Reader Expectations vs Integrity of Story

Posted on by

I almost feel the need to apologize. I’m going to talk about process again. I admit it, process fascinates me. As much or more how a thing gets done as what. I’m not sure that’s normal. There’s also the fact that I’m always going to feel more comfortable talking about what I do as I opposed to who I am. I’ll work on that, I promise, but in the meantime, this is what I have, so I’m just going with it.

This post could have just as easily been called “walking the tightrope.” There’s a truism that “all stories are really about the time and culture in which they’re written,” even if they’re set in ancient Greece or the moons of Proxima Centauri. There’s truth in that. Even if you’re trying to be faithful to what’s known about Greece in, say, 427 BCE, you’re still going to be writing from the cultural background and perspective of a person living in the 21st Century, and more to the point, you’re going to be writing for readers of the same ilk.

In short, you’ve got a problem. Continue reading →

Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari)

Posted on by
Tale of the Heike

Tale of the Heike (translated by Hellen Craig McCullough)
Published May 1st 1988 by Stanford University Press(first published March 1st 1988)
 

Ask any reasonably well-read person outside Japan to name a literary work from that country and odds are they’ll first say “The Tale of Genji,” by Lady Murasaki Shikibu (not her “real” name, and a story unto itself) an account of one prince’s life at Court in the Heian Period (794-1185 AD). The second has to be “The Tale of the Heike.” The main difference between the two is that “Genji” is a work of fiction, while the Heike Monogatari at least attempts to be a chronicle of actual events, the Genpei Wars that marked the end of the Heian period, Japan’s Golden Age. Continue reading →

That Was an Adventure

Posted on by

Where the heck are we?Yesterday I attended what might be the oddest literary event I’ve ever been to. It was a combination picnic/booksigning way out in the country. Bear in mind, I live in Mississippi. When I say “out in the country” I do mean waay out in the country. Out in the “no address, just directions” part of the state. We got thoroughly lost, but in our defense I will say that the road we were supposed to turn down was missing its name marker, so you sort of already had to know where it was to find it. We never found it. We finally had to call the hostess to send a rescue party and get ourselves escorted to the site. Continue reading →

Saving Your Skull – You Might Need it Later

Posted on by

A well known editor used to tell an anecdote about a writer who submitted a new story just about every month. The stories weren’t very good, but the polite and upbeat cover letters, the consistency of the submissions, the fact that the writer was clearly working hard and not just retelling the same story over and over, all caught the editor’s attention and he found himself almost looking forward to the monthly submissions. He showed one to a friend and remarked upon the writer’s persistence. His friend agreed that the story was ok but nothing exceptional.

A year or so later his friend called him on another matter and the editor said, “Remember so and so? I just bought a story from him.” Continue reading →