Fuel for my Brain

Influence and inspiration are two complex aspects of writing that I don't often consider, well, not consciously. I'm much happier settling with the phrase 'I write when I feel it.' I suppose this is because I find it particularly hard to pin point where I get my inspiration from without being extremely vague. As I've had to consider my inspiratory sources, It's become clear that my own company gives me time to become inspired. I can think about anything I want without having to think what I'm going to say to this person, or how I look to this person.

Alternatively, I've also found that places of natural beauty can ignite a spark inside me that makes me want to sit and write. Strangely enough, this was a very recent discovery of mine. Sitting on a hill, backed against a tree, watching the sun set; it allowed me a kind of clarity which I used to write two short poems. It was easy for me to see how the Romantics found such a unity with nature while I was writing, although I'm sure it wasn't anything that could rival that of John Keat's 'An Ode to Autumn.'

To try and line myself up with another author, I took a glance at This Website, which holds writer's reasons for writing. One I found that rang true to me was from Milly Johnson:   

I don’t wait for inspiration otherwise I’d get nothing done. I start writing and inspiration joins me on the journey.

Because inspiration is something I don't consciously think about, This seems to fit well with my outlook on my positive states of mind where I enjoy writing, because I often find myself enjoying my work after I've started it.

What books do for you

It's no doubt that as children, we were encouraged to read. Perhaps back then we couldn't entirely see why our teachers were so eager to get us reading independently, but (hopefully) now we can understand how important reading is in our day-to-day lives. We can identify a good book sometimes by it's ability to seemingly turn the pages itself as we become drawn in by the world the author has created.

The question about whether a book should let us escape existence of endure it is difficult to answer. At the risk of becoming philosophical, I always feel more positive about my existence after reading a well written book, especially fantasy. Although it's a break from a day or week I'm finding particularly difficult, I often leave the book feeling refreshed in a way: ready to get back to where I left off. If I were asked to choose a book that either allowed me to escape or endure existence, I couldn't say, for most do both for me.

Most of John Cheever's short stories often present to us a character that has a dilema to tackle, or some sort of disequilibrium that we expect to be resolved. Do these problems allow us to learn life lessons, or do they simply make us feel better about our own lives. I percieve Cheever's stories as a type of reality reinforcement, which serve to remind me of some of the issues that we can face, in particular relation to drinking, which makes a frequent appearance in his stories. However, these 'window on a world' stories do allow me to briefly forget about myself as I view his characters' lives unfolding.

He who takes the lead

It's probably correct to think that for writers, the time they put into creating a character varies from person to person. Some writers might create a character almost to the extent of living and breathing beside them, or alternatively roughly sketch out the foundations for one and leave it at that. However, there is one decision that we all make when we're creating a character. We decide what they're going to be like. As their creator, we have the power to imbue them with flaws, or indeed make them flawless.

When I sit down at my desk and think about creating a new character for a piece of work, one of the first things I establish is 'what makes them interesting?' For me, interesting characters almost always inhibit some flaw, be it blindingly obvious or a mere pimple on an otherwise perfect face. Flaws can be a powerful tool in writing. They can cause your character to trust that man who made the shady promise, to put themselves in danger, or more simply; start the story. I've always viewed the traditional story as being compelled by the main character's flaws, with the length of it dedicated to him/her overcoming it.

Without a flawed character, any story I'd imagine writing wouldn't seem whole. I also carry this view across to works that I read. Overcoming a flaw allows the story you read to become a personal achievement, and the reader can feel a sense of accomplishment for having witnessed this growth. Although, in stories such as John Cheever's 'The Swimmer', The main character doesn't ride over his flaw, but I still find his story fascinating. In a way, I can admit with guilt that I feel fortunate not to share the problems that he did, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one...

National Identity

We all have our own identities, which can be interpreted as simply as our name. Even if we delve as deeply as to include our likes and dislikes, or our opinions on world matters, we are still all tethered to our country. No matter how different I am from anyone I meet on a standard day, they are all British, as I am. Of course, when we actually live in the country that we are seen as originating from, it can be difficult to say 'I'm British because...'

As it seems relevant to our study of John Cheever and what it is to be American, I'm going to mention my three cousins. They were born in the UK, but at a young age moved over to the USA. I see them about once every two years, and I often forget that they once were 'British'. It often makes me wonder; what would I have been like today if my family had moved to the USA when I could barely walk? I'd consider myself American, and I'd probably find the concept of tea and scones quite alien (Not that these two things define us, of course.) One of my cousins still supports England in the World Cup, so does she consider herself British at heart? It's something we can't really comprehend: spending our childhood in another country.

When reading 'Goodbye, my Brother' by Cheever, I found myself creating my standard compilation of 'My America'.  As I've never ventured over to that side of the globe, It fell to my imagination, along with clips from films, to create my mental image of where the story was based. It's interesting to think what Americans would have in their mind's eye when armed with a British novel and memories of Notting Hill or Johnny English. Maybe I need to go and visit my cousins and shatter my imagined/film inspired USA!

Liar Liar

It's interesting how little we think about what we say sometimes as we go through our day. After writing down my biggest lie on Monday, I decided that I would go the rest of the week without telling another one. That of course had me stuttering once or twice when I remembered I was prohibitied from lying, but it showed me that maybe I do lie a little too often! This also made me think: Do I ever include lies in any of my writing? I don't think I've ever done that, so that could be an interesting challenge for one of our assessment pieces, perhaps.

Now, to business. The Truth I believe is a complex tool that we can use in writing. When I first thought about it, I imagined that the truth can be bent to the writer's advantage. For example, if I wrote 'In the land of Tomlin, you could be sentenced to death for eating sausage rolls.', you would have to take my word for it, because the fictional world of Tomlin is my creation (Don't worry, this strange dimension doesn't exist, trust me.) A fictional world that is created by an author adheres to his or her rules, and therefore the truth relies purely on what they write.

Of course, if the author is writing a more realistic peace where the world isn't named after his or her surname, then it is easier to identify the truth, especially in what people say. What I feel I'm digressing to here is believability, but this is closely knit with the concept of truth. Of course, a good writer, especially in the realms of fantasy or sci-fi, has to uphold a certain degree of believability. When thinking about this, would they really bother to tie in some lies? It would only undermine their work, so I guess not.

Although I've led myself a little off topic, I've chosen not to hold the backspace and start over, because I feel believability is an important device for all writers. That said, I'll leave you with an interesting website about lying I stumbled upon... Have a good week!

Step One

I'll start by commenting on how strange I feel writing a blog that I know will be graded eventually, especially as I haven't blogged before, I do hope there's not a knack to it! But onto more pressing matters...

Today's seminar was interesting in the way it was kind of looking down the barrel of a gun. We were put on the spot and made to write why we want to be writers, and I'd like to think I wasn't the only one that hesitated a little. As someone that spends quite a lot of time writing, I often don't think about the exact reason why I do it. Of course, being published would be the pinnacle success, but doesn't every writer hope for that? I suppose that for every writer there are two kinds of reasons why they write, but generally speaking, I think the personal reasons outweigh the financial.

Something else that struck me about the lesson today was learning about John Cheever, and how he left his education in order to pursue his writing career. The act in itself was remarkable, but the courage needed to actually go through with it astounds me. How could he be sure his writing was good enough? I admire Cheever’s confidence in himself to take the steps he did, and I wouldn’t be able to say I could have done the same. I always second guess my own work, to the point where it halts my creative process. Hopefully this won’t always be the case.