it’s kind of like this
tichy
what do you say when asked what you write about?I was talking to a friend the other day about the problem with describing what a band sounds like only in terms of other bands, or what someone’s writing is like only in terms of other writers. while the urge to do this sometimes feels natural, it’s also limiting, often feels like name dropping, and is almost always inaccurate.
yet when people ask what you write about, they seem to expect you to describe it terms of other books or familiar plot lines– much like book blurbs, like the one that insists aimee bender writes like hemingway on acid.
so when asked what I write about– usually in the doctor’s office or at family gatherings or by someone I haven’t seen in ten years– I kind of shrug and say I don’t really know how to describe it but you can read a story if you want. which is inarticulate and evasive.
once when I was walking around browne’s addition listening to the trains go by and conducting a fake interview in my head, I came up with a sort of satisfactory solution to this question. I wouldn’t know how to describe my writing in terms of anyone else’s writing, but I could describe it in terms of visual art, or film, or music. I could at least describe how I experience the world of my writing, or the particular collection I’ve been working on. for some reason, other art forms feel more relevant as references than other stories or novels.
so now I say: at best it’s as if every scene was designed and shot with a homemade camera by miroslav tichy, with a distorted gypsy guitar playing in the background, someone singing in something like polish or czech.
that’s the only satisfactory way I can attempt to describe what I’m drawing from, or to reference something accessible, if not familiar.
what do you all say?
Tags: miroslav tichy
a crystal ball full of fog and flying monkeys shot in super 8.
I’d read it.
I keep it generic with responding, “Whatever comes to mind.” If pressed, I’ll describe my latest in progress story in detail. I don’t mind describing the details of works in progress, but some writers believe that drains the inspiration out of them. For me, I sometimes come up with new and better ideas when I’m describing them. Anyway, I don’t try to explain my entire body of work. When asked, I prefer to focus on what I’m doing at the moment.
People. I write about people. Also, I write about kittens and other cuddly, adorable things.
I’ve said that before (people). But then the person stares at me like I’m a jerk.
I’m writing a memoir…so do you remember exactly what you said to me that one time in high school, right before I hit you?
As an interdisciplinary creative…my work overlaps and I think your post definitely hits the mark. It’s a hard topic.
A lot of fellow writers reviewed on of my stories as a series of acid trips, to which a few friends have responded, “I wanna read it!”
I get that question a lot – so much so that I wrote a poem about it:
http://www.2river.org/2RView/14_4/poems/_roberson.html
nice. thanks for that.