CCBC-Net Archives
[CCBC-Net] Hiding in Plain Sight
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Shpatron at aol.com <Shpatron>
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:33:18 EDT
Monica writes: As for that hidden adult, while I totally understand how uncomfortable it must be for someone to argue that works we thought we'd written without any particular message might nonetheless have deeply buried subtexts, Perry's argument, as presented in the book, is very convincing to me.
For me, that hidden adult aspect is not uncomfortable, but actually the very point of writing. I don't know, consciously, what my deeply buried subtexts are, but in the process of writing a story, I hope to find out. They are as much a part of what makes me human as the atoms in my body (which, I understand, come from the stars and the earth itself). We all share universal experiences, and these experiences go into the Cuisinart of our unique individual lives and our specific time on earth, where they are blended with cultural and philosophical values, and (in my case) with everything I've ever read, and with some comment I overheard in the grocery store that morning, and all of that pours out through the lead of a #2 pencil onto pieces of paper. Sometimes, days later, I'm shocked or very surprised at what I've written, as if someone else had tiptoed into my study and stolen my handwriting to surreptitiously insert these passages: it couldn't have been me!
I guess I'm saying that the unconscious element is what I'm trying to get at; it's what I am; it's the story. What I crave is to connect with readers. And I think I can only connect with them by being brave enough to dig for some kind of truth, to shed some light on what it means (to me) to be human. I take this very seriously, this responsibility to be honest; if I fail, if the book doesn't contain some element that readers respond to as being true, (something that makes them want to read it again, perhaps) then there is no point for me to be writing at all.
And I think that whole Cuisinart metaphor means I'm making soup for lunch!
Thanks again for this meaty discussion.
Susan Patron
**************A bad credit score is 600 & below. Checking won't affect your score. See now!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222585106x1201462830/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgI D=62&bcd=JulyBadfooterNO62)
Received on Sat 25 Jul 2009 01:33:18 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:33:18 EDT
Monica writes: As for that hidden adult, while I totally understand how uncomfortable it must be for someone to argue that works we thought we'd written without any particular message might nonetheless have deeply buried subtexts, Perry's argument, as presented in the book, is very convincing to me.
For me, that hidden adult aspect is not uncomfortable, but actually the very point of writing. I don't know, consciously, what my deeply buried subtexts are, but in the process of writing a story, I hope to find out. They are as much a part of what makes me human as the atoms in my body (which, I understand, come from the stars and the earth itself). We all share universal experiences, and these experiences go into the Cuisinart of our unique individual lives and our specific time on earth, where they are blended with cultural and philosophical values, and (in my case) with everything I've ever read, and with some comment I overheard in the grocery store that morning, and all of that pours out through the lead of a #2 pencil onto pieces of paper. Sometimes, days later, I'm shocked or very surprised at what I've written, as if someone else had tiptoed into my study and stolen my handwriting to surreptitiously insert these passages: it couldn't have been me!
I guess I'm saying that the unconscious element is what I'm trying to get at; it's what I am; it's the story. What I crave is to connect with readers. And I think I can only connect with them by being brave enough to dig for some kind of truth, to shed some light on what it means (to me) to be human. I take this very seriously, this responsibility to be honest; if I fail, if the book doesn't contain some element that readers respond to as being true, (something that makes them want to read it again, perhaps) then there is no point for me to be writing at all.
And I think that whole Cuisinart metaphor means I'm making soup for lunch!
Thanks again for this meaty discussion.
Susan Patron
**************A bad credit score is 600 & below. Checking won't affect your score. See now!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222585106x1201462830/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgI D=62&bcd=JulyBadfooterNO62)
Received on Sat 25 Jul 2009 01:33:18 PM CDT
