Fictive Dialogues from Playwright Point of View (VII)

by Laura Lai/Uncategorized

 

On the 20^th of February 2010, ‘The Guardian’ published an article containing valuable advice from consecrated writers of different genres. To construct my creative writing exercise for this ‘Writing Break Blog’ I used some of the advice to build this personalized fictive dialogue from a playwright point of view.

Andrew Motion:

1 Decide when in the day (or night) it best suits you to write, and organize your life accordingly.

I guess that when one has school and work during the day, it only has the night or some hours of the night to write… until 1 am or 2 am and, exceptionally 3 am. Writing is hard, the writer goes to bed tired and waking up at 6 or 7 in the morning I can guess is difficult. In the previous years, life organized itself accordingly so that I write during the day. In the years to come, I’ll organize my life accordingly so that the writing to stay during the day. I think it’s healthier and it’s better for the bills.

2 Think with your senses as well as your brain.

What do you mean?! It’s not possible! Only the brain thinks. The senses are feeling! The brain processes the information brought by the senses, but the senses don’t care about what the brain is thinking – they sense. Let me give you an example: The smell of a flower sends the brain the information that is processed accordingly and the brain thinks that that’s a beautifully smelling flower. Even when the brain thinks of a beautifully smelling flower, it still needs the sense to feel that and confirm to it whether or not it was right. My senses don’t think, they feel, they sense, but I believe people are different, and if some can also think with the senses, good for them!

3 Honour the miraculousness of the ordinary.

4 Lock different characters/elements in a room and tell them to get on.

??!! J

5 Remember there is no such thing as nonsense.

This is the charm of a story – that everything is possible and that there is no such a thing like nonsense. That’s the reason why I try to write a children’s book after each play. The play is a reality artistically reflected. After a session of an ‘artistically reflected reality’, a children’s book is the perfect choice to escape the political and historical reality artistically (and with lots of sense presented) and elope in a fantasy world where there is no such a thing like nonsense, where flowers talk to the brain and the brain can dance on the music of a smell.

6 Bear in mind Wilde's dictum that "only mediocrities develop" – and challenge it.

Oscar Wilde is one of my favorite playwrights. I love his satire and his sense of humor! Whatever he said or wrote, I try to keep in mind. I’m not sure I can challenge it. I suppose you also bear this in mind; how did you challenge it?

7 […] Think big and stay particular.

The type of drama I write is a particular type of drama.

8 Write for tomorrow, not for today.

I’m preparing my writings to be uploaded tomorrow, not today! J

9 Work hard.

I am! Very hard! From morning to evening. And if I don’t type, I read, I think or I write on paper. For the society, the fact that I’m not going anywhere called ‘office’ to do a more or less productive work – my country of origin is leading European statistics for the many numbers of hours spent at office and the little productivity, which unfortunately for everybody, often is low quality – but for which to be paid, I’m the ‘lazy’ one, I’m the one who doesn’t work. But I do! From morning to evening, just that I’m not paid! The reality nonsense, isn’t it so Mr. Motion? You bet I prefer the nonsense of stories! J

Joyce Carol Oates:

1 Don't try to anticipate an "ideal reader" – there may be one, but he/she is reading someone else.

2 Don't try to anticipate an "ideal reader" – except for yourself perhaps, sometime in the future.

J

3 Be your own editor/critic. Sympathetic but merciless!

It seems that there is a general agreement on this. Many writers mentioning this differently formulated.

4 Unless you are writing something very avant-garde – all gnarled, snarled and "obscure" – be alert for possibilities of paragraphing.

Given the fact that in the drama theory I only find a few lines describing the single issue drama, and given the fact that I don’t have models to follow and I follow my ‘drama writing sense’ and ‘drama knowledge’ in general, I think that what I’m trying is a little avant-garde, in the sense that I explore a complex but less explored field – quite unknown – but without denying the form or the rules of drama. That’s why I’m saying ‘a little avant-garde’.

In literature, the avant-garde stream at the beginning of the 20^th century was against the traditional rules of art and it generated what we call today ‘modernism’, ‘futurism’, expressionism’, ‘cubism’ etc. I don’t go against the drama writing rules, I’m using one of its genre that suits better the kind of stories I want to tell, to teach and entertain, but that is less explored. I’m not even going against when I impose on my writing to care about the characters as long as the topic allows, although the theory allows me to insist on the topic and less on the characters. I’m still using the linear structure, nothing ‘gnarled, snarled or obscure’. I read a play by David Hare with a nonlinear structure – ‘The Moderate Soprano’ – which is more challenging than the linear structure for both the writer and the reader. I might try that at some point.

5 […] Keep in mind Oscar Wilde: "A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal."

What a lovely thing to come across another quote from Oscar Wilde! J

6 Keep a light, hopeful heart. But expect the worst.

This sounded like the proverb: ‘Prepare for the best, but expect the worst.’ As the usual, I prepare myself for the best – that’s why I took the ‘Drama Writing’ course from Oxford and the ‘Rhetoric – the Art of Persuasive Writing’ from Harvard. In terms of expectations, I was once very disappointed by the human and the intellectual qualities of some people I’ve met. Now, I don’t make any expectations and the chances to be disappointed are small, basically none.

Annie Proulx:

1 Proceed slowly and take care.

2 To ensure that you proceed slowly, write by hand.

3 Write slowly and by hand only about subjects that interest you.

It’s an interesting writing process that you’re describing here for those of us interested in analyzing each advice and in internalizing in our writing process what works for us as writers, for the genre we write and for the stories we tell.

4 Develop craftsmanship through years of wide reading.

Absolutely! Writing is a craft that gets better after years of practice. It’s like wine that gets better with the years. It’s very superficial of those who think that writing is easy. In a way, they’re also right because it depends on what you’re writing. If one writes the note ‘I’m at the supermarket’, writing is easy. Artistic reflection of a reality, artistic writing, unfolding a story simultaneously with respecting the genre’s conventions these are difficult things. Let us not forget those who interpret – the actors who play – the characters from a book or a play. I don’t think it’s easy, unless I’m drinking a coffee somewhere in the back and others do the tough job. Then, of course, acting is easy!

5 Rewrite and edit until you achieve the most felicitous phrase/sentence/paragraph/page/story/chapter.

Writing is a craft that requires lots of patience. I understood that for many, it’s also nerve-wrecking to find a publishing house. I found one, but I’m struggling to find the money to pay for the publication. Indeed, I’m still struggling with finding a sponsor for my book in German. After three failed ones, I’m trying to find the right address to send the fourth one.

Philip Pullman:

My main rule is to say no to things like this, which tempt me away from my proper work.

You know you’re right, Mr. Pullman? Still, I like to give it a thought. I’m grateful to all these authors who took the time and the challenge to summarize in a few sentences their long writing and writer experience; they put it in plain English – not ‘gnarled and snarled’ – and for a good UK magazine, not an ‘obscure’ one. I think they know that many people don’t believe in or don’t respect the ‘Ten Commandments’. Still, they shared their opinions for whoever wants to read and to give it a thought.

I thought this is the best time for this kind of learning process because I was during my course at Harvard – that was difficult and that was my highest priority as my writing motivation was also high – and I didn’t want to invest time in research for essays or comments. I also didn’t expect that it became a series, but now I’ll go to the end of it, even if my course ended. I wanted all my time focused on the Harvard course and the 100% certificate was a great honor to me. As you can expect the certificate is framed next to the Oxford one. If I’m not paid for my writing, at least to have the satisfaction of having the certificates framed, right? J (To Be Continued)