Wednesday, March 1, 2017

IWSG: The Fiction Is My Second Language Edition... (#27)


Insecure Writers' Support Group (IWSG) is a really awesome meme that you should be doing along with the rest of us writers. Unless you truly are happy with your writing and don't feel the need to vent about your insecurities because they don't exist for you. But, really.... Don't they?  
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blogAlex J. Cavanaugh.


Oh-ho, I am back from the dead of winter to meet you all in the fair month of March. I told you I wouldn't rear my head again for the rest of the year after that last blog post in December. (I'm so consistent about procrastinating. At least that's something.)

The topic I have chosen to write about today may seem rather odd. What in the world could I mean by saying, "fiction is my second language"? Yeah, what am I talking about? Well, this is something that has recently occurred to me after several years of suppression: I do and always have struggled with writing FICTION over another form of story-telling, that being stage play-writing....

What I mean is that when I first began to tell stories many years ago, mostly back in my college days, I was doing so in the form of dramatic stage plays, not fiction. In fact, I remember taking writing classes that required me to write poetry, fiction and drama and I always sucked at poetry (I snorted as I wrote this), struggled with fiction a fair amount, but truly exceeded my own and everyone else's expectations when it came to dramatic stage writing.

I don't know why, but it came more naturally to me. It just leads me to believe that, like anyone living in a country other than their own native country and who was raised away from that adopted land, the second language doesn't come as naturally as the first.

I decided it wasn't feasible to become a playwright in this day and age. When was the last time you went to the theater to see a play? And, not a musical, because we all know musicals are doing just fine, but I'm not Andrew Lloyd Webber. The stage play has seen better days. I won't even go into how incoherent the typical modern play is by now. You probably know what I'm talking about.... 

It is true that, for me, sitting in a theater and watching a live play is more transcendent than anything else I can think of, other than sitting through a musical, but we already established I'm not musically gifted or skilled. I knew I had to go a more realistic story-telling route, so I chose fiction. Trust me, it IS more realistic than writing stage plays.

Like an immigrant to a foreign land who must adopt the language of the natives in order to live and get by in their new environment, that's what I've been doing for twenty years with writing fiction. It just doesn't come to me as easily as telling a story through the dramatic medium.

This is just an interesting observation I recently made and it has helped me in understanding why I struggle so much with fiction. It makes sense now. It's like I forgot I'm not really from here. I would probably do that if I moved to a foreign country--just utterly forget my American roots if I lived long enough away from them.

But, like any of Hamlet's soliloquies, knowing this is not going to solve any of my problems. Though, I will be more inclined to forgive myself for not keeping up with the natives.

As for the IWSG Question of the Month: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?

It's such funny timing because that's exactly what I've been doing. I realized it's been too long since I shared anything I've written with... anyone, really. So, I've pulled out an old fan fiction and am dusting it off (revising it) to share it on Archive of Our Own (AO3). It's time I stretched out these "sharing" legs of mine with something I actually finished once upon a time. If only I could finish something original that I could sell to an audience!

26 comments:

  1. I hadn't really thought about the differences between writing fiction and plays. Very interesting! It's been ages since I've seen a play. I do enjoy them when I see them, but it isn't very often. Cheers - Ellen

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    1. It seems like telling a story is just telling a story, but how really does make a difference. Thanks for dropping by!

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  2. Didn't Rowling just write a stage play for HP? Have you tried screenplays? Those seem to be in demand. Yay for re-working an old idea! Good luck!

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    1. I don't think she actually wrote that stage play. It was two other guys. I have written screenplays before and they are easier, just like stage plays. But, that's another avenue even harder to go down than the stage. Thanks for your comment!

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  3. I TOTALLY hear you about the stage. It's such a different beast. I think script writing for film is closer to stage play than noveling, but hey, both avenues work. And you're definitely more likely to get a book out than a script turned into film...unless you know someone. Or several someones. Here's wishing you the best as you forge forward with this current project!

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    1. Very true. Script writing is Hollywood! Everyone knows that's as saturated as you can get. I've already attempted that years ago, anyway. Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. Then you know. We went the NYC route. Whew! Brutal, proprietary world...

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  4. Good luck with the fan fiction. It sounds like fun.

    Doesn't a stage play and screenwriting mostly just deal with the dialogue. I could imagine they would be a whole lot different than writing a novel.

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    1. Yep, they are mostly dialogue and how you can convey a story through mostly dialogue. It's not as easy as it sounds, especially for fiction writers used to relying on inner monologue or the third-person narrator. Thanks for dropping by, Ken!

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  5. You're right--it has been years since I've seen a play that isn't a musical. Musicals are huge around here. Every middle and high school does one and both of my daughters join the fun.

    As for fiction, I've been a heavy reader since second grade so it feels like home. A messy, unpredictable one though.

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  6. I wrote a one act play back in college and it was actually chosen to be performed in a festival. Totally shocked me! :) I do enjoy going to plays - I just haven't been to any in awhile. Hmm, maybe I need to change that....

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  7. Yeah...I miss theater. I was a drama geek in my day. Good luck with your fan fiction!!
    www.jessicatherrien.com

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  8. One of my very successful writing friends also works in a small local theater where they put on locally written plays during the summer months. I guess people still do it, but it's not easy

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  9. I haven't done it professionally but the first things I wrote were comedy sketches I performed in my drama club at school. I think it's good grounding for fiction because you have to build tension and atmosphere with mainly just dialogue - not easy. No reason why you can't do both!

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  10. Well, at least you know where your gift is. Another member of the IWSG is a playwright, and she's had small things produced, but nothing big.
    I couldn't write poetry either!

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  11. Good point about plays. And the movie/TV industry is tough to break into. I knew a romance author once who was told by a Hollywood agent that if she wanted to break into the industry, the best way was to write a bestselling book. That's not easy in itself, by any means, so that says a lot about how hard it is to get in as a screenwriter!

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  12. I love theatre, but I rarely get to see a live production. The last was ""Death of a Salesman" about two years ago. But I am in awe of anyone who has tried to write plays! Wow! It seems to me, if you can write plays, Cathy, you can write fiction! So stretch those legs and keeps writing! Good luck!

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  13. The first thing I wrote was a play. I think I was in sixth grade at the time. My friends and I performed it. I also took a playwrighting class in college, which was a lot of fun. You could write screenplays. They don't have to be just for the stage. It's tough to break in, but sometimes you can start small (local theater/college/etc.). Or you could write a play first and then spread it out into fiction form. There's a lot of potential in it. :)

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  14. Not that I write anymore but if I did I could never write plays. I used to as a kid but was no good. Frankly, I suck at fiction too. Aw well.

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  15. I can see what you mean about plays and all that, but have you considered hooking up with a local theater? I know it's cheesy, but if you have plays, people will perform them. I only bring it up because there are still little theaters all over the place, even in my small town there are quite a number of plays and theaters. Happy writing!

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  16. I'm trying to think if there's a way for you to channel your natural instincts for writing plays into a novel.... At the moment I'm reading a book that's written in letter form. I wonder if there's some way you can wrote a whole novel as though it's a play? Hmmm something to brainstorm.

    It's a great revelation to have regardless. Gaining insight into your own writing habits is priceless.

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    1. I'm considering writing my stories out as plays first and then transcribing them into novels afterwards. It couldn't hurt to try it, at least.

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  17. I have written in various formats, but I've only written a play once, a long time ago, as part of a play-writing course.As you say, plays have seen better times and it's seemed harder than I could cope with to write in that format, as I wasn't sure about my potential audience. Good luck with the fan fiction you are polishing to share.

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  18. I would imagine writing plays is difficult and give people who can do it a lot of credit!

    Awesome that you are dusting off and older piece and getting ready to share it. :)
    ~Jess

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  19. I would think that the thought process while writing plays would be a very different one than it would be for writing other pieces.


    www.ficklemillennial.com

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  20. It great that you are getting ready to publish something new! All the best!

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