tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post1298295027717801255..comments2024-03-17T06:03:00.362-04:00Comments on Fiction University: The Cathartic Novel – an Editor's Perspective Janice Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-73233321922851095282014-06-28T02:21:06.481-04:002014-06-28T02:21:06.481-04:00The F-ing blunderbuss WIP I refuse to let go of li...The F-ing blunderbuss WIP I refuse to let go of like some life raft is in fact a cathartic novel. I would not have known that without your article so like the others I want to say thank you so much for submitting this. <br />BTW pounding the piss and venom out via Fiction University teachings has been its own catharsis and I am ready to call it done. After my last comb through is over :)Harry Sarkisianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02734703704447800714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-29638826587571514012014-06-23T23:24:54.211-04:002014-06-23T23:24:54.211-04:00Thanks for replying/commiserating with me, Maria/T...Thanks for replying/commiserating with me, Maria/TigerXglobal.<br /><br />This is one of those things where I feel your mindset as the writer changes (from actually writing to SELLING your writing) and that categorizing stuff you have to face. <br /><br />That's where many of my current projects are at now and that's tricky, and while it's true "humanizing" animals is common, the DEGREES are different, and showing that solely in words (when your book's not illustrated or a comic) is all the harder, and that's what I was venting about, and how it's harder to get readers older than 5 to see how varied what I write is.<br /><br />For my debut alone I've had countless beta-readers who didn't get it wasn't supposed to be 100% naturalistic, but it also wasn't 100% cartoony either. I started my website "Talking Animal Addicts" in part to better educate people of the nuance involved-<br /><br />http://talkinganimaladdicts.com/Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-25660829195453393732014-06-23T16:44:02.783-04:002014-06-23T16:44:02.783-04:00That said, I have to quibble with the "Story ...That said, I have to quibble with the "Story trumps Reality" idea because at least from my experience it's not always true. At least not for the writer versus the lay reader.<br /><br />Books are simply held to a higher standard than film or television on matters of fact vs. fiction in the name of "good" storytelling. <br /><br />While this article is right to address the dangers of letting real life overly dictate fiction, it's NOT ALWAYS EASY to do what's best for the story without issues of readers feeling it's too "Out there..."<br /><br />Nonfiction has the same danger of letting facts make the reading a chore rather than a joy, but we have to stick to facts, yet somehow. I'm not anti-nonfiction, but you can enjoy reading what you can't/don't want to write, something I wish we as writers talked about more.<br /><br />Sometimes the writer's desire and need to be in service of the story means that finding the right reader for it (whether we're talking lay readers or publishing insiders) I don't have the "realist" mindset that apparently many readers have when in comes to suspending disbelief. <br /><br />That said, when you write animal fantasy as I do, this issue is quickly magnified times 10!<br /><br />You're either 100% cartoony or 110% naturalistic. But I like being in the middle, and it can give you the best of both worlds, but just because I research the mating habits of baboons, doesn't mean it belongs in the particular book I'm writing, that doesn't mean I'll not include other facts that are relevant to the story I'm writing.<br /><br />This is a big deal when animals and humans live in the same world. Stories like "Redwall" avoid this because it's animals only, but whenever humans are part of the world, we have to deal with the "lack of opposable thumbs" issues that come up.<br /><br />But even if I wanted to be 100% cartoony, when your story's not visual like a comic, film, or television program it's HARD to get readers to get/respect what your story does differently than what's come before you. The biggest issue I face is getting readers (writers in particular) to understand how varied the genre is. <br /><br />Most people think animal stories are either Shiloh (Realistic) or cartoony (Tom and Jerry). <br /><br />That "Animal Farm", "Charlotte's Web", "Redwall" and "Warriors" are the last words in the book world. They're not, and I'm not bashing these books, I'm just saying not all stories can be 100% one over the other, at least as far as fiction goes.<br /><br />Just like how "The Fault In Our Stars" isn' the last word in YA.<br /><br />Or that "The Hunger Games" has made "The Giver" irrelevant in the cannon of dystopian fiction. They're two different books by two different authors, at different times in their careers, even if the subject matter's related.<br /><br />Sometimes, I think as writers we unmeaningly trivialize something that makes it that much harder to get the story right, whether it's based in tangible facts or not.<br /><br />Oy, sorry for the , but I do get anal about this push and pull between "Story trumps Reality" versus "Facts that inform fiction."Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-29566737513697154662014-06-23T16:42:48.765-04:002014-06-23T16:42:48.765-04:00I had the opposite problem in my previous writer&#...I had the opposite problem in my previous writer's group in that I was GREATLY encouraged to use my life to inform my fiction (I don't write nonfiction or historical fiction [as much as I love to READ it]), as I just can't deal with the pressure to be accurate to a fault, but also I didn't want to write about my life, however fictionalized, and I didn't want my life to blind me to other ways of being and living.<br /><br />This also meant I had to work at getting parents right (I know most "modern" children's books often leave parents out, but my debut novel required they be there in a non-abusive context, but make no mistake, my MC handles his affairs himself!) as the adults in my childhood (except one) we're so far removed from the parents my characters typically need.<br /><br />They weren't super nurturing, yet not unforgivably abusive, and either extreme is valid if they're needed, my stories so far have simply needed the opposite of what I grew up with, so I needed the parents/writers in my tribe (I'm not a parent which I only say for context) to help me with that.<br /><br />To be continued...Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-90523712051680468452014-06-23T13:10:17.774-04:002014-06-23T13:10:17.774-04:00Bless you, Maria, for your thoughtful and understa...Bless you, Maria, for your thoughtful and understanding way of dealing with these types of novels (and by extension, their writers).<br /><br />I've belonged to many critique groups, and a common factor among all of them has been the writer with the cathartic novel. Sometimes it seemed the entire group was made of them. A common response to a comment that a particular event or plot point wasn't working would be, "But that's how it happened!" I didn't have the experience or knowledge to guide these writers into recognizing that story trumps reality. I just gave up.<br /><br />My own cathartic writing is personal journals I've kept for decades. Under no circumstances would I ever consider publishing them!Elissa Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10727748060605823895noreply@blogger.com