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| And Then Sometimes The Words Misfire and the Gun Jams... http://www.horrorworld.org/msgboards/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=12020 |
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| Author: | Grymmscape [ Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | And Then Sometimes The Words Misfire and the Gun Jams... |
"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." -- Harold Wilson (1916 - 1995) "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - 1940) "Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence." -- Henrik Tikkanen (1924 – 1984) "I used to live in a room full of mirrors; all I could see was me. I take my spirit and I crash my mirrors, now the whole world is here for me to see." -- James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (1942 - 1970) This is a rant. Language is, at its heart and when it is looked at as a means of expression between sentient, educated beings existing in the confines of a shared global social and cultural -- and frequently overly politicized -- landscape, a failure. In particular, it can be considered a failure when it of itself aspires to be an art form. Many times, in this regard, language seems so very limited, so incredibly incomplete and primitive, regardless whether or not it be written, spoken or sung. And to my way of thinking, that's a helluva thing for a writer to say. I've been doing a lot of reading, much more so than usual, and I have not limited it to only commercial horror/supernatural fiction. It is absolutely frightening to me how much of what I've read is so very much like other things I've read: the same narrative storytelling tropes being mapped out and relayed to readership in very nearly identical ways. It is as if the aim for commercial fiction is to make their written product, their stories, somehow marketable or "saleable" authors are forced to construct/mold their work to meet trends and demographics defined by gatekeepers in the publishing industry who either do not like what they do or actually don't read at all -- their job is to move a product and get top dollar for it from the consumer and not much else. So they find what is currently in vogue, or that which has worked in the recent past, and they categorize that square peg of a written product to fit into an accepted and easily identifiable, homogenized round hole. "It's something new", they say,"but it's something almost exactly like those other things you purchased and liked, so buy it -- there's no risk involved!" There is absolutely NOTHING "new" in what I just said. Everyone knows this and we accept it because that is how the system works and the system is just too damn big and too damn pervasive and all-encompassing to buck. I get it. I do. It's just that I've gotten to the point where I frequently roll my eyes now when I go to a book store, whether online or brick 'n' mortar, and read the summary blurbs ("blurbs", gotta love that word) describing/paraphrasing/distilling the storylines within the books presented to me for purchase. It's a window onto the world of the quick sell to the Attention Deficit-afflicted. Blurboscity. Blurbaciousness. Sic pluribus blurboscum. This is a book about teenaged vampires/fallen angels/libidinous werewolves exactly like the other six bestselling midlist authored books about teenaged vampires/fallen angels/libidinous werewolves and we, the great and powerful "we", know this is just how you like it. No, not true, not really. Not even close. And to my way of thinking, there isn't much reason for this. I like well-made horror movies (meaning movies with good production values and decent acting and intelligent scripts that stand up as quality motion pictures on their own regardless their genre-origins; NOT horror films that are campy or self-referential exploitation flicks, NOT blood-spattered exercises in gore-porn, and definitely no Zombie- or Franken-hooker stylizations). Doesn't mean that's all I want to see when I go to the cinema. Not by a long shot. I want something different. I want to be scared. I want to be hurt. I want to be amazed, inspired, shocked, transported, entertained, impressed, galvanized by what I'm going to read. I am NOT looking for the literary equivalent of the same damn fast food burger I buy everytime I come up to the counter or go through the drive-through. So my advice to my fellow writers out there is NOT to tailor what you write along the same lines as everything else already on the shelves. Aim high. Swing for the fences. Take the path least traveled. Piss someone off. Go all in. Surprise your editors and your readership. DO NOT LET YOUR WORK BE MARGINALIZED IN THE PURSUIT OF SALES. You know where I'm going with this. You know what I'm trying to say. I'm not going to waste another two or three hundred words saying it. But, do remember, there is absolutely NOTHING "new" in what I just said. Everyone knows that. But DON'T cave. Yeah, I know, there are only just so many story tropes/plotlines... There's nothing new under the sun. Just because it appears that everyone and their brother is making a sale writing YA occult thrillers/trilogies or Zombie-Historical Literary Fiction mash-ups or Detective Noir-meets-Dracula knockoffs doesn't mean that YOU need to jump onto that bandwagon. Be different. March not only to the beat of your own drummer, but make that drumbeat a frenzied Gene Krupa/Buddy Rich/Billy Cobham/Keith Moon percussion freakout. Get DOWN, muh'r-fuh'r. You know where I'm going with this. Language can often be so imprecise. This is a rant. Boom, we out. |
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