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~ Random thoughts on writing and life

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Tag Archives: Imagination

Censorship and fiction…

14 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by Janey Rosen in I'm just saying ...

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Authors, creative writing, Imagination, Literary, storytelling, Writing, Writing tips

 

An interesting conundrum settled over Facebook these past few days, a question of morality, of ethics and of censorship.

If writing is the unburdening of the mind, the purging of creativity onto the written page, who is the gatekeeper? Who is the moral guardian of the ‘nice’ society in which we live? Should there be a gatekeeper, a guardian or should creativity be outside all societal constraints?

I won’t elaborate on the nature of the book which had readers and writers flapping their hands on social media.  Suffice to say, it was a fiction book about a topic that is abhorrent to many.  Shocking enough to warrant The Great Amazon Gatekeeper to rip it from its listings, to banish it to the dank basement with other Books Thou Shalt Not Read.  The topic itself–according to some–was glorifying the ghastly in the way it was delivered. How can fiction be delivered in a solely factual way before it becomes non-fiction, you might ask.

Is the glorification of a taboo subject wrong?

How far can a writer go before creativity becomes harmful, before it crosses lines, tarnishes reputations, and sends readers into coronary care wards around the land?  I have no answer for this because what I deem outrageous (very little, I’m sick in the head) might be perfectly acceptable to another (more sick in the head even than me).  People have triggers and people have different moral compasses than their neighbours, friends, grannies, psychiatrists.

And is it even glorification?

Isn’t this too based on perception and your own code of right and wrong by which you live your life?  Or, does our ingrained and inherent freedom of choice scratch away at our morality until we can justify almost anything, including enjoyment in the taboo in the name of ‘entertainment?’

There are reasoned arguments on both sides:  When we begin to censor books, films, plays, are we planting a Japanese Knotweed in the entertainment industry that will eventually choke the life from it?  Or, without abiding by a set of ethics and morality, are we accepting that anything goes? That, because it’s for entertainment, we are happy to abandon our own beliefs?  You could argue that it’s up to the individual to read or not read, to watch a film or a play, or to not do so–choice. Let us all be our own censors.

An interesting conundrum.  A moral dilemma.  What are your thoughts?

As always, I’d love to hear your views, please be respectful 🙂

Janey x

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Why stories matter…

28 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by Janey Rosen in I'm just saying ...

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#amwriting, Childrens stories, creative writing, Imagination, Parenting, storytelling, Writing

Once upon a time, there was a small girl with yellow hair and blue eyes and an inquiring mind.  The girl––let’s call her Janey––lived in a house with her parents and a brother who poured milk over her head, and threw spiders at her.  Janey loved her family, even her brother, but the one she loved most of all was her friend who lived in a Marmite jar.  ‘Friend’ was a pebble.  The pebble and the yellow-haired girl flew on magic carpets to whimsical lands…

Screen Shot 2016-08-28 at 13.28.07

Stories matter.

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t submerged deep inside my own mind in a world of fantasy – where the impossible was achievable and where my made-up friends were never perfect but always fun.  Don’t get me wrong, I had lots of ‘real’ friends and we often made up other worlds together but there was something special about ‘Pebble’ and the possibilities that my imagination afforded me.  Us.

When I became a mum, I delighted in making up worlds for my children, places that together we would go to at bedtime or in the car.  The story of Bobelie the fairy became so real to my daughter that she would search for her in the spring flowers in our garden.  I would always begin a new story, my daughter would then pick up the thread and let her imagination facilitate the story’s direction and the fairy’s journey.

Why do stories matter?

Stories matter because life is a tough ride.  Who doesn’t daydream in the middle of a challenging day at work?  Our minds want to lead us to a place that is calmer, or where we can be all of the things that once we had dreamed that we would be.  Or to take us to places that perhaps seem unreachable in our everyday lives.  Without stories, life is flat – one dimensional.  Stories can unravel in our minds or can be absorbed through the written word, on TV, at the theatre.  We are sponges from birth with an enormous capacity to soak up all the possibilities that we learn about and to project ourselves into scenarios and worlds at our own behest.

Stories matter.

(I no longer have Pebble).

Write on!  🙂

Janey x

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