Writer Camp, Day I

[whipchick]

In case anyone would like to follow along.

Nonfiction meets in a seminar room that feels straight out of Harry Potter - we're in a converted house called Sunset Cottage, in a room with walnut paneling and glass-fronted bookcases and a big square table that all 9 of us sit around.

IntroductionsThe teacher asked us to talk about our lives rather

Comments

Your notes, and punctuation

[drwex]

Sometimes semicolons are better than commas. I had to read starting with me: circus performer, ex-nun, philosophy professor, transgender MTF, advertising copywriter, Ph.D candidate ... three time before I parsed that it was not in fact a list about you. Or perhaps it was the leading colon that misled me. I was first shocked and amused and then bemused.

Your discussion of "truth" in writing reminds me of two things: in film the notion of "unreliable narrator." This is also done in writing, of course, but my two favorite examples come from film and of course I assume everyone has seen the films I think are important so you've seen (English) The Usual Suspects and (Japanese) Rashomon, right? Both are utterly brilliant, imo

The other thing is my own work as a photographer. I take pictures of people, usually at events. Afterward, when I am processing the photos I notice sometimes that I have only one shot of a particular person. If that shot is not good I feel a strange hesitation to excise it from the published album. It's almost as if I was making the (untrue) assertion that this person was not there, as my photos become something of a retelling of the event and its participants. The tension between creating a "true-er" representation of the past versus the better artistry of only using the good photos, if you see what I mean.

Re: Your notes, and punctuation

[whipchick]

ARRRGGHHHH! You are right and I am so glad you caught that! I remember going, "Hmmmm...there should be semicolons there..." and then I either got distracted or fell asleep. So thank you. Though I love the idea of being an ex-nun circus performer who is also MTF and a judge.

Love The Usual Suspects, and I've never seen the film of Rashomon but I have read the play. And I love unreliable narrators. It's not quite the same concept, but I love American Beauty and knowing from the beginning narration that Lester Bangs is moving towards his own death...

That's so interesting about the photos, too. Yes, I totally understand! I go through that with video of performances. I think I might have to write a short story about the way that the post-event visual narrative shapes the memory of the actual event. Or maybe about a guy who literally alters the past with the photos...

Re: Your notes, and punctuation

[drwex]

I love American Beauty

Eee! It's a fantastic movie. One of my favorites both from a narrative and from a cinematic perspective. It's from that period where I felt Spacey could do no wrong and Sam Mendes shoots the movie in a way that is so reminiscent of older movies I adore. One of the things I like most about that movie is that it's a man who is doing everything he can to be unflinchingly honest with his life.

You know Sartre said that the only time we can be fully honest is when we are about to die? (yes, I'm pretty Existentialist when pressed)

the way that the post-event visual narrative shapes the memory of the actual event

Have you read any John Crowley?