Literary Excellence

What is literary excellence? Well, literary pertains to literature, which is the writing/reading of books, poems, essays, etc.. Excellence basically means to surpass, be superior to, or outdo others in the same area, in this case, literature.

So what makes for excellent literature? In my opinion, if a writer can master the basics of their writing form, e.g., setting, plot, character, etc. for fiction, and then imbue it with a creativity that makes the reader care about what they are reading, then they have gone above and beyond the norm into the realm of excellence. Many are those who can write a story. Few are those who can write something where the reader truly cares for, identifies or at least sympathizes with, the characters described by these little, black, squiggly lines thrown together into words and sentences. When an author can elicit an emotional attachment to the writing, then I'd consider that writing as literary excellence.

Who would I nominate for an award for literary excellence? J.K. Rowling. This author has almost single-handedly brought recreational reading back into the home, when paper-based literature seemed all but condemned to classrooms and estate sale libraries. What was it about the Harry Potter stories that struck such a chord in so many people? Literary excellence.

I owe my life to this book or poem

This post is in response to the question posed by the Professor, "

Have you ever read a book, story or poem that saved your life?"

Since I don't believe I've ever been seriously, intentionally suicidal, I can't really credit anything I've read as affecting me so deeply that it changed my mind from proceeding with any sort of self-inflicted doom.

Nor do I have any fantastic stories of botched subway muggings where my well-worn copy of Catcher in the Rye miraculously stopped a bullet from penetrating my chest, or perhaps a what-if scenario where I thought, "Had I not stopped off at Barnes & Noble to buy Dubliners that day, I would have been on the transit bus that overturned and exploded, killing everyone on board."

I suppose I can, however, credit books in general for changing my life. I was one of those people, you think can't possibly exist, who made it through 12 years of schooling without ever reading a book from cover to cover. Yep. That's me. I won't go into the details of how I accomplished this feat and still graduated high school, but it's true.

Then, when I was 19 or so years old, I used to hang out in a student center at the local community college while a friend went to night classes and I needed something to do to pass the time. I grabbed a paperback from the local bookstore called Say You Love Satan, a true-crime type non-fiction story about some Long Island teenagers, with whom I identified (based on the cover photos) due to their life-style, musical tastes, age, etc., who dabbled in some devil worship which lead to one kid brutally murdering another kid over something petty. Oh, in case you're wondering, the murderer kept commanding the victim to, "Say you love Satan!" and continued stabbing him when he wouldn't, hence the title.

Anyway, it might not have been a literary classic by any means, but it was interesting enough to keep me reading all the way through. I was hooked. Finally, something I could read for my own interest. Next up was a hefty 1000-page fiction set in post-apocolyptic America (very similar to Stephen King's The Stand) by Robery McCammon called Swan Song, which to this day remains one of my favourite books ever.
I devoured it in a week.

Then the beginning of the end came. My future mother-in-law turned me on to the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre, recommending I start with The Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This sword & sorcery trilogy was the beginning of a series of dozens of Dragonlance books, all based on the same setting and history, most of which I eventually read more than twice.

After that, it didn't really matter what I read. I alternated between heavy classics like The Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, and Paradise Lost, and lighter fare like the Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Frankenstein, Dracula, etc.. I don't think I've gone more than a few weeks ever since without being in the middle of reading at least one book.

So how has this changed my life? Well, the love of reading has given me an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, without which I'd most likely have spent the past decade or so doing nothing but playing video games and perhaps working in some dead-end, minimum wage job, or finding myself on the wrong end of some knife wielding satanist, instead of spending those years seeking new knowledge and experiences through travelling or taking night classes in a variety of subjects from Latin to Children's Literature.

Therefore, I have to attribute much of what has made me into the person I'm proud be today to not just one, but books in general.

Conflict in Fiction

One of the elements of fiction that I've gained a new appreciation for due to both classroom lecture, and from reading the works of my peers, is the element of conflict. I had never really considered it as a necessary part of the plot of my writing before. I can spin a 10-page story that contains interesting character development, vivid descriptions of scenery and action, using creative language, and tell a tale about the experiences of the protagonist doing something really cool, but I'm finding that conflict really makes a big difference in reader interest. Why? It's human nature, I guess. But it's true. I am learning that I can take a perfectly serviceable story I wrote, which I had previously thought of as pretty good, and turn it into something really good, just by adding conflict.

Be it internal or external, conflict is a great way to build tension towards a climax. The greater the conflict, the greater the climax when it's finally resolved by the protagonist and it is this element that keeps the reader turning pages with interest. Why? Because they are identifying with the protagonist (hopefully) and putting themselves into the same situation, they know how they might handle the conflict presented, but they want to know how the protagonist will handle it.

The trick is finding new and interesting ways for your protagonist to deal with the conflict that your average reader might not have thought of. That's what keeps them interested. Who wants to read something predictable? And what makes it predictable is when they read your story and think to themselves, "Yep, that's what I thought they were going to do because that's what I would have done. Yawn."
But that challenge of creating something fresh and original is what makes writing fun and exciting. At least for me. I love trying new things. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not, but you won't know if you don't try.

Writing Prompts

In a way, I find the simple fact that there is a need for writing prompts kind of depressing. What happened to people that inspiration can no longer be found in everyday life? It is unfortunate, but I have to admit that I am as guilty as the next person. I find it difficult to just sit down and write. I usually need a focus, a prescribed muse.

As such, I found many of the writing prompts on Big Window and Amy's Alias extremely helpful and inspiring. Both blogs are full of ideas I would have never thought of on my own, yet once I read about them, I really wanted to try them.

Although it still bothers me that writing prompts are even needed, I figure that need is simply a product of modern social isolationism, and though we may no longer enjoy the bountiful fruit of varied interpersonal conversation in our everyday lives as occurred before the dominance of the internet, we can never go back to the way things were, but must press ever onward. Therefore, we of the writer's ilk must adapt and suckle inspiration wherever we may, or perish.

Epiphany and James Joyce

Having so far only read part of The Dead in Dubliners, by James Joyce, I don't really feel qualified to make criticism of his genius one way or the other. However, after some research into the reasons he is considered such a ground-breaking, influential author of twentieth-century western literature, I came across a recurring term used in reference to this author: epiphany. I had never before heard this term used with regard to a writing style, genre, or otherwise, so I found it intriguing. I thought I had a passing understanding of the term, but to be sure I looked it up on Dictionary.com and, sure as you're born, there were the usual religious references followed by these literary references:

3.	a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

4.	a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

Now, I've always been interested in the writings of Joseph Campbell, who wrote numerous books on the topic of myths, quests, rites of passage, ceremony, etc., and for some reason these concepts jumped to mind when I read these definitions of epiphany. Don't ask me why, I'm sure it has something to do with Abstraction Exercises...

As though I had experienced an epiphany of my own, I suddenly looked at the works of James Joyce from a fresh "Campbell-like" perspective of watching the protagonist on a collision course with change, whether they realize it or not. Something will happen to that character that will forever alter them. What will it be? Not only can I read his works with an apprentice's eye to learn from his technical expertise in character development, environmental description, and plot development and resolution, but I now get to watch for the moment of epiphany to see how Joyce manages to thread this deeper meaning into the rich tapestry of his story. Ooo! A new tool for adding deeper meaning to a story. How cool is that? Can't wait to try it out.

I wonder what, if anything, may happen during the rest of The Dead that might be seen as an epiphany, by whom, what illumination was, and what otherwise commonplace incident sets it off? I also have a copy of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man collecting dust on a bookcase. If things go well with the rest of The Dead, I may just have to bump Portrait up on my "to read" list.