Yes, this is a Reflections on Craft Post. Skip as you desire.

[idiosyncreant]

I am reading Audition by Michael Shurtleff.
It's one of the books where if you are willing to think in metaphor a little, is a perfect writing book, though not about writing. Because it is about art, and about story.

"One great missing ingredient in current acting is romance. Everyone secretly wants romance, but in these harsh, "realistic" days, no one will openly admit it. ... We must be hard, to live in the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate era of disillusionment.
    But what has made EQUUS such a phenomenal success? Romance. And ANNIE HALL and ...  A CHORUS LINE and  STAR WARS and PIPPIN. Shakespeare's plays retain their undiminished popularity because they are ever-lasting romances. Yet most of the creators of these shows would deny that they are romances. ...Romance has gone out the window. It is time to bring it back."


I think this is a key to the more recent culture of stories.
Twilight, Harry Potter and the Various Face of Evil, The Da Vinci Code...hey, even the goth and then emo youth cultures embraced the drama of the Romance, in a fairly reactionist way.
(Since this book is from '78, as placed fairly clearly in that snippet, I am extrapolating beyond a point the author could.)

Romance being a story that is made up, that focuses on narrative be it an adventure, a journey of maturing, or an affair of the heart.


So. I'm rewriting the ending of one of the volumes of Aolon, The Epic That I Can't Name For The Life of Me. But the bones of the story keep drawing me back, because it is fairly high-scoring in the drama and romance department.

I just need to tear down the melodramatics of its adverbs and give the characters a few better lines.

Comments

[remus-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I think it's hilarious that he pegs romance as the secret to Equus's success. :) You might be on to something with everything else, though...

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was more of a factor before Daniel Radcliffe In The Buff?


...then again, maybe not. I wouldn't know.

[fabricalchemist.livejournal.com]

I think I have to agree wholeheartedly. People are bereft of mystery and romance in their lives to the point where they cling to lies to keep the illusion. Everyone wants some kind of magic in their lives, some sort of little something that makes it all special.

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Ironically, I was reading this for a little inspiration this morning, as I responded to your entry.

Sorry for going all Wise Master on you there... ^_^

Inspiration comes from the oddest places, though, and it rarely stays for more than tea--I think artists frustrate themselves too much running after it when it's not the inspiration that matters as much as executing the piece inspired by sweat afterward.

I am going to be posting again today.
I may not be a caps queen, but I make up for it in volume. (And I *don't* post several times a week, just to not annoy people...)

[fabricalchemist.livejournal.com]

For the most part I can powerhouse through and finish things; it's not a matter of inspiration (though it always helps). But with this story I feel like...I shouldn't force it in any way. It grew like wildfire over the course of seven months, shifting into place like a rubiks cube -- but I was too busy to write any of it. I am wondering if the inspiration sprung itself from that harried exhaustion, and I am hoping that it is not so.

PS Is someone posting too often for your liking? Too capped? MAYBE SOMEONE ISNT CONCERNED ABOUT ANNOYING PEOPLE OH SNAPZ

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

I'm too busy being paranoid about overwhelming people (with my charming enthusiasm for life?) to even keep track of how often other people post, except to envy those who have enough readers to get at least a dozne comments tho' they may post four times in one day.

Plus, if you're not angsting about submissions and being bitter every day, I have no problem with frequent post. It gives me something more to read while I'm not working.

Also, I love caps when used by people with a sense of humor about it.

@)~ *love* <3

[fabricalchemist.livejournal.com]

I feel bad if I post more than once a week, but I end up caving around Tuesday and by then it's already ruined my track record so I may as well go on with it. and the caps are at least semi-ironic :P