Another thought from the writing masterclass, on writing as a love affair. The speaker suggested that in a book (as opposed to in a thesis) we aim to seduce the reader, to make them fall in love with our voice. This means that the topic of the book is almost an excuse: we want the reader not to love our subject, but to love our 'take' on that subject. We are jealous (in the OT sense of a 'jealous' God!) of our readers' affections and attention, wanting them to be wholly ours. This has particular significance for the way we quote others. In a thesis, we quote others as 'authorities', because we are not presenting ourselves as authoritative. Their voices lend weight to ours. But in a book, we are careful not to allow the voices of others ever distract the reader from our, central, authoritative voice. To use the speaker's example, we would not want someone to sleep with us because we were friends with Kant'. But we might tell a joke about Kant to make ourselves look intelligent and attractive!
Again, I'm beguiled (I should say seduced!) by this analogy. But is writing really such an egotistical activity?
Again, I'm beguiled (I should say seduced!) by this analogy. But is writing really such an egotistical activity?
2 comments:
"But is writing really such an egotistical activity?"
Perhaps it is. And reading is an affective activity. I want to be 'seduced'. There are writers who do this very well and I am putty in their hands - I'll love their work regardless of what it's about. Have they done this on purpose?
On the other hand, there are authors that I hate to read - even if they're writing on my favourite subjects. Why is this? I can see that they're writing good stuff and they communicate well - but... I just can't be bothered reading it. Is this because they're not flirting with me (to continue the anaology)?
I love you all : )
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