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~ Random thoughts on writing and life

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Tag Archives: Literary

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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Self-Doubt, The Story Slayer…

27 Monday Feb 2017

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

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Authors, Book Reviews, creative writing, Literary, Self-Doubt, storytelling, Writer, Writing

screen-shot-2017-02-27-at-20-05-14

In a narrow corner of my mind she waits, cast aside in chains, her judgement neither sought nor welcomed.  I see her, oh how I see her: face gnarled, grotesque.

Her name? Self-doubt.

I defy any writer to deny the existence of their own dark angel, their own inner self who shouts loud and persistently that your work is crap, that you are a fool to even CONTEMPLATE publishing that tripe!  What if the reviews are bad? Heaven forbid a reader doesn’t ‘get you,’ doesn’t get the character, their journey, the entire premise of your tale.

Think babies.  Oh, how we proudly we show off our newborns.  Now imagine that someone says your child is ugly!  The anger and hurt that they can’t see the beauty that you see.  Well, our stories and our story people are our babies.  When we nurture them for months, investing our very souls, and finally give them a gentle nudge out into the world it’s with great trepidation, our minds littered with ‘what ifs.’  Rejection is a punch in the solar plexus after all, isn’t it?

Those fears stem from that evil little dark angel on your shoulder, or in that dusty corner of your subconscious.  The same little shit that tries to infiltrate your family and friends who mean well with their whispered scorn and sympathetic tutting and mumblings of, ‘why don’t you concentrate on your real job? At least you tried.’

The dark angel will chip away at you until you believe that you’re delusional to ever think that you could be a writer.

The more that you listen to the wizened beast, the greater the chance that its prophecy will come into being.  You see, your imagination will be cloaked in a fog of negativity until your words cannot see, cannot breathe, will never reach the page.  Self-doubt scratches out the art that you should be creating.  Self-doubt twists your words into a tight knot of over-worked, over-thought stilted paragraph after paragraph.

You can take control away from your self-doubt dark angel.  Lock that negative voice away in a box.  See the clouds part, the sun’s rays fall upon your face. Celebrate the fact that you have a gift to write.  You have a voice that no-one else on this planet possesses. Go you!

  • Don’t seek the opinion of people who you know to be negative.  Stay true to your dreams and remember, YOUR dreams are no-one else’s.  No other person is as vested in your story as you are.  Don’t ask for their opinion, instead talk to another writer or a friend who believes in you, who will motivate you.
  • Grow! There is a wealth of ‘how to’ books, writers’ groups and seminars.  Eat up all of that free information like a starving man at a free wedding banquet.  Plunder that buffet until your stomach groans.
  • Writer’s block is you letting that dark angel back into your story world.  Defeat it by skipping to another chapter, taking a walk, eating cake, parking your book for a day or two or putting an emotional piece of music on your iPod and letting it fan that fire back inside you.
  • Accept that you are not perfect.  There will be that one negative review that rocks your soul and reinforces your belief that you are the worst writer ever to have been spat onto this earth.  Immediately re-read the good reviews that your work has received.  Remind yourself that you can please some of the people some of the time, but never all of the people all of the time.  Some people may be dealing with their own dark angel and your book might have been a trigger.  You will receive praise.  You will make an impact on someone’s day, life, future.  Those moments are to be celebrated.

I so hope that this has been useful.  What if it hasn’t?  What if you judge me by this post and–

Much love,

Janey x

 

 

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Writers Digest Conference, New York…

23 Tuesday Aug 2016

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

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#amwriting, #WDC16, Kwame Alexander, Literary, New York, Newbery Medal, Writing

Well, what a conference it was again – The Writers’ Digest Conference, 2016, in New York City.  I have flown home from my third conference with so much new knowledge and motivation!

Screen Shot 2016-08-23 at 15.22.17

Kwame Alexander, Keynote Speaker

Where to start?  There is only one place, and that’s with my personal favourite hour with the keynote speaker, Kwame Alexander.

I won’t list Kwame’s extensive writing career on this post but you can find his Wiki entry here.

Kwame is a world-renowned writer of poetry and children’s fiction and the winner of the Newbery Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to American children’s literature.  So, he was more than qualified to do the keynote!  It really was an honour that he shared his time with us writers.

He was hilarious!  Funny and inspirational.  The thing is, Kwame knew the pain of rejection in the literary world.  Even his father, a publisher, said no to his first book!  So many would give up in the face of rejection, yet Kwame developed his own ethos which was to say YES! to everything and anything.  Honestly!  Every opportunity was met head-on with a ‘can do’ attitude.

The lesson I learned from Kwame was this:  We should open our minds on our writing journey.  New paths will open up ahead and, if we take them, even though we have no idea of our destination––will we fail? If we fail, how the hell will we pick ourselves up?––we should say YES!  If we don’t, then we will always be limited by our own fear and lack of confidence.  This was my interpretation of his talk, others might have taken away a different message and that’s okay.  We each take from experience and from life, that which we personally need at this stage of our lives, and that’s the beauty of really listening and learning from others.

There were many other incredible speakers, too many to list here.  Yes, some seminars gave conflicting information to other seminars (e.g. to outline or not to outline) but, again, it goes back to taking from something like this what you want.  What sits well with you is what is important.

Aside from the speakers, I had the privilege of meeting other writers and what a fabulous group they were!  Again, too many to mention but a wave across the pond to Ron, Kent, Erin and so many others.

One special lady I met who deserves the biggest hurrah! is the Statue of Liberty.  I’d wanted to see her for so long and finally did so!

Screen Shot 2016-08-23 at 15.44.38

Finally, I’ll spend some time now collating all the information I brought home with me.  I think I’ll go again next year although I hope it’s back at the Roosevelt.  🙂

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