbs, but you must never use them in writing, though you can when you’re talking to each other. So why are writers informed that this particular part of speech is not welcome at the literary dining table?

Harvest by Jim Crace

(Page 1, paragraph 1.)

It rises in a column that hardly bends or thins until it clears the canopies.

(Booker prize short list 2013)

I understand the modern penchant for concise prose ala Hemingway and that long descriptive passages are no longer in vogue, and if the advice given was to use adverbs sparingly, I’d agree without reservation – but to eliminate? Isn’t this a tad drastic?

We are told to make our verbs work harder. The image of a brawny overseer, a flashing Word Police sign emblazoned on his uniform, wielding a razor tipped whip over a line of cowering verbs, while those abject sinners marked with that telltale ‘ly’ are lined up against the wall and executed springs to mind.

Will adjectives will be the next in line? Maybe the new wisdom will be don’t use more than one at any given time? For the moment adjectives have a reprieve. Although I do wonder how the sentence snot-nose, tousled-haired, raggedy Ann dressed orphan would be received by the anti-adverb posse?

The Old Man of the Sea by Earnest Hemingway

(Page 1 paragraph 1)

...the old man was now definitely and finally...

In their defence, adverbs are versatile. They modify adjectives and verbs, and function as transitional conjunctive adverbs between two independent clauses in a sentence (however, nonetheless, etc., etc.). I have noticed that most articles deriding their use are sprinkled with them. Henry James loved adverbs, and although Stephen King dislikes them, he still uses them.

Joyland by Stephen King

(Page 1 paragraph 1)

The only thing, actually.

(Joyland was published in 2013.)

You know by now where I’m headed with this post. I’ve done my best to show that past and present writers, whose works literary critics and the public hold up as examples in terms of style, content and popularity made use of the humble, much maligned adverb. And just to emphasize my point, I’ve added this last example.

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

(Page 1 Paragraph 2)

Everyone knew that he preferred his women demure and wholesome, Bavarian preferably.

(Booker prize short list 2013. P.S. There are three in paragraph 3 – softly, manly, currently, and two in paragraph 4 – slowly, eventually.)

In conclusion, adverbs are part of our language, therefore how can we write stories which reflect life without using them? Instead of banning, shouldn’t we employ them judiciously? If we treat them like precious gems rather than pariahs, they will enhance our writing.

Writing Update

I had hoped to finish my break up story – but I’m still tweaking, making sure the main character is believable. And I’m almost finished editing the second chapter of Unknown Planet. This week’s to do list includes research for Vance the Vamp. Next week, back to my supernatural adventure for a read through to see where the results need to be added.

During the last month, I took one day off a week from social media to allow myself some breathing space, and found it helped keep everything a bit more in perspective. Overall progress is steady, although I always have more to do!

Today’s Haiku

raucous dawn chorus

pine trees stand to attention

pale gold sun rises

Useful Links

An article defending the adverb:

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4487

And an article in defence of difficult books:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/in-defense-of-difficult-b_n_5128657.html

I’d love it if you popped over to Wattpad and read my two stories...more coming shortly!

http://www.wattpad.com/story/14282658-cockney-caper

http://www.wattpad.com/story/14145622-space-glitch

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku

Thanks for visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.

To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing! .

P.S. I've spent 45 minutes trying to get the web page to correct the spacing in one of the paragraphs - I give up! Apologies - with handfuls of hair in my hands - as I do work hard on the presentation...

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

It’s April; the snowdrops have bloomed and died off, my apple tree is pushing out its first tender leaves, daffodils are still in full bloom and one brave tulip creates a vivid splash of red. Now the common name is tulip, but a gardener knows this plant as a member of the family of Liliaceae, of the genus, Tulipa, of which there are approximately seventy-five wild species.  So before you start to wonder if this blog has morphed into giving gardening advice, I’m just making a point about today’s topic: pseudonyms. 

The list of writers who have written using names other than their own is long. Howard O’Brien, Stanley Leiber, and Mary Ann Evans wrote under the pen names of George Elliot, Anne Rice and Stan Lee. Mark Twain, George Orwell, Dr. Seuss, are among many others who made the same decision.

There are several reasons why someone makes this choice. Mary Evans chose a male nom de plume because she lived during an era where the public took men’s writing more seriously. The Bronte sisters also published under men’s names. To ensure a wider audience (as requested by her publisher) Nora Roberts adopted the gender neutral J. D. Robb. And if you think this doesn’t apply today, consider Joanne Rowling, whose publisher said her series would be more popular among boys if they thought the writer was a man. Rowling used her initial J, adding a K she didn’t possess, and became the J. K. Rowling we know today.

The English crime writer, John Creasey wrote over six hundred novels using twenty eight pseudonyms. He was a fast writer, and wanted to get his books out to the public quicker than the publishers allowed under his own name. Stephen King used the pseudonyms Richard Bachman and John Swithen, for a similar reason. The publishing standard of the day was one book per author per year, and King, like Creasey, writes at a prolific rate.

Adoption of a more user friendly name when a writer’s real name is difficult to pronounce correctly is another reason for using a more straight forward name. The real name of the French writer Voltaire was Francois-Marie Arouet, which is slightly more than a mouthful, and bound to be mispronounced by anyone not familiar with the French language. 

A successful author may attempt a different genre, but success isn’t guaranteed as readers may not follow, so writing under another name works to attract a new readership. Patricia Highsmith, author of the dark thriller, The Talented Mr Ripley, wrote a lesbian romance, The Price of Salt, under the name Claire Morgan.

Some people are intensely private; Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird), and J. D. Salinger (Catcher in the Rye) disliked the amount of publicity their books brought them. Charles Dodgson refused mail delivered to his Oxford offices addressed to his pen name of Lewis Carroll.

Using a pen name offers the boon of anonymity to anyone wishing to protect family and friends, and to those wishing to keep their day job (say school inspector) separate from their life as an erotic fiction writer. Re-inventing yourself can be liberating. 

Writing under a pseudonym is neither right nor wrong, and each individual makes this decision for their own reasons. As with all writing, you work in a way that is most comfortable for you. And as Juliet said up on that wee balcony: What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Writing Update

The current WIP is asleep, if restless, and I’m researching Create Space, and trying out different covers for An Unstill Life. The first chapter of Paradise Unknown (working title of 2012’s nano effort: soft sci-fi) is almost edited and ready for my beta readers – the plan of putting the book up on Wattpad, one chapter per month, is gradually becoming an achievable goal.

Last week I posted two short stories on Wattpad - a roller coaster process. The slow build up of preparation led to a moment of sheer nerves when questions buzzed mosquito-like round my brain. Do I really have the courage? Can I handle it if no-one likes my stories, or is it worse if nobody reads them? I blinked, pressed the publish  button and it was done.

The short story, Cockney Caper, is my first foray into crime writing (contains swearing) and can be found at: http://www.wattpad.com/story/14282658-cockney-caper  

Space Glitch, is a sci-fi flash fiction piece and you can read it at: http://www.wattpad.com/story/14145622-space-glitch

In case you’ve not come across Wattpad, it's a free website for writers and readers, and a great way to gain exposure – and feedback - thank you so much +David Anson for your wonderful comment! I’d be very happy if anyone toddled over to Wattpad and read either, or both, of my offerings.

I’m editing a couple of romance short stories (no swearing) I wrote a while back, mulling over how to improve them before publishing. So I’m busy, busy and enjoying writing and most of the stuff that goes with it!

Today’s Haiku

RECALL

what is memory -

only neurotransmitters

making lots of love

Useful Links:

Both these links contain more info on writers who used pseudonyms.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/07/economist-explains-18#sthash.mXlTObqB.dpuf

http://mentalfloss.com/article/51195/how-8-famous-writers-chose-their-pen-names

And in case you missed the link to my two stories...

http://www.wattpad.com/story/14282658-cockney-caper

http://www.wattpad.com/story/14145622-space-glitch

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku 

Thanks for visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.

To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.