Sunday, December 6, 2009
Here's another conversation starter thing.
In an interview with UCSC, David Sedaris is asked about the difficulties of writing about his personal life and exposing himself to the world. He responds, "When I'm writing about myself I think about myself as a character." When you are writing a personal essay, are you able to step outside of who you are in the piece and look at yourself from an "authorial" point of view?
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This is one of the things I struggle with most in writing a personal essay. I try so hard to make it seem personal and in-depth about myself that I have trouble creating a persona of sorts and seeing myself as a character, as Sedaris puts it. It's difficult for me to step outside of myself while writing something that is more personal to me, such as a personal essay.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is an excellent way of looking at the concept of creating a persona, that of 'viewing one's self as a character.' However, like Amanda, I too often find it difficult, but in a different way. I tend to go too far into myself in reflection, and in doing so loose the line of the story or intention of the essay. I think that keeping an authorial distance keeps me from going to far into philosophical abstract investigation and therefore loosing the thread of the actual story that keeps the reader interested. However, I think that we can't take this character idea too literally, because character can imply a singular point of view. This is important to avoid in the essay form, as Gornick says, "In nonfiction, the writer has only the singular self to work with. So it is the other in oneslef that the writer must seek and find to create movement, achieve a dynamic"(35). I think this all might be applied we possibly create a character of the moment we are writing about, a character that exists and reflects in that time, and also pull back to a reflective stance from the now of the piece of writing, whether in persona form or not. I think there is a potential for becoming too static by both either remaining in a constant character standpoint or by never engaging a character other than one of the writer as reflecting from the point in time of the writing.
ReplyDeleteBrian, you say that you tend to slip too far into self reflection or abstract philosophical investigation rather than sticking with a story line. You say that you struggle to stick to a story line. But I wonder if a personal essay has to stick to a story line. When we look at the work of Montaigne or the Zuihitzu style, we see essayists who follow the pen and let their thoughts lead the way. These essayists don't--at least on the surface--seem to distance themselves from their writing. On the other hand, writers like Sedaris clearly seem to step into an authorial point of view and watch themselves as characters.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong, but there seem to be two very different ways of approaching "authorial distance." We can choose to throw ourselves into the middle of it all as Montaigne, Chesterton and Dillard seem to often do, or we can step away like Sedaris or Hoagland. Does anyone else notice these two different approaches happening with different writers?
I definitely follow the works of Kenko and Montaigne better than most other authors even without an actual "story line." I agree with David that even without a story line a personal essay can still be very in-depth and great to read. I can see the differences in the "authorial distance" even within our own class. There are some that are very good at viewing themselves as a character and writing about themselves from a different standpoint. I can't help but think of Mallory's essay about smoking. While it was a very personal, you could sense that detachment of author vs. character. And then there are others who are more keen to the Kenko style of writing, myself being one of them. I really enjoyed reading your finished "writers on writing" project, David. While you could've ordered your "fragments" any which way, you could pick out the thread that held everything together. Both styles of writing are very enjoyable to read if done well.
ReplyDeleteOften when writing an essay, I get very emotionally wrapped up in it. As I place myself inside whatever persona I'm using and "follow the pen," I can sometimes end up really psyching myself out. Maybe that makes me crazy or something. But I really feel like it's useful for the writing process. Now, I wouldn't want to leave my emotional reflection as a final draft, but I think just letting ourselves go can add authenticity. Then later we can go back and revise.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that the essay can have different styles of authorial distance, one more in the story and one more outside it. What I want to say is that a balance should probably be struck. I don't care for essays that only tell me a story, even if it is from a persona standpoint, if there isn't much or any reflection. I think that's a lot of what makes the essay form useful and unique, because it will allow the writer to really get personally reflective in an meandering way, that other forms of writing would not excuse. On the other hand, there has to be a story line of sorts for the reader to follow, otherwise it seems kind of self-indulgent and presumptuous for the writer expect the reader to be engaged simply by the complexity of the writer's thoughts. I think there has to be progression, which is what I initially meant by storyline, that if it is just the persona's thoughts that we follow, it has to centralized on a specific topic, like Lopate's 'Against Joie de Vivre.'
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pw.org/content/interview_creative_nonfiction_writer_phillip_lopate
ReplyDeleteThat's a link to a Phillip Lopate interview in which he gives his opinion of the personal essay. He mentions that a personal essay doesn't have to follow a story-line. He says he is interested in the "display of consciousness on the page", not so much a scene or dialogue led essay. To me, you can have it both ways. It's just a testament to the many different writing styles and, really, the different methods for creative communication that people have; also the purpose of the essay. When I think about great scene-inspired essays, I think of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Lantern Bearers", in which he transports you to the coastal town where he grew up in his writing but serves the personal essay by using those experiences as a springboard for diving into more introspective waters. Or you can take Turgenev's approach in his "The Execution of Tropmann" in which he unwaveringly sticks to the plot - but doesn't this get the point across! Even though you're wrapped up in the plot and the purpose, walking away from it, may have been the story, he still weaves in checkpoints throughout where he reflects and relives the convictions of the moment and offers, what seems to be, present (for Turgenev when he was writing it) reflections. He even adds a "moral of the story" conclusion, so to speak, at the end which, I don't think I'm stepping on anyone's toes if I say, we could have done without.
But the question posed to Sedaris was regarding exposing himself to the world. With his writing relying so much on that sort of playful self-deprecation, I think he probably meant by creating a persona or a character as he puts it, he can step outside of the story and put all the baggage and shame on to that person he has created - which is still very much himself, but when you think of yourself as another entity, you can really enhance your qualities.
Thinking about myself as a character wears me out. It's such a process for me. I struggle with finding an authentic portrayal of my persona/character. This class has at once been great because I have had to force myself to ask questions like: "Who is writing and what has she come to say?". I ask myself this question without fail before I even attempt to write anything. But these questions rarely help as I quickly find myself frustrated and staring at a blank screen or page -surrounded by fallen Red Bull Soldiers.
ReplyDeleteI certainly identify with Brian's philosophical impulses but that approach rarely works for me, because my story completely drowns. Those impulses actually feel unnatural to me and when I try this approach my writing sounds so very contrived.
It's as though each time, I forge some kind of road block for "myself" that says: No, you can't write that. I rarely just "follow the pen"...I fight with it. And the keyboard...
I fight against my "persona" or "character". that I am supposed to be writing. In the event that I do "follow the pen", I have trouble reconciling the persona that has shown up and is evolving without my permission. I still have quite a bit of material that I have yet to tap into, because I don't know HOW to write it. I can't just sit back and let the that persona wreak havoc and betray my already fragile sense of authorship...
I'm glad David posted this little nugget from the Sedaris interview because it was this very section that stood out to me upon my initial reading.
More on this later. Did any of that make sense?
Shawn, you say that often a persona seems to show up and evolve without your permission. I wonder if this is simply part of the writing process. Nearly any time I write, I end up with something different than what I had originally planned. Sure, the general idea often stays the same, but I'll change the way I execute it. Often this is due to another persona or idea or theme that seems to pop up without my permission. Sometimes when this happens, it creates sort of an "ah-ha" moment and I'll intentionally change the story to fit this new persona or idea. I think that writing is often a journey of discovery, especially with essays or memoirs.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I understand your frustration when these things happen. When new personas pop up, it sometimes creates a mess that we have to work through in order to fix. When we return to a piece in order to edit it and smooth out the rough spots, it can sometimes be very difficult to find a cohesive persona.
I think that I tend to be relatively impervious to the consequences of writing about personal experiences and unveiling oneself to an audience. I actually enjoy sharing personal stories and qualities with others whether or not they are a close friend or not. I find the experience to be liberating.
ReplyDelete