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References!

The legalese. Thrilling. 

Barry, P 2009, Beginning Theory: an introduction to literary and cultural theory, Manchester University Press, Manchester. Disher, G 2001, Writing fiction: an introduction to the craft, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, N.S.W.  Frédéric Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude, Op 28, No. 15, video, YouTube, July 13, viewed 17 October 2015, < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OFHXmiZP38> The Prince of Egypt - 12 - When You Believe, video, YouTube, July 13, viewed 17 October 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCteJY1-Zkk Infamous 2: The Blue Soundtrack OST - The Beast, video, YouTube, July 13, viewed 17 October 2015,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQNaR9Ju1FI  Hall & Oates ~ You Make My Dreams Come True, video, YouTube, July 13, viewed 17 October 2015,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_I4wtNPv5w

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Creative Artefact: a title.

I have a title and an ending in mind.  Wonderful.  A Shattered Note. 

Watch that that relate to every single layer of the artefact. Just wait. 

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Personal: Without music, stories would never come out of me. Mostly bad jokes, and like, a limerick here or there.

Music is the greatest aid for me when writing stories. I was considering writing something sarcastic and witty, but I felt it would be disingenuous. 

Music is soul. Without it, I would not be the writer I am today. 

When I’m out and about in the world, chances are you’ll see me with headphones jammed into my ears. Chances are that I’ll be listening to a new album every few days. 

It just developed, as my reading skills developed as a child. I was tutored in piano, and something clicked within me. When I wrote and imagined to music, rather than a cacophony of sound and image, they melded together.

It-it’s much like a soundtrack, to the images, conversations and characters that form in my head. The mood of the scene changes and suits to the music I’m listening to at the time.

I composed a conversation between two aristocrats, dancing amidst broken chandeliers, to the sounds of the song embedded above. Chopin, beautiful, powerful. The music built to a climax, as did the dance. 

Musical numbers are a great influence on me. They are sources of dialogue, character and the titular trumpeting of theme. I composed a story of two boys, one aspiring to be an aviator, the other a winemaker, set in the dusty streets of Old Jerusalem. The crescendo of this song, from the iconic animated film The Prince of Egypt (1998) around 4 minutes in, mirrors the climax of the story.

Soundscapes. For me, they are my bread and butter. Instrumentals to me, help me define character. And, in storytelling, I believe character is your starting point. This song, from hit video game Infamous 2 (2011), became my general theme for composing the personality of a super-villain, obsessed with the concept of reincarnation. The horns in the song, utterly chilling. 

Whilst this is a general overview, it is these three genres of music-classical, musical number, soundscape-that defines and has shaped me as a writer. 

I’ve tried to write without music before, and whilst passable, to me, it always lacks a sense of purpose or soul. A machine shredded and cankering, tumbling through plot. With music, it’s smooth, well-oiled, powerful. 

I mean, whenever I finish a story, you’ve gotta have a celebration song, am I right? 

Right? 

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Creative Artefact: a shared world.

To be fairly honest, my creative artefact is a love letter to my love of science fiction, and classical music.  Wait.  I’ve done that before. With a previous assignment. It’s kind of the point, though.  From a theoretical point of view, I want to explore the idea of a shared narrative setting. Wherein a world can be built to house many different kinds of narratives. Consider Star Wars, Harry Potter or Jurassic Park. Shared worlds, that allow narratives to be told within them. 

Fusing this notion, I want to utilise my strengths as a writer (dialogue, character stories, emotion) and meld it with an attempt to work on some of my weaknesses (third person viewpoint, description, flow of action and pace), to create a story that advances and helps me grow as both a writer, and a creator.  The narrative itself will take place over three different spans in a single person’s life.  A girl by the name of Susannah. She will begin as a child. She will mature. She will harden. And, in the end, she will be. The piece will be set in the same universe as a previous short story I wrote, called Brahms No. 5, but will hopefully explore a different set of characters, a different theme, and co-exist without much trouble.   That is the hope.  Well, let’s see if I can work magic again.  

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Theory 4: Exegetical special guest! Mr Narratology, ladies and gentleman! Give a round of applause!

Guests, and esteemed readers, we have a special piece of theory for you tonight! Brief and to the point, our fourth and last major look at theory, the Zephyr to the other four winds, our exegetical emeritus: Narratology!

Notes taken on Narratology

Narratology is the study of stories. We must define the difference between story and plot. Think of a scotch. I prefer Johnny Walker Black. In this instance, imagine you take a drink. The plot of that is you, esteemed reader, took a drink. The story can be so much more, it is, as Barry defines, the “telling” or “narrative account” of it. You gargled the scotch, crunching the ice between your teeth. Wonderful. You spat it out, spluttering. You thought the man across the counter would find that handsome, bracing, but no, indeed, you just feel like an idiot.   You let the burning gulp whip down your throat, and it feels like it did when you were young, and raring, with time endless, and horizons to find. There is the distinction. Story can be reduced to plot. Plot can never be reduced to story.

“Narratives are universally used for mediating emotional experiences. The purpose of aesthetic objects has been defined, in part, as 'the awakening, intensifying, or maintaining of definite emotional states' (Lee, 1913: 99–100). When we read or hear stories, we put aside our own goals and plans, and we temporarily replace our own goals and plans with those of the story characters.” –Mikkel Wallentin.

Thoughts on Narratology

Stories are what make us. We all have this compulsion to spin a yarn, to make a tail. The study of such stories is a noble pursuit. To find the trends and skews that inhabit all of our tales. The hero. The villain. The mentor. Such tropes are inherent in most stories. But, we are aware of them now, in a time where post-modernism reigns. So, we must try and subvert them. This, more than anything, is where I feel narratology is important. It documents both the original tropes, and the subversion within narratives throughout the ages.

Who wouldn’t want to know where stories come from?

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Week 7 Exercise: Roy, the dapper, the daring.

Ah, boy.  How could I resist putting this up here? Like, it’s a not even a question for me.  Salt and pepper hair in sporadic tufts frame a weathered face. Strong, seen many years. Well dressed. most times I see him. His right hand, marker in a vice, scrawls across the board. His posture is stoic, broad shouldered. Perhaps he has been one for the trades, earlier in life. His drawl oscillates between Irish tinge and orator’s boom.  Everything he is does not evoke frailty or age. More like stone weathered by wind. Still solid, near immovable, but accepting of time’s march. 

(Hey, I see that marking pen! Hey! It was mostly complimentary! Why is it hovering over the Credit box, oh no you don’t, hey, why yo-) 

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Week 7: Character

Interpretation of what the character is like.

Appearance 

Speech. 

Thought.

Action.

It is in these five guidelines for character that the basic template for personality can be formed. Good stuff. When I first started writing, a long, long time ago, these were omnipresent in my mind. Now, not so much. I trust myself to keep all of these bubbling under the surface. Been working so far for me.

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Theory 3: Modernism & Post-modernism: a penny of what if, and why?

Notes taken on Modernism & Post-modernism 

The period of time where post-modernism became a reality was none other than the 1980’s. Wat. No. Noooo. Now is the tiem for the misunderestimating of tiem itself. Whar then. What Did all mie time go: This is mei tiem go This is mei tiem go. This is mei tiem. Men. Not mine. Mine?! Boom Ded.

An example of post-modern text. In this, it is completely understandable, though completely devoid of narrative logic. Its definitions are muddled by deliberate misspelling. There is clarity, and yet, inversely a lack of it.

Thoughts

Absolutely superb. Writing like this, and eschewing of traditional rules makes me happy. In chaos, there is some innovation, and I believe post-modernism asks the question not why,but why not?

At its high point, as found through authors such as T.S Elliot, Virginia Wolfe and Franz Kafka, modernism took writing and literature, and changed it. As Barry outlines (2009, p. 34), modernism and later, post-modernism placed a great emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity, a ‘blurring of genres’, changing, and a new liking for ‘fragmented forms’ and discontinuous narrative. All of this is highlighted in the passage above. Whilst a narrow lens towards post-modernism, we must innovate and change literature as the years go by. Saying ‘what if?’ is a fantastic way to do so. What if Arthur hadn’t taken Excalibur? What if Mufasa hadn’t died? What if Elizabeth had completely refused Mr Darcy? Each of these are a post-modern approach. An approach worth exploring. 

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Week 6: The business, the bold, and the creative!

We had a special guest today, a published author, aiming for the commercial aspect of publishing.  Interesting, to say the least.  Some of the things she said involved:  Networking/communities (be a part of it!)  Pitches at conventions! Do it! Be succinct! Find out the specific guidelines of your publishers, notice trends in your genre.  Publishers want social media presences, yo. If you don’t Facebook, you don’t publish, dawg.  Traditional publishers have a place, as does self-publishing. Know your market, and your skills, and work towards that.  I mean, to be fairly honest, this is advice I already know. For the last five years, I’ve made it my business to know about the publishing industry, and my particular genre’s trends. It’s necessary, for what I want to achieve, and also good knowledge to be aware of, and entertain. 

If I want to be a New York Times Bestselling Author by the time I’m thirty, gotta find some strategies, yo. 

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Week 5: Shakespeare being a wordy pro.

Things that came from Shakespeare, the magnificent playwright he is.  Tower of strength.  Green eyed monster. Love is blind.  In a pickle! Wear your heart on your sleeve. 

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Week 5 Exercise: What a Mad Analysis. Heh.

I analysed Gary Jules’ version of Mad World in the lenses of structuralism and liberal humanism.   Structuralism

Larger contexts, larger structures: the song itself is a cover for popular 80’s band Tears for Fears.

A homage that superseded the original version in popularity.

Context: A popular usage for the song was in post-modern film Donnie Darko, the themes within the film resonating with those explored in the lyrics.

Liberal Humanism

A close reading of the words on the page: “The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had.” This strikes me as a sense of nihilism or hopelessness within the character.

The character itself seems to be both isolated, and fed up with his current reality, the sameness of it, where difference and change are sparse.

The ending of the song is a plea of sorts. “When people run in circles, it’s a very, very Mad World, world.” “Enlarge your world.” In this, you need to make your reality a world that you wish to personally live in.  

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Personal: Emotions are fuel.

Do you use emotion to fuel your stories? I do. Sometimes, that’s dangerous. Sometimes the emotions you need to draw on require accessing the darker parts of your humanity. I feel odd whenever I need to reach deep into that side of myself. Conversely, accessing the happier parts of myself is always a boon. Witty banter, snapshots of beautiful landscapes. Glorious fun.  I mean, it’s all there. It allows me to craft dialogue, character and narratives that play on people’s emotion. But, even still. Dangerous. 

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Week 4 Exercise: Six Word Stories! Like, six of them. Heh.

Economic meltdown! Wanted: Touch of Midas. The sun set. The world died. I love them, graves and all. Forever, the dog sat by him. I want him, hooves and all. Wanting strong dragon. Need to conquer! 

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Week 4 Exercise: What do you see?

Imagine approaching a building or a person, what is it like? a) Visually, what do you see? b) Hearing, what do you hear? c) Smell, what do you smell? d) Touch, what is the texture when you touch?

Brick. Layered, running in odd, almost abstract patterns. Some of the structures are broken, shards of ochre peppering the grass, overgrown over the years. Craters. They’re still here. The scent of mildew lingers. Rained recently. Yesterday, today, it don’t matter. The mud that clings to my suede shoes and faded jeans, more so. A faint breeze whistles; the tinkling of chimes a few metres away, a sombre song. I’m here. My hand rests on the blackened doorframe. It slides inside, and I hiss. A splinter, blood mixed in with ash, throbbing in my left thumb. My teeth clamp around it, and I rip it out with a pained grunt. Looking up, the ruins stare back. Not even the wind comes here. Silence and the collective memories of who came before.  

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Theory 2: Liberal Humanism and timelessness.

Notes taken on Liberal Humanism

Hello, fellow human. 

I, Trent Dimitri Argirov, will now teach you about the greatness of Liberal Humanism. All hail Humanism. Liberally. I mean, let’s not go overboard. 

Ahem. 

Liberal Humanism involves certain tenets: 

Close reading of words on the page, utilising analysis.

The text, when applied to Liberal Humanism, must be isolated from everything else-historical context, social context. It must be judged by the work itself.

“Literature according to the Liberal Humanist is not for an age, but for all time.” (Ben Johnson.) “Literary texts contain their own meaning.”  Thoughts Liberal Humanism, at its core, believes that literature is to teach by delighting, or in a contemporary sense, to entertain. 

In a sense, I follow this literary theory. I believe literature should entertain, first and foremost. But, at the same time, I hunger to find and create literature that entertains, and challenges norms and perceptions. 

Literature that paves the future. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Odyssey. Harry Potter. Each of these books jump started a cultural phenomenon. The liberal humanist believes that such idea, to hold it through the lens of culture is wrong. 

I believe that is incorrect, or at least narrow minded. We need literature to change the way we think, to entertain both our emotions, and spark our intellect. 

Liberal Humanism is a way to do this, but not necessarily the whole of it. 

As Barry notes, in his ten tenets of Liberal Humanism, “Good literature is of timeless significance; it somehow transcends the limitations and peculiarities of the age it was written in…speaks to what is constant in human nature.” (2009, p. 17) 

It is this, this part of Liberal Humanism that I believe in. Timelessness. Works that define and shape our future. 

I want to contribute to that. More, more than anything

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Theory 1: Structuralism, order and the chicken.

Notes taken on structuralism

Organize the experience fundamental to the way humans perceive and organise reality.

“The bottom line…structuralism…essence, the belief that things cannot be understood in isolation.”

“They have to have seen in the context of the larger structures they’re a part of.”

Thoughts Simply put, structuralism defines literature as something that must be considered and compounded with the greater structures of humanity.

Meaning is not inside things. It is always outside of things. Meaning is given by the human mind.

Honestly, in this, direct opposition to Liberal Humanism in found. As Disher states (2009, p. 39), with a simple egg and chicken metaphor, the structuralist is obsessed with finding the structure or meaning outside any given text, while the liberal humanist is obsessed with the text itself. Simply put: the individual against the larger picture. 

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Theory: books, the wild beasts!

Texts abundant with literary theory!

Sometimes, when we don’t know enough about a particular topic, we and our inquisitive minds decide to find out a little more. 

But, before the age of the Internet, we searched for knowledge in books! From ye olde scribes and monks from way back when, with mad sick calligraphy skills, our massive databases were once books; grimoires and repositories of information. For this course, and blog, I will primarily be referencing two books:  Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory by Peter Barry. Writing Fiction: An introduction to the craft by Garry Disher. It is in these two texts that we will find the theory we need to understand and know, and the power and technique to create stories, narratives, to spin creation and fiction with our fingers.