January 26, 2009
My mentor, Dean Wesley Smith, has said that writing’s a form of mind control. As fiction writers, we visualize stories in our minds, complete with sensory details related to characters and setting. It’s then our task to use written language to reproduce these stories in the minds of others…to make them see and experience what we see and experience in our minds as closely as possible. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. We’re not putting pictures on a TV or computer screen; we’re not playing out scenes on a stage. The only interface between the writer and the reader is the written word on the page.
When it works, when we get it just right, it’s a beautiful thing. Sometimes, it can also be beautiful when it doesn’t work the way we planned. The story as it plays out in our minds can be far less moving than the story reproduced in the minds of our readers. It can happen, through accidents of language and context and cultural overlays that the writer isn’t even aware of on any level.
And sometimes, we just miss the mark. The story comes across in a different way than we intended, and it turns out to be a bad thing. For example, I recently sent a story to someone, thinking it was pretty good. Thinking it was action-packed and original and thought-provoking and emotionally resonant in its own crazy way. One thing I didn’t think was that it was campy…yet that’s the verdict I got back from the reader. “Campy.” I still don’t think the story was campy, I totally don’t see it. Exciting, definitely. Offbeat, oh yeah. But “campy?” I’m kind of stumped.
But it made me think about how mixed the signals can get between writer and reader. Doesn’t mean the writer didn’t do his or her job; doesn’t mean the reader is stupid and “just doesn’t get it.” Just means the transmission got garbled somehow. There was interference somewhere along the line, and the message reached its destination in a form much different than the one I originally broadcast.
Really, when you think about it, we human beings are so different, one from another, it’s pretty amazing we ever get a clean transmission from writer to reader. I mean, look at the misunderstandings between groups and individuals all over the world every day of every year. Look at the constant disconnections between family members and spouses, those who share the most intimate communications of all. Look at all the different interpretations attached to humanity’s holy books and the multitude of conflicts that result from them. It’s absolutely incredible that one person can write a story or a book, and another person can ever read it and come away with an understanding that approximates the author’s intent.
Just another of the cool things about fiction writing and writers and readers. And it makes me wonder: did all of you get the same meaning out of this post as what I intended you to get from it? See you tomorrow!
