MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS MORE OR LESS RELATED
by
Mort Castle
How did the phrase he thought to himself ever come into being, let alone become accepted usage? To whom else can you think, unless you are telepathic?
How to Tell a Bad Paperback Part I: If you read In the Tradition of on the cover, that’s almost a guarantee of cookie cutter contents.
I’ve done no research on this, but it seems that poets read more fiction than fiction writers read poetry. Methinks many fiction writers would profit by reading poetry; the idea of saying it once in a memorable way and then shutting up is an idea that could make many bestsellers better books, although they might no longer be in the tradition of.
Will someone please tell my why you find Garrison Keillor on the “Humor” shelf at Barnes and Noble and Borders? He’s funny, for sure, but there’s a whole lot more to be found in such works as WLT: A Radio Romance, Lake Woebegone Days and Love Me. Keillor takes on the big questions related to The Big Question: Life. And despite a dark and pessimistic note or two, he comes up with some, let’s say, existential optimism that so often makes me nod my head and say, “Yeah, that man has insight and the ability to share. He’s a writer.” Sure, Mark Twain makes us laugh but we don’t condemn him to a shelf next to the coma causing commentaries of Jeff Foxworthy and Tim Allen.
(Aside to Johnny Skipp and Liz Massie: Keillor does gross right, really funny scatological; perhaps if we can get him off the “Humor” shelf, he’ll be willing to spend time in the “Horror” section.)
A lot of people reading this know that I do not publicly knock other writers. Back in the 1970s, when I truly discovered just what a tough business this writing thing is, I decided I never wanted to be in a position in which I was responsible for bashing in any way a brother-in-arms, and it was then I quit doing book reviews. But I sure have no problem in publicly praising those writers who’ve earned my praise, and, because the (ahem) “Castle commendation” is not passed out in the style of the new kid in second grade trying to earn points on Valentine’s Day, I like to think that my praise might put a reader or three onto a newer writer.
Today’s tip of the Castle chapeau to Christopher Conlon. He edited Poe’s Lighthouse, from CD Books, and has several non-fiction works to his credit, but he’s primarily published poetry and it shows: his story “Ghost in Autumn” in Masques V is informed by the concrete and particular language of poetry and shows the mature poet’s control and restraint. This story is emotional and honest while avoiding the manipulations of melodrama that are so often found in “imaginative fiction.”
In short, the guy is good.
Uh, what’s that stuff about melodrama?
Glad you asked, thereby allowing me to meander pontificatingly anew …
Drama is honest writing. Melodrama is dishonest writing. Drama presents a scene as it happens. It allows us to feel. Melodrama presents a scene with “authorial touches” that are calculated to manipulate our feelings.
As the late John Gardner put it, “In great fiction, we are moved by what happens, not by the whimpering or bawling of the writer’s presentation of what happens … We are moved by characters and events … not by the emotion of the person who happens to be telling the story.”
How to tell a bad paperback Part II: When we have a half dozen cover blurbs from people you’ve never heard of, despite your knowing enough about the genre to be browsing in that section of the bookstore.
Ponder this koan and see if it gets your brain moving outside the familiar forms: Extreme Championship Wrestling is now broadcast on the Science-Fiction Channel.
Prediction Regarding Five Writers Who Will Be Creating Work Meriting Your Attention … Gary Frank. Lucien Soulbain. Nickolas Cook. Patty Templeton. Brian Torney. (Yes, there are others, but today, as this is being written, these five have impressed themselves on my mind not solely because of their talent but because they all possess the ferocity of artistic ambition you must have to succeed in this endeavor. And hey, to the five at whom I’m pointing the finger … Patience, patience. This is not boxing or ballroom dance; your legs will not give out on you.)
I’m reading as much nonfiction as fiction these days: You want horror, mystery, majesty, and style in service of subject, try Richard Selzer’s The Exact Location of the Soul. He’s a former surgeon and he writes like a surgeon.
How to tell a bad paperback Part III: The Title followed by any number higher than 12 and often the words “in the series.” The Grapes of Wrath #116: Stomping Out the Vintage! Continuing the Muckracking Adventures of Sinclair’s The Jungle with #33 … Rampaging Snoots: Hot Dogs and Wild Hogs. The Old Man and the Sea II: Santiago Swears “I’ll be Back!” The Old Testament has five books, and even at that, some of plots are repetitive and some characters contrived.
A Sad Note on Writers and Music: Why yes, I used to listen to Savoy Brown, Moby Grape, and Spirit when I wrote. Now I listen to Bill Evans, Satie, and Debussy.
Sigh …
Related posts:
- Writing and reading Serial Characters - Some thoughts
- DEFINING HORROR: Nine Musings on The Nature of Horror
- Poetry & The Art of Rhetorical Maintenance
- The Successful Writer
- THE GGI
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Comments
Interesting topic…and interesting philosophy on not attacking other writers…sometimes I wonder which way I slide on this. I see a lot of people who NEED to hear things, and a lot of others telling them the things they need to hear, but without the slightest tact behind it.
We are all more fragile than we let on, of course, and stronger at the same time.
I salute the spirit of your essay, though…absolutely.
Originality for it’s own sake is reward enough.
D
Dave says –
“I see a lot of people who NEED to hear things –”
Yes, but will they indeed HEAR– are they ready to listen?
“and a lot of others telling them the things they need to hear, but without the slightest tact behind it.”
Ah, not so … Most of the tactlessly expressed criticism is as valid as Ray Charles’s opinion of my wallpaper selection and is motivated solely by ‘You’re not so much if I can zing you … ” In terms of real feedback, those writers who grow seek it out from other writers they have reason to trust, read the real reviews (PW, Kirkus, Library Journal, and the better genre and small press mags, etc.”
Mort
What do you call this style of column: dense with lightness? I love it. Potpourri of stuff, most of it rich with insight and thought provocation (thought to myself provocation…uh-oh).
– Sully (Thomas Sullivan)
“Ponder this koan and see if it gets your brain moving outside the familiar forms: Extreme Championship Wrestling is now broadcast on the Science-Fiction Channel.”
This totally blows my mind. I’ve come across it when perusing the Sci Fi channel and I thought (to myself) ^.~ WTF mate.
Thanks for the interesting read.
Julie
Melodrama is (quote) exaggerated emotional affect. May I respectfully suggest that them as doesn’t like it shouldn’t read it or watch it or expect it to be something else. Janet
Mort…doesn’t matter if they listen. Matters if I’m honest with myself. If someone honestly asks my opinion and I offer a platitude becuase the forum was a public one, I’ve let them down, and myself.
And not all of those people who seem tactless are offering bad advice, thought their advice is much less likely to be taken seriously. In the end, if I give an honest opinion, and it’s rejected, there’s always the chance that later on that person will come back with new understanding and be glad I said what I did, and when I did..
I agree with you on not presonally attacking other writer’s work to a point, but what I don’t agree with is the intimation that a book review - a negative book review in this case - is an attack. I would never give a negative review of something just to “zing” someone, and I think the number of reviewers with legit credentials who would act in that manner is small…and they are already known for “being that way.”
Still like the essay.
D
Mort…doesn’t matter if they listen. Matters if I’m honest with myself. If someone honestly asks my opinion and I offer a platitude becuase the forum was a public one, I’ve let them down, and myself.
And not all of those people who seem tactless are offering bad advice, thought their advice is much less likely to be taken seriously. In the end, if I give an honest opinion, and it’s rejected, there’s always the chance that later on that person will come back with new understanding and be glad I said what I did, and when I did..
–says Dave
100% agreed, but for me, offering that opinion a) is always prefaced by, “Are you asking for an opinion or am I supposed to nod my head and say, ‘Thanks for sharing that…” and 2) that opinion wil only be offered in a public forum if I can say, “Yeah, that’s really good.”
Most recently, I’ve had to say “No” to two out of three people who’ve asked for blurbs. I could not honestly praise their writing. They know why, learned about what I saw as problems, but nobody else need know.
Mort
Good points, and well taken. I used to get really angry on the old GEnie forums because people made proclamations without realizing people would not figure out on their own that they MEANT to say “In my opinion”
D
Great essay, Mort! You won me over right away with the point about poetry and fiction. YES!!! And while Janet’s point above holds true (ergo, some audiences in ye olden days would know what they were doing when they chose to attend the vaudevillian melodrama over than the fancy opera), your notion that drama is more honest than melodrama is intriguing and persuasive… I agree in my gut, of course, and the emotional affect of truly well written drama is felt as authentic, genuine and lasting rather than momentarily consumed and left behind like a cheeseburger…
…but by the same token, is there ever a true absence of “authorial touch,” even when the author is standing as far away from their text as possible? If an author does not ‘touch’ a work, then has it become journalism? In fact, one could argue that melodrama is more honest because the author acknowledges his/her narrative presence in the text, rather than hiding behind a veil of supposed objectivity or realism. Fantasy/horror is ANTI-REALISTIC much of the time, and this should be acknowledged. One avenue into writing the fantasic well is to subvert the very paradigm of realism by employing it in a way that makes the boundaries between these distinctions blurry… Conversely, if horror ever becomes realism, then it will become truly boring, I think.
Literary criticism aside, I think one of the optimistic and unspoken ideas in your article is that we need to encourage new writers to be more honest, less calculating, less caught up in the excesses of melodrama and more interested in developing emotional realism by bringing universally human issues into their work rather than looking for shortcuts, or being tricky, gimmicky, or following perceived trends in genre. I couldn’t agree more. Bravo.
– Mike Arnzen
Hi Mike, Thanks for visiting. If you’ve ever watched the redoubtable William Shatner doing summer stock, you know that melodrama is meant to be fun. He does so enjoy being a ham.
That said, I couldn’t handle a steady diet of melodrama and was simply defending its legitimacy.
Return often.
Janet
You know, Mort, as I read your thoughts, I thought to myself, “This is darn interesting.”
Can’t agree with your assessment of The Grapes of Wrath #116, though. I thought it was pretty good.
Especially liked your assessment of covers and your comments on melodrama being dishonest. You know, I once saw some plays performed that were called “Midnight Melodrama.” They were deliberately overdone, and whenever the villain came on stage, the audience hissed. When the clean-jawed, blue-eyed hero arrived, of course they cheered.