I have been asked on more than one occasion, why I write the things that I do. I’ve been told by many people what exactly it is I should and shouldn’t write, whether it’s steering clear of any form of profanity…avoiding violence…writing happier endings…writing happier plots…writing things with the purpose of uplifting my reader…etc. I generally offer up a smile and accept their suggestions politely then walk away. Other times, I simply tell them that’s just not the way I write, again, I do so politely and walk away.
The truth is, there really is a purpose (or maybe explanation would be a better word) for what I write. These people are absolutely correct in observing that I do not often write “happy” stories, nor do I frequently wrap them up with perfect, happy endings. That does not mean what I write is all negative all the time. It surely is not. I try to capture life in its truest sense. Sometimes that is positive, sometimes it is negative. Just because my premise and even perhaps conclusion are not “happy and light” does not mean that there are not happy moments, successful relationships, and other positives buried within the pages. Almost always there are. Especially in my longer pieces.
Let me get back to answering the direct question, though. Why do I write the things I do? It is no secret that I am a Christian and do believe in perfect justice. I do believe that someday good will prevail over evil in the most ultimate sense. I wait in anticipation for that day. God has promised the eternal conquering of evil but he has not promised an ideal outcome to every situation--he has not promised that the bad guys will never "win".
I write what I do because life isn’t good all the time, nor is it made up of perfect and satisfying resolutions. Bad things happen to good people, good things happen to really bad people. Mistakes cannot always be erased and people are not always forgiven. Sometimes terrible things happen for no explicable reason. Sometimes, the monsters win. Sometimes, evil triumphs over good. It may not be ideal, we all have our visions of Utopia, but the truth is, we live in a fallen world. This IS reality.
Ideally, I don't think that a writer should be bound by the conventions and/or expectations of his or her family and friends. Stories aren't diary entries. Writing about murder does not make you a murderer. In fact, writing about murder is not even necessarily about murder. It could be about something as basic as good vs. evil. It could be about hypocrisy. It could be a social indictment or just a reflection of society, perhaps a guess at the direction society will take, decades down the road. It could be about a million things... or nothing at all. Just something spat up from a writer's psyche. Whatever the case, fictional stories are not personal history and the characters are not carbon copies of the writer. Sure, personal knowledge and experience will color the very best characters- and I don't mean the best MORALLY but the best WRITTEN characters. There are so many facets to human nature that I am sure everyone shares aspects of their nature with people from whom they greatly differ. That does not make us guilty of the same crimes, culpable for the same actions. Judgement, in my opinion, should therefore only be given on the quality of the tale. Did the story take them somewhere? Did it grab them, make them lose time, make them feel... something, anything?
ReplyDeleteAlso, a writer is a craftsman (or woman) who works and hones and shapes his/her pieces but, who is also a beneficiary of something that they cannot take credit for. A born writer is a RIDER of sorts and is not entirely (or even mostly) responsible for the creature that carries him/her to that place where every idea spins out before them and where the strands are all there for the taking to be woven into our literary tapestries. For a writer to try to dismount their creature and attempt to spin his/her own yarns, ones that their friends and family want them to write, ignoring their instinct and natural talents, well, I don't know if that's even possible. But if it is, the work would probably turn out beige on beige. You get me?
Just write, Laura.
Obviously I don't censor or cater t writing to what others want. If I even so much as made the attempt to do such a thig, I can guarantee I would not be a writer. That is not at all what this is about. It's in no way about keeping people happy (that's never really been my personality type lol)
DeleteI do believe though that fiction writing should truths of humanity (hence the title of this blog...the quote said title comes from is one of my absolute favorites).
Truth is, people are three demensional. Good guys aren't without flaw and bad guys aren't without good. In life, situations do not always work out they way we would like them. It is unrealistic to pretend that they do. Therefore I want nothing to do with fiction that is written without darkness. Darkness is a part of life.
*sigh* pardon the typos. Sometimes I hate the iPhone.
DeleteYes, I know that you do not cater to the pressures of others. Not in your writing and, in my experience, not in your life. I was not instructing you. I was giving you support. I know that you have taken some criticism for your writing choices and I wanted to balance the scales with the truth as I see it.
DeleteAnd, it is also my personal experience that darkness is as much a part of life as light. As a matter of fact, a very wise woman told me that not all darkness is bad. Take grief, for instance. Grief is suffering. Grief is pain. Grief feels dark and visceral. But grief is an expression of love, the loss of something or someone beloved. Without love, there is no grief. Things are seldom all black or all white. But that's what makes it all so interesting- all the shades in between.