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Post by girlyesterday on Oct 1, 2009 18:34:52 GMT -5
I've always wondered what the difference was. In my attempt to find out, I surfed the information highway and came across an interesting entry posted at goodreads. On Writing: Storytellers vs WritersWhat would you say you were? A storyteller or a writer? After reading through that entry, I have to admit that I am more of a storyteller. I'm certainly not a technical writer.
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Post by simusing on Oct 1, 2009 20:20:32 GMT -5
That's an interesting dichotomy.
I suppose that I am neither really.
I don't have the inherent brilliance of the described storyteller or the technical drive to become the true writer.
I have knowledge of technical writing that I have gained throughout my life, but I don't really make it my cause to learn what is 'proper'.
I am more interested in challenging the conventions then following the technical dictates of the literary world.
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Post by thelunarfox on Oct 1, 2009 20:21:49 GMT -5
"...they often content themselves with marvelously vivid and exciting daydreams shown in the privacy of their own minds. They are the ones on buses and subways, staring off without focus who abruptly smile, or laugh for no apparent reason..."
Wow, has someone been watching me? People always make fun of the way I walk because I'm usually so engrossed in whatever I'm thinking I either look angry or in a hurry. I try NOT to laugh when I think of something funny while standing around, but I do a lot of staring off into the distance.
I would say that I'm a story teller. Mostly because it is SO much less pressure. Grammar is something I know well enough to know when I'm doing it wrong, and no I really can't spell very well. But real writers can bend and twist the language so well, thinking up beautiful turns of phrase that make me just sigh wistfully.
As for the "show vs. tell" thing, I am very aware of that one. I think it's a biggie to remember. But I know that I won't always have the technical know-how to accomplish it.
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Post by Monday Morning on Oct 1, 2009 20:28:49 GMT -5
I would say that I'm a writer, most definately. This bit, "They are the ones with amazing, poetic prose and no plot or characterization at all," just about sums up my writing in a nutshell. I've always been strong with visualization and description, but most of my stories lack considerably with plot direction and characterization.
And, I honestly own a few books on writing, though I've never attended a class or seminar. Before I decided to switch my major (though I'm currently not attending college--not now with this US recession of ours) I wanted to be an English Literature major and take all of the writing courses I could to go along with that. But I still try to better myself, or at least I tell myself that I want to.
I recently rediscovered the "plot pyramid" because of my known weaknesses. It's funny, but in high school I could care less about the Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, etc. But now I wish I had paid attention a little more. And so I research and buy books on the craft and tell myself I'm going to be the best writer I can be.
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Post by Stacy on Oct 8, 2009 23:22:53 GMT -5
Sometimes I get an itch and go and look at the writing books in the bookstore. And my itch remains unscratched. I'm sure this doesn't apply to all writing books, but the ones in the corporate bookstores around here are for financially independent people with nothing better to do with their time than pretend that they're a writer. I especially liked the one that spent a whole paragraph on how it would be good to have enough money to not have to work while you write. You could practically hear the bones of proles crunching under the author's heels. And nothing in them is actually good. It's like how this one writing magazine was using an example once of some godawful scene with people bringing in groceries in a way that could be compared to a ballet dance. I think I was in midde school or early high school at the time and I was like, "Dude, this sucks. I can write better than this in my sleep." Seriously - no one cares about bringing in groceries and they definitely don't care about doing it using awkward ballet terms. So yeah - I've tried looking at that stuff but I've never found anything useful in it. It always seemed like it was for people who used dabbling in writing as a way to pass the time because they didn't have to work and they wanted to impress other people with their tortured artiste personas. It just screamed yuppie baby boomer. Which is also the fault I find in a lot of the stuff in the Buddhist section. Sigh. No classes or workshops or seminars or anything here. I mean, yeah, I took creative writing twice in high school but that was it. No, wait...I also accompanied my mother to a creative writing class she took for fun at night at the local community college when I was...I don't know, somewhere between 9 and 12. And yes, I was allowed to participate. I think that was actually the most fun I ever had in a class. On the other hand, I know the show and tell principle and I know what POV is and I most definitely know the difference between a metaphor and a simile. And my school spelling bee record is 4-1, and the year I lost I was the runner-up. And I do stuff like start telling the story of the tragic love of our straw wrappers when we go out to eat and expect my husband to join in. But when I say "No, you have to make it a story!" he just gives me a blank look. He prefers comedy over pretty dramas - maybe if I made the stories funny? But tragic love between straw wrappers is funny! So whatever, dude.
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Post by girlyesterday on Oct 9, 2009 2:00:13 GMT -5
Books on writing don't tend to be interesting reads. I've done a course on short story writing but it wasn't really anything I didn't already know. The only "writing" book I enjoyed reading was Stephen King on Writing. He's a really down to earth bloke given how successful he is as a writer.
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Post by raquelaroden on Oct 9, 2009 5:37:13 GMT -5
I had to think about this one for a while before answering. I think I lean more on the storyteller side of things, because even though I'm a decent speller, and have a decent grasp of grammar, etc., I don't think those things really define my writing style. I certainly cannot write particularly beautiful constructions of sentences, or think up particularly interesting or vivid descriptions.
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Post by laura on Oct 9, 2009 7:49:32 GMT -5
Carnaxa, oooh, I also highly recommend Stephen King's On Writing. He's maybe *the* most successful storyteller of our generation and yes, like you said, very honest and down to earth about it. I like how he treats writing as a job that he goes to every day - not nine to five from the beginning, but simply showing up every day, even when it isn't inspired, or pretty, or even productive. Because that's when the real work gets done. I've heard countless stories of writers who published their first books only because they showed up to their story every single day, a couple hours before they went into work in the morning, or in the few hours their children were napping, or forgoing their evening TV. Anyway, onto the task at hand... Stacy, I definitely see the humor in a romance between straw wrappers! Lunar: "Because it's SO much less pressure." LOL, too true! I try tell myself that sometimes too! In fact, I think I have a whole blog entry brewing about the avoidance method of dealing with our fears As far as storyteller vs. writer goes, I'd have to say I'm both, equally maybe. There's nothing wrong with being just a storyteller, and in fact, most of the bestsellers you'll read are likely just storytellers (and to be honest, not very good writers at all). There's nothing wrong with that though, their books sell, and their stories entertain. There is, however, something wrong with just being a writer. Pretty writing alone can't carry a story. Pretty writers who can't tell stories should probably actually be poets. Not that there's anything wrong with poetry either, lol. My husband is a poet But anyway, I am a storyteller for sure, because I'm fascinated by the evolution of my characters and the way it shapes a story - on the other hand, I can certainly amuse myself writing a paragraph that does nothing more than describe the sound of dead silence against the clinking of ice dropping in an ice machine... But descriptive writing isn't arbitrary either - in fact, when writing, nothing should ever be arbitrary. I love how in another thread around here, you all were talking about how it doesn't matter what color a character's hair is, but only what that color or style says about the character, like a mousy brown color, or a mullet cut. So I spent time writing about silence and ice machines because I was trying to create an atmosphere. LOL, I told you guys I was long-winded! I bet you'll be wishing I never found you here So anyway, I'm both. And I'll venture to say that some of you here who claimed not to be, are both as well. For sure!
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Post by thelunarfox on Oct 9, 2009 8:31:41 GMT -5
I like how he treats writing as a job that he goes to every day - not nine to five from the beginning, but simply showing up every day, even when it isn't inspired, or pretty, or even productive. I read an autobiography on Asimov once and he used to do the exact same thing. He would take writing as a job, and even write on vacation. Drove his family nuts. While I wouldn't advocate driving the family nuts, writing everyday is an awesome idea. So I spent time writing about silence and ice machines because I was trying to create an atmosphere. If anyone could do that and do it well, it would be you. That would be the benefit of being a storyteller and a writer. Maybe we should have a thread where people can post interesting pieces like that. I would start it, but I don't have an interesting piece like that to share. LOL, I told you guys I was long-winded! I bet you'll be wishing I never found you here Psh! Not nearly long enough.
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Post by laura on Oct 9, 2009 10:55:24 GMT -5
Lunar, yes, we definitely shouldn't drive our families nuts! (Though, I do drive my hubby nuts sometimes. Especially when I get a story in my head at night and have to get out of bed to write it! Anyone else do that?) But I do give myself vacations and weekends, just like a real job
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Post by mdpthatsme on Oct 15, 2009 18:55:26 GMT -5
In the old terms a storyteller was someone who told stories outloud, which is one of the points by Homer of The Odsessy. Writers were philosophers back then. Nowadays, things have much changed. I am partial to being a storyteller as that thread said, but I also fit in the writers category. I can give a story a plot and go with it for ages. Or I can make a point about nothing and go for ages. But I agree with thelunarfox someone has been watching us.
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Post by luke2009 on Jan 8, 2010 19:28:21 GMT -5
I think i'm a strange mixture of both of them, but i think i'm more of a storyteller than a writer. Whilst i love playing with language and grammar and seeing what happens i don't like to stick to rules or anything like that. If i put a colon somewhere it's because i want to put a colon there and i think it works for the story i'm telling, not because i think it should go there because that's what a book told me once.
I find it quite irritating when people try to tell me how to write. It's like teaching people how to do art in the 'right' way - it's ridiculous. Writing should come from your soul, it doesn't matter if your soul doesn't want you to use a semicolon as long as you're conveying the emotion that you want to put across to the readers.
There's a wonderful page in Margaret Atwood's 'Surfacing' right at the end when the narrator loses all need for grammar or proper spelling and her voice just fades away in to nature and it's really powerful - but it's powerful because it's different. It wouldn't be powerful if it was correct, because the point wouldn't have been proved properly.
Sorry...i ranted...
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Post by mdpthatsme on Jan 9, 2010 16:05:15 GMT -5
The thing about being a writer is that you're suppose to have the freedom of making your own writing style. l uke2009: whilst, I haven't seen that word in a long time. Thoroughly, enjoyed that! Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper
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