The Fiction Dream

Quite possibly the hardest part of writing the novel, for me at least, was the creation of what John Gardner (in The Art of Fiction) refers to as the "fiction dream."  What is the "fiction dream?"  I haven't the foggiest idea...

Okay, well that's not entirely true; I know what it means in the context of Gardner's definition, but I have no idea how to create it... at least not well enough to describe it... but I'm going to try.  Fair warning: this is probably going to be a clumsy attempt (for the real deal, check out Gardner's book), but it ought to be just a little fun.

The "fiction dream" is the author's principal tool; the means by which the author immerses the reader in the story, and by which the author creates the illusion of identification between the reader and the story.  Through the "fiction dream" the author steers the reader through the quasi-reality s/he created, and directs the way the reader perceives the fictional world.  By using the "fiction dream" to its greatest potential the author is able to give the reader an experience which may well mark them for the rest of his/her life - think of the novels you have read that affected you in some way, that made you think differently or see the world differently.  It's not necessary for the novel in question to be a work of "great literature," because the entire thing is completely subjective... one person's trash is another person's treasure... and I read a lot of what most people consider trash, and yet I have found a great degree of things that appeal to me (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't read it).

Fiction is art; rather let me say it this way: the act of creating fiction is the same as the act of creating art.  You can teach an ape to sling a paint brush, and what the ape creates can be called "art," (depending on your aesthetic, but it's not really art because art attempts to communicate an idea) but only human beings can create fiction, by virtue of our dependence on language as a means of communication.  Human beings are natural storytellers: we're all capable of it (again by virtue of our dependence on language as a means of communication), but like all forms of communication there are varying degrees of proficiency.  Fiction must be honest; at least that's what I've read in a multitude of books on the theory of writing fiction - the level of truth in fiction, in my understanding, must be ultimate.  Fear is what keeps the overwhelming majority of people from creating any kind of art, including fiction... especially fiction: you cannot create the "fiction dream" if you fear telling the truth, exposing the truth, or otherwise dealing with the truth.  Genre doesn't matter; all it does is supply stylistic conventions that guide the author and the reader to identify the writing as a particular type of fiction.

Perhaps "Truth" (yes, with a capital "T") is the first building block of the "fiction dream."  In Gardner's fiction theory, he says something to the effect of: if the reader picks up on the fact that the author has not been entirely sincere (honest) then the reader will feel deceived and the fiction dream will collapse leaving the reader unsatisfied and possibly even angry at the author... feeling cheated that is.

"Truth," according to Gardner (at least the way I interpret it) is especially important in the fictional portrayal of emotion.  As I see it emotion is the best way to connect the reader and the novel; if the reader is not connecting to the emotions the author is representing in his/her characters, then the reader is not participating in the "fiction dream," and thus not connected to the novel.  Emotion that lacks genuine representation, or which is allowed to become melodramatic is coursing in to dangerous turf - it's an easy way to insert too much of the author (think Toto pulling away the curtain to reveal the true "Wizard of Oz"), and thus render the "fiction dream" inert.

This whole mess is a gigantic balancing act.  Creating the "fiction dream" means adding all of the ingredients in such a way that everything simply works together harmoniously, and that's no easy feat.  I can say that I do not believe that I accomplished this with the manuscript I just wrote - not in the least; however, it's difficult to measure it because it's a raw document, and no piece of writing ever comes into the world perfect from inception.  The end product, what we read off the library or bookstore shelves, is the result of a lot of work - very hard work which requires the author to know his or herself and his or her habits intimately.  In order to create the "fiction dream" and make it work, the author must know the craft like a second nature... and it's not going to happen on the first go - not for any author no matter how canonized or celebrated he or she is; no matter how aloof the author is; no matter how close to godliness the author believes he or she is.

Language, properly employed, is an amazing and versatile tool; and, when combined with imagination, allows a writer to fabricate the bridge between the reader and the "fiction dream"... but it's a lot like working with volatile materials: one wrong move and BOOM, it all goes up in a ball of fire and smoke.

I think I may be getting just a little too theoretical and that's the territory where I think Gardner flew into and where he lost me the first time I read his Art of Fiction book; after all, some of the greatest fiction in the world was written, like graffiti, with a spray can on a wall (metaphorically, of course) or on beverage napkins with a found ballpoint pen.  Call it what you will, the creation of the "fiction dream" is what all fiction writers are after, and we'll continue searching for it after a decent night's sleep.

Cheers!

Definitely Needs More Seasoning

I started re-reading my rough draft last night, and made it about half way before the Sandman won and I was out like a light - I'm beat... and I haven't slept well in over a week: It started the day we got to El Paso, I was up for almost 48 hours... 5:00 a.m. wake up on Tuesday, 11/22 for work all day, and  then  we left San Antonio around 10:00 p.m. and didn't get to bed properly until 11ish on 11/23... I managed about a half an hour of sleep on the drive.  Then the shingles thing really hasn't allowed me to sleep comfortably... It was a rough week back to the routine - I always find it strange, waking up in one city and going to bed in another.  We were in El Paso just long enough to acclimate to the change in time zone and the routine over there; only to disrupt it all with our return.  Babbling?  Yup, I'm still tired.

Sorry, another one of my infamous digressions... Where was I?  Ah, yes, the re-read.  I completed the re-read today and I have to say the draft is worse than I thought, but better than I imagined.  In other words: the thing just might be salvageable, which is a huge relief... I thought I might have laid a gi-normous shit biscuit, but fortunately it looks like I have something I can water and feed and grow and care for, and maybe even allow to fly free someday.  The manuscript is about novella length right now, and since I did way more telling and not enough showing it's a pretty fast and largely unimpressive read, I really need to beef it up... but that's to be expected: these are the bare bones of the story; the foundation upon which to build.  It probably still needs another 200+ pages to bulk up to where it needs to be; to where it might actually make a real, readable novel.

I'm not an expert my any means - I don't have an MFA in Creative Writing, and I most certainly have never attempted a novel before.  I can write a decent and entertaining short story, that is, I can spin a yarn.  I'm not a literary writer - I'm not trying to be Hemingway, or Thurber, or Flaubert, or Dickens, or any of those guys; I actually identify more with storytellers than I do with novelists and authors.  I like cuentos, tales, the native storytelling traditions... gathered around a fire, and thrilling to the deeds of heroes and gods.  I mention all of this because what I'm going to embark upon in this blog is going to include advice, tips, recommendations, and cautions which will all come from my own personal experience without the claim of any kind of authority.  This is documentary, and should not be taken to imply that my advice will lead to any form of success; except perhaps that it might give you a body of things not to do. =^)

I'm still honing my skills, and developing as a writer... and I have a long way to go, so I'm not attempting to make any pretenses.  I'm learning and you all are certainly welcomed along for the ride.

Cheers!

Tonight - The Re-Read

So National Novel Writing Month is officially over as of 11:59 last night; welcome to the last month of 2011.  Since the challenge is completed and November is now behind us (I sat on my duff for the last few nights recovering from the stupid shingles) it's time to sit down and actually read my manuscript - a task I've put off until tonight because I wanted to give myself a little distance from it so I could look at it with a fresh, critical set of eyes.

I'm not the world's best at revising and rewriting: back when I was writing poetry I came up with this idiotic excuse for not revising... I told everyone that I wanted to catch the words raw, and record them as they occurred to me - it was something Jack Kerouac used to do, and I suspect he did it for the exact same reasons I did... laziness.  Some of my poetry club mates thought I was being conceited, but they were wrong... I was being lazy.

And did that laziness benefit me in any way?  Not an ounce.  In fact I began to believe my own bullshit so thoroughly, I would whip off poems in my notebook and read them during our sharing sessions mere minutes after crapping them out on the page.  They were horrible... every once in a while there would be an inspired line or two, but for the most part it was all garbage.

Essentially what I did for the NaNoWriMo challenge was spit out the story on to the page... the exact same thing I used to do in those best-forgotten poetry days (I don't regret writing poetry, I regret not taking it seriously and not producing much better work than I did); however, this time I had a bit of a plan and that plan included an extensive review and revision of the work... and that begins tonight.

Wish me luck...