Breaking Free from the Spider's Web

(Photo by Chris J. Fries - 2012: Spider)

Wow!!!  Look at how long it's been since I posted here...

I REALLY have to apologize for neglecting this blog.  Life and work schedule just completely swallowed me up the last several weeks, enmeshing me in a spidery web of gotta-dos that completely engulfed me and held me captive.

And even worse than being an absent blogger, I accomplished almost no writing at all.  It's a bit late to go over them in a dedicated post, but suffice it to say that my September writing goals basically went up in flames.  But the good news is that I'm not behind on any of my October goals -- simply because I never had the time to sit down and put any together.  Aspire to nothing and you'll achieve it every time,  LOL!

About the only writing-related task I was able to (barely) stay on top of was to keep up with the voting on DL Hammond's WRiTE Club 2012 contest.  When the times force me to have to choose, I tend to focus on commitments I made to other people more so than those I made to myself, and I'd vowed to Don to take part in the contest.  Plus, while DL is an old and very good friend that I'm honored to support, I also entered the contest, so I also have a bit of a selfish reason for staying involved.  But I won't discuss my entry until the contest is over, so that's all I'm going to say about that, other than I do encourage you to visit DL's blog and take part in the fun. The prelims finish with just one more bout, and then the 36 prelim winners will go at it head-to-head in the next round beginning Monday -- spread out over three blogs: DL's, Julie Dao's, and Tiana Smith's. 

But, I think that while life will still continue to be a bit hectic, I think I've managed to break free of the web, at least some. I think I'll at least be able to once again be more of an active blogger moving forward.  I hope.

Still, if you ever visit here and don't see me comment or update very often, please know that I do very much appreciate your visit and always welcome your comments and input.  Or if you're one of the many fellow bloggers whose blogs I try to visit and enjoy, please don't take my absence from commenting on your blog as a sign that I no longer care -- I do.  I simply wish I had more hours in the day, and more days in the week...

So, let's see:...What else?  Oh --  I had been running my "Quest for Story" series, and while it's taken much, MUCH longer than I had planned to finish it, I do plan to do so.  There are just two posts left, after all, so I'm hoping to have them up here very soon.

Well, I think that's it for now.  Gotta keep moving lest I get snared again...  ;^)

Thanks!

Chris

The Quest for Story: #8 -- What Do You Mean by That?

(Photo by Chris J. Fries - 2012: Pond Bridge)

(This is post number eight in a ten-part quest to define "a good story" -- the kickoff of this quest is HERE)

It's been a while since our last stop on the quest -- time pressures forced me off schedule last week, and I took part in Alex's 'Genre' blogfest yesterday.

So to catch up, let's review the quest so far: In the first parts, I defined the three large elements that I believe make up a good story:  Character, Plot, and Voice.  I've also touched on a story's beginning (the introduction of the character and the onset of the plot), discussed the importance of conflict (tests and strengthens the character and forms the whole core of the plot), mentioned setting (illustrates where the plot takes place, and acts as a component that establishes and frames the character), and last time, talked about maintaining the middle (the center-point of the plot, where the character faces a increasingly difficult series of mini-crises in their climb towards the finish).

We only have three more stops on this quest, and I think after seeing 'The Beginning' and 'The Middle', you can probably guess what one of them is going to be. 

But let's save that one for its appropriate spot....

Instead, today I want to hit an element that grows out of a simple question:  What is the story about? 

Because a good story has this:

Meaning

A story's meaning is often not just a single thing, and in a "good story" there are usually several layers.  There's the story's subject, probably some recurring motifs, one or more underlying themes, and perhaps even -- if the author wants to drive home a practical point for the reader to learn from -- a moral.

A compelling plot can hold us riveted, complex and engaging characters can be wonderfully entertaining, and an author's voice can be so silky smooth that we simply lose ourselves in it, but for a truly 'good story,' these elements have to do a little more.  They need to work together to give us something deeper; something that resonates within us and makes us think of that story long after we've finished reading the words.

But here's the tricky part -- often it's out of the author's hands. 

Yes, a writer can be concrete as hell about the subject ("War! Uhhnn! What is it good for?"); intentionally plant some recurring motifs which relate to the subject (death; destroyed buildings; recurring losses of loved ones; repeated bravery in the face of certain death); sculpt the plot to enhance a specific theme ("there are no real winners in war"); and maybe even go so far as to try and give a clear moral ("make peace, not war!"). 

But then a given reader -- who may or may not see all of the elements the author consciously inserted -- can read the story and end up taking their OWN meaning away from it ("Love conquers all!").

Like effective visual arts, compelling creative writing impacts each person differently. A good story requires that each reader brings a little of themselves to it, and in return, each reader gets a little something unique out of it.  The story resonates within them in a special way based on each reader's individual emotions and life experiences.

This is OK, and even desirable, I think. 

A story may begin with the elements of meaning that a skilled author inserted (subject, motif, theme, and moral), but within the reader the story grows to be more than what the writer intended.  A synergistic ignition of emotion happens within the heart and mind of the reader, and they pull a deeper meaning out of it.

And this magical bridging of the gap between what the author intended and what the reader takes away can elevate a piece of fiction into a 'good story'.

Genre Favorite Blogfest!

I'll be back tomorrow with entry #7 the continuing Quest for Story, but for today, I'm taking part in Alex Cavanaugh's Genre Favorites Blogfest!

For this blogfest, we get to name four things:

• Our favortie genre of Move
• Our favorite genre of Music
• Our favorite genre of Books
• A guilty pleasure from one of the above.

Pretty simple, huh?  Well, you can check out my blogger profile for some specific examples of my favorites from the three genres, but let me summarize here:

Movie:  I like a wide variety of films, but in general, I tend to lean towards science fiction -- "Aliens," "Blade Runner," and many others always come to mind when I think of my favorite movies.

Music: Again, I like a wide variety of music, from Jazz like Miles and Coltrane to the jaw-dropping amazing chicken-pickin' of The Hellecasters, but I definitely lean towards guitar-based music, and my favorite genre is probably Jam Band -- The Dead, Moe, The Allman Brothers, Derek Trucks, and others.

Books:  Well, again -- love a wide variety and can appreciate almost anything if it's written well, but my favorites are Mysteries, and -- again -- Science Fiction. "Dune," "A Stranger in a Strange Land," "A Clockwork Orange," "Fahrenheit 451," "Foundation," all the N-Space Niven novels, and a gazillion others.

Guilty Pleasures: Well, for a movie, I might go with "All That Jazz." It's a great movie based on the life of Bob Fosse, but it's quite a departure for me from the types of movies I generally like.  For music, I could say Supertramp or maybe Sade, both of whom I really enjoy ("Crime of the Century" is a particularly amazing album), but they're quite a bit different from the 'cooler' music I typically like.  As for a book, how about "Interview with a Vampire" by Anne Rice?  I'm no vampire fan in general, and especially dislike the "sexy, dreamy, bad-boy with fangs" variety, but this was a book I actually enjoyed quite a lot.  The sequels went from bad to worse until I finally gave up on reading them, but in this first book of the series, Anne was on the top of her game.

Thanks for stopping by, and I encourage you to check out Alex's BLOG to see all the other participants of this blogfest -- visit as many of them as you can!