Themes
I should have been on a plane, but a volcano erupted on the central part of the country and all flights going south have been cancelled. I've been told that the fireworks are visible from any of the various vantage points in town but I was too tired, so I came back to the hotel straight.
I have had some busy days, in which I discovered that I was being deceived and bribed ( the last in a positive sense) but that is a tale for another day. I am also being quite embarrasingly courted (for some time now). And then I saw Daw's reflections about themes and writing, and since it has to do with something I have been pondering for a long while, and also with this embarrassing tale, there you go!
Past March or April a friend of mine introduced me to another friend of hers, a nice, intelligent man who owns a small publishing house. We met at a friendly business dinner in which there were a great majority of common friends. That is the environment in which I usually feel free enough to talk about my job, when people know me enough to know what I do for a living and will not think that I’m boasting or making things up. (I also write about my job on Lj, but since I do not know you personally I am sure you will not think that I’m trying to impress you, since you can very well choose to ignore me… ) This dinner was after "The Incident," and it was briefly recounted at the table. This man was apparently impressed, and told me what some people say. “You should write a book about your experiences!" I thanked him politely for his interest and thought that the subject had died there, but we met on a couple of other occasions and he continued making conversation about the book-to-be-written. And then kept e-mailing me and inviting me to dinner, although the Atlantic Ocean and the Andean Range make now a very plausible excuse for my refusing.
Anyway, he keeps e mailing from time to time with the excuse of that book. His publishing house is centered on technical things, but he said he wanted to start a new line. As the friend who introduced us emailed me some time ago, quite amused by the whole thing, he rather wants to start a new *life*. Beh.
Unwanted courtship apart, and this is my point, I do not think I could write a book only based on experiences. If ever I used my experiences, it would be to build a realistic but different reality, in which to explore what I’ve learned, seen, wondered about, but it would have to undergo a great deal of construction. I very much dislike those travel books of modern days in which everybody seems to think that his her travels, and the people she he met on a brief moment make the stuff for a good travel book.
And I was wondering at that, what comes first? The world or the story? The characters or the argument? The plot or the point? A sentence, a character a situation triggers the imagination or you rather first come up with the rules, the world and the environment, and then build up the characters who interact within?
For those of us who play in someone else’s playground, I think it is clear: we use a setting to express our own view.
In my case, Tolkien's themes encompass things that interest me both in real life and in fiction, so it is quite easy for me to set my ideas or interests into his world, with more or less accuracy, and explore those issues with his characters.
But writing a collection of experiences, using other actual people’s lives as a backdrop for one’s thoughts and “enlightened” opinions and judgments seem too vain to me nowadays when almost anyone can jump into a plane and fly, let us say, to Teheran, and witness on first hand how the plane suddenly transforms itself as the women begin dressing up for the landing, (and doing it herself, if she happens to be a woman too). BUt there's no plot or originality in telling the audience about that, or about a camel shepherd you met on a bus stop...In my case, I would need a strong plot line or a strong, interesting "point" to start weaving experiences together...I like travel books from a time when traveling was an adventure, and there were unknown or little known lands and different cultures, but that was quite long ago. I may have a great deal of experiences, but I believe there are too many "experiencial" books that just remain on the surface...and it would take a lot of effort on my part to just come up with the right plot thread to make that truly interesting. That's well beyond my reach, I admit.
I consider book writing ( not academic stuff or papers or essays) should stem from something else, true work of imagination, or a deeper and more meaningful translation of reality into something different. After all, I know people whose lives’ are far more exciting than mine, and people with lives apparently less exciting than mine who are capable of make them look more interesting and insightful! To put it shortly, I guess that to convince me to devote my spare time to dwell again upon the things I have gone through, I should have to come up with a potent reason *theme* that would make me bleieve that the reulting exercise would entertain the reader, but, above all, me while writing it!
So all this took me to wondering about writing, and world building, and my own preferences. Since the environment (natural, political and social) is also very important to me, I wondered whether building up a setting would consume my energies and leave me unable to write interesting characters and conflicts. So I would need a plot, or a conflict in which to base the worldbuiliding... or should it be the other way?
And it led me to begin collecting a list of "themes" which are filed in my computer under " conflicts," so I thought I would share.
In a very chaotic way, since I've been collecting these for some months now:
Good versus evil…in all the ranges of good vs evil.
Power magnifies your mistakes. Great power means great responsibilities and accountability. Duty and service. The price to pay.
Responsibility. Conflict of interests and principles. Beliefs versus reality. Consequences. Standing up to your deeds
Love. Of all kinds.
Compassion.
Hope without guarantees.
Moral ambivalence. The Land of Grey. Life isn’t in black and white.
Friendship, loyalty and trust. Betrayal and appearance.THe multifaceted Mrs Truth
Presumption, Assumption, and Perspective
Fate, free-choice, freedom and necessity. Can anyone escape?
People are people, beneath the surface or any label.
Corruption, Greed, and Complacency are cowardly and self-destructive. And unintelligent. And not economic choices in the long run.
Failure.
Vengeance does not make the pain go away.
Nothing lasts forever...not even Evil.
Every small destruction is part of the Larger Destruction, and every small good counts for the greatest Good.
Freedom -and chains- are carried within.
Lost causes are lost...but someone must fight for them. Giving up is not an option.
Something good can, shall, must, come out from every small or large evil
Laughter is the best medicine
Reality is an Onion
The needs of the many vs the needs of the few.
Exploring the (apparently) well known boundaries.
A person departs on a long trip and a different person returns.
You never end up learning, you never stop growing, and things are seldom what they seem.
Ennoblement. Reaching for something higher. “not a gaffer could tend his garden…”
Staying apart until you cannot stay apart any longer and necessity drags you to the front, against your own wisdom.
Fall and redemption. Nobility in the fall.
Beware of what you wish for, for it might come true. Or, Is this what I longed for , fought for, suffered for, or killed for, robbed for, ?
We just see a chapter of the tale, a portion of the picture, and it is difficult to know where this all is leading until you get there. Do not judge. Hindsight is not a good counsellor.
At times the greatest bravery is betraying one’s principles in order to let a greater good, or a good for a greater number, happen.
At times, a life only gets its meaning when it meets death, and you may not survive to appreciate it.
ETA: Exile. (thanks to
meckinock )
I do not mean that these statements are my points, but rather conflicts and themes that I find interesting to explore, be it reading or writing about them.
I have had some busy days, in which I discovered that I was being deceived and bribed ( the last in a positive sense) but that is a tale for another day. I am also being quite embarrasingly courted (for some time now). And then I saw Daw's reflections about themes and writing, and since it has to do with something I have been pondering for a long while, and also with this embarrassing tale, there you go!
Past March or April a friend of mine introduced me to another friend of hers, a nice, intelligent man who owns a small publishing house. We met at a friendly business dinner in which there were a great majority of common friends. That is the environment in which I usually feel free enough to talk about my job, when people know me enough to know what I do for a living and will not think that I’m boasting or making things up. (I also write about my job on Lj, but since I do not know you personally I am sure you will not think that I’m trying to impress you, since you can very well choose to ignore me… ) This dinner was after "The Incident," and it was briefly recounted at the table. This man was apparently impressed, and told me what some people say. “You should write a book about your experiences!" I thanked him politely for his interest and thought that the subject had died there, but we met on a couple of other occasions and he continued making conversation about the book-to-be-written. And then kept e-mailing me and inviting me to dinner, although the Atlantic Ocean and the Andean Range make now a very plausible excuse for my refusing.
Anyway, he keeps e mailing from time to time with the excuse of that book. His publishing house is centered on technical things, but he said he wanted to start a new line. As the friend who introduced us emailed me some time ago, quite amused by the whole thing, he rather wants to start a new *life*. Beh.
Unwanted courtship apart, and this is my point, I do not think I could write a book only based on experiences. If ever I used my experiences, it would be to build a realistic but different reality, in which to explore what I’ve learned, seen, wondered about, but it would have to undergo a great deal of construction. I very much dislike those travel books of modern days in which everybody seems to think that his her travels, and the people she he met on a brief moment make the stuff for a good travel book.
And I was wondering at that, what comes first? The world or the story? The characters or the argument? The plot or the point? A sentence, a character a situation triggers the imagination or you rather first come up with the rules, the world and the environment, and then build up the characters who interact within?
For those of us who play in someone else’s playground, I think it is clear: we use a setting to express our own view.
In my case, Tolkien's themes encompass things that interest me both in real life and in fiction, so it is quite easy for me to set my ideas or interests into his world, with more or less accuracy, and explore those issues with his characters.
But writing a collection of experiences, using other actual people’s lives as a backdrop for one’s thoughts and “enlightened” opinions and judgments seem too vain to me nowadays when almost anyone can jump into a plane and fly, let us say, to Teheran, and witness on first hand how the plane suddenly transforms itself as the women begin dressing up for the landing, (and doing it herself, if she happens to be a woman too). BUt there's no plot or originality in telling the audience about that, or about a camel shepherd you met on a bus stop...In my case, I would need a strong plot line or a strong, interesting "point" to start weaving experiences together...I like travel books from a time when traveling was an adventure, and there were unknown or little known lands and different cultures, but that was quite long ago. I may have a great deal of experiences, but I believe there are too many "experiencial" books that just remain on the surface...and it would take a lot of effort on my part to just come up with the right plot thread to make that truly interesting. That's well beyond my reach, I admit.
I consider book writing ( not academic stuff or papers or essays) should stem from something else, true work of imagination, or a deeper and more meaningful translation of reality into something different. After all, I know people whose lives’ are far more exciting than mine, and people with lives apparently less exciting than mine who are capable of make them look more interesting and insightful! To put it shortly, I guess that to convince me to devote my spare time to dwell again upon the things I have gone through, I should have to come up with a potent reason *theme* that would make me bleieve that the reulting exercise would entertain the reader, but, above all, me while writing it!
So all this took me to wondering about writing, and world building, and my own preferences. Since the environment (natural, political and social) is also very important to me, I wondered whether building up a setting would consume my energies and leave me unable to write interesting characters and conflicts. So I would need a plot, or a conflict in which to base the worldbuiliding... or should it be the other way?
And it led me to begin collecting a list of "themes" which are filed in my computer under " conflicts," so I thought I would share.
In a very chaotic way, since I've been collecting these for some months now:
Good versus evil…in all the ranges of good vs evil.
Power magnifies your mistakes. Great power means great responsibilities and accountability. Duty and service. The price to pay.
Responsibility. Conflict of interests and principles. Beliefs versus reality. Consequences. Standing up to your deeds
Love. Of all kinds.
Compassion.
Hope without guarantees.
Moral ambivalence. The Land of Grey. Life isn’t in black and white.
Friendship, loyalty and trust. Betrayal and appearance.THe multifaceted Mrs Truth
Presumption, Assumption, and Perspective
Fate, free-choice, freedom and necessity. Can anyone escape?
People are people, beneath the surface or any label.
Corruption, Greed, and Complacency are cowardly and self-destructive. And unintelligent. And not economic choices in the long run.
Failure.
Vengeance does not make the pain go away.
Nothing lasts forever...not even Evil.
Every small destruction is part of the Larger Destruction, and every small good counts for the greatest Good.
Freedom -and chains- are carried within.
Lost causes are lost...but someone must fight for them. Giving up is not an option.
Something good can, shall, must, come out from every small or large evil
Laughter is the best medicine
Reality is an Onion
The needs of the many vs the needs of the few.
Exploring the (apparently) well known boundaries.
A person departs on a long trip and a different person returns.
You never end up learning, you never stop growing, and things are seldom what they seem.
Ennoblement. Reaching for something higher. “not a gaffer could tend his garden…”
Staying apart until you cannot stay apart any longer and necessity drags you to the front, against your own wisdom.
Fall and redemption. Nobility in the fall.
Beware of what you wish for, for it might come true. Or, Is this what I longed for , fought for, suffered for, or killed for, robbed for, ?
We just see a chapter of the tale, a portion of the picture, and it is difficult to know where this all is leading until you get there. Do not judge. Hindsight is not a good counsellor.
At times the greatest bravery is betraying one’s principles in order to let a greater good, or a good for a greater number, happen.
At times, a life only gets its meaning when it meets death, and you may not survive to appreciate it.
ETA: Exile. (thanks to
meckinock )
I do not mean that these statements are my points, but rather conflicts and themes that I find interesting to explore, be it reading or writing about them.