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A whole lot of non-progress

  • May. 16th, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Paradox
I think I wrote maybe a handful of words yesterday, hence the non-progress. The story is very slow to form, and I've been rather tired lately and having difficulty concentrating. I might try revising my Inca myth story rather than work on this story, for I still have no clue what it's about.

For those who don't normally follow the blog of the [info]slushmaster, he's posted an entry on the process of fishing my story out of the slush (and it was rather unusual process for him this time from what I gather). It's had me thinking a bit about derivation, imitation, and influence as well as the idea of readers wanting the "familiar" or things similar to their favorite authors (when I worked at the bookstore, we had lists of "if you like this author, you'll probably like this one" to help out the customers.). What we read obviously influences us whether we're conscious of it or not, and hell, weren't the greats of the Canon influenced by the works that came before them? I mean, would there have been a Ulysses without The Odyssey? And how many authors pillage the Bible for material? Seeings how I'm always worried about originality in my work, I'm always wondering where the line is between inspiration and imitation. Any thoughts?

Comments

[info]rcloenen_ruiz wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 06:45 pm (UTC)
Wow. What a fantastic post.

I've never really thought of this before, as I try to draw most of my inspiration from things I've seen/experienced/observed.
[info]marshall_payne wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 08:36 pm (UTC)
All fiction is deconstructionist to a degree. If it's one writer's job to tell a story, it’s the next writer's job to improve upon it (hopefully) or at least make it different. There are no new ideas under the sun. You’ll see metafiction pop up in our field from time to time, as though this were something new since it‘s in an SF/F guise, but it’s really rather old hat, going back to John Barth’s “Lost in the Funhouse” (1968). And really that’s what Laurence Sterne was doing in his 1759 novel Tristram Shandy. I’ll stop here before I venture into postmodernism and all that and annoy you all, but my point is some writers will go so far to be original that they get away from the conceit that storytelling is just that: storytelling. For that reason many readers read for entertainment and that means a straight ahead plot. And there are only a handful of those, so it depends what you do with it. To this I’ll add, you can borrow from any story you like, but if you follow it too closely you sort of have to make yours, if at least not better, then add something unique to the original.
(Anonymous) wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 09:49 pm (UTC)
What Marshall said :-)
[info]peadarog wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 09:49 pm (UTC)
What Marshall said :-)
[info]marshall_payne wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 10:04 pm (UTC)
Thanks, Peadar. Btw, I actually wrote a long comment like the above about your post on Planet of the Apes/"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," but for some reason never put it up. It was more about my dad taking me to see Planet of the Apes in NYC when I was ten and how the ending freaked me out because I’d climbed around inside the Statue of Liberty earlier that morning. I guess I thought I strayed from the topic. Also, I do love LeGuinn’s story. Thought I tell you that now. :)
[info]peadarog wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 10:14 pm (UTC)
Thanks for telling me, Marshall :-) I wish you'd put it up.

But how amazing for you, as a kid to visit the statue and then see the movie! Fantastic.
[info]marshall_payne wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 10:16 pm (UTC)
Next time I will. Just letting you know I'm reading your LJ. And I believe it was right here in Traci's "living room" that we met. *G*
[info]peadarog wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 10:18 pm (UTC)
A hip an' happening joint!
[info]marshall_payne wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 10:24 pm (UTC)
Agreed! :o)
[info]rcloenen_ruiz wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 09:57 pm (UTC)
Brilliant answer, Marshall. I agree...nothing new under the sun. Didn't the wisest king of all say that?



[info]marshall_payne wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 10:07 pm (UTC)
Thanks, Rochita. Though I forget that king dude's name. Stephen King...? hee