How helpful is exploring new forms of writing?

In a word? Very.

I first realized this when I worked at People magazine. Before then, I had identified myself solely as a fiction writer. I thought there was far more art involved in making up narratives that move people than in simply relaying on paper what you see or hear (which, I regret to say, I ignorantly thought was the extent of journalism). Celebrity "news coverage"--such as, one memorable time, what Rob Lowe ordered to drink at some bar in Louisiana--aside, it didn't take long for me to recognize and be in awe of the art and skill of being a good journalist.

Writing objectively and quickly about events and people in the world is an incredibly difficult thing. Most people insist that all journalists have biases, and of course that's true. But the good ones are able to push past their own opinions to tell a story to the world that is, as far as they understand, true. Not just factually accurate, but true. That involves stripping a story of the devices upon which fiction depends--metaphor, point of view, and embellishment are only a few--to reach the essence of what is happening. I realized that the same stripping down could be very powerful in fiction. (Ever heard of Hemingway?) Pared down isn't my natural style, but it's one I've learned to use to benefit a scene, moment, or character.

Now I'm working on putting together a dramatic screenplay for a client. It's my first foray into this unique form of storytelling, and it's been a learning experience. Talk about pared down! In screenplay writing, the story is all in how characters interact with each other. This means realistic dialogue--not flowery language. This means subtlety and restraint. Some of the most moving films are so powerful because they are subtle. The Reader with Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes is a fantastic recent example. The story is in the fine, shifting, subtle expressions on Winslet's character's face; in the short, almost curt way her lines are delivered, which belies an aching vulnerability and coiled strength. To achieve this in a screenplay is, I'm realizing, extremely, extremely difficult. As in literature, any moment that strikes the reader (or viewer) as true requires an alchemy of luck, intense dedication, and the moments of understanding that come like magic.

What new forms of writing have you experimented with recently? How did the experience affect your other work?

06.07.2009. 13:43

This article hasn't been commented yet.