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cannot quite believe that in 3 days i will be flying away to spend 5 weeks in the us this is more or less what i’ve been saving for all year and i’m frankly amazed it’s happening (read: semi-ecstatic, semi-panicked)
posting here will prob be quite sporadic - i’ve deleted my main instagram but i’m here on a lil priv travel account just for the trip if you care to stay in the loop x
true to my url, i am seeing lorde today (twice in a year? blessed) and look incredibly dykey
[The older generation of writers who had established the rules for modern fiction under the assumption that their experience was “universal”] gained the ability to write stories where they could “show” and not “tell" … They had this ability not because they were masterful stylists of language or because they dripped with innate talent. The power to “show, not tell” stemmed from the writing for an audience that shared so many assumptions with them that the audience would feel that those settings and stories were “universal.” (It’s the same hubris that led the white Western establishment to assume its medicine, science, and values superior to all other cultures …)
Look at the literary fiction techniques that are supposedly the hallmarks of good writing: nearly all of them rely not on what was said, but on what is left unsaid. Always come at things sideways; don’t be too direct, too pat, or too slick. Lead the reader in a direction but allow them to come to the conclusion. Ask the question but don’t state the answer too baldly. Leave things open to interpretation… but not too open, of course, or you have chaos. Make allusions and references to the works of the literary canon, the Bible, and familiar events of history to add a layer of evocation—but don’t make it too obvious or you’re copycatting. These are the do’s and don’ts of MFA programs everywhere. They rely on a shared pool of knowledge and cultural assumptions so that the words left unsaid are powerfully communicated. I am not saying this is not a worthwhile experience as reader or writer, but I am saying anointing it the pinnacle of “craft” leaves out any voice, genre, or experience that falls outside the status quo. The inverse is also true, then: writing about any experience that is “foreign” to that body of shared knowledge is too often deemed less worthy because to make it understandable to the mainstream takes a lot of explanation. Which we’ve been taught is bad writing!
”IF WE WANT THE REWARDS OF BEING LOVED WE MUST SUBMIT TO THE MORTIFYING ORDEAL OF BEING KNOWN!!!!
oh wow! it’s my girlfriend’s older sister’s place and i don’t know much about the area, but i’m looking forward to being away from the city for a while
landing in new york, then heading upstate (jefferson) to stay on a farm for a week, back down to nyc, to dc (and fairfax virginia) for a few days and then an overnight train to chicago.
and thank you! i’ve heard nice things about it and i feel v disconnected from this lovely new abundance of queer ya, which seemed to really flourish just after ya stopped being the dominant genre i read. i’m in san francisco for 10 days so i’ll definitely make time for it! <3
thank you! i was already planning on re-reading afgtgl, it was the first of solnit’s writing i read and i really, really love it. i’ve wanted to read more didion recently too so thank you for giving me a place to start! <3 <3
