Four points to discover the essence of a work – GIGAZINE

When writing stories or non-fiction, it is important not only to come up with an interesting setting and story and write about it, but also to understand what makes the work interesting and present it to the reader. Author and publishing senior editor Stephanie Duncan Smith explains how to focus on the subject matter of your work and discover its essence.

Stephanie Duncan Smith on Excavating Your Work’s Aboutness ‹ Literary Hub
https://lithub.com/stephanie-duncan-smith-on-excavating-your-works-aboutness/

Over the course of his career, Mr. Smith has worked as a publicist who pitches products to the media, a magazine editor who reviews pitches, and an editor who develops book concepts with authors. He says he’s always been looking for ways to make it work. In particular, as an editor for writers, I like to ask the question, “What is the boldest statement you should make (in your work)?” and bring out the true charm of the work that is not visible on the surface. It is said that he was

However, when Mr. Smith decided to write a book as a writer, he realized once again that it was difficult to put into practice the task of digging out the true purpose of the idea. This is because the true aim of a work is something that the artist himself may have forgotten or hidden, but it must be the trigger or source of the idea for the work, so it is something that the artist definitely understands. is. However, when I’m writing, I feel that writing about what I know is a farce, and writing about the unknown is much more interesting, so I just need to keep in mind the true purpose of my work. Smith realized that it might not be that important.

“The essence of a work should not be a starting point, but a discovery that can only be reached through a process of intense discovery,” Smith said. Based on this, he explains guidelines for rediscovering the essence of your own work, divided into four points.

◆1: Start creating with questions rather than something clear
A writer and essayist who was active from the 1960s to around 2000.Joan DidionAs he once said, “I write only to find out what I’m thinking.” As Smith said, “Writing what you know is a travesty,” and Smith points out that writing based on some kind of certainty tends to make for boring reading. According to Smith, what we as readers most empathize with is not when we hear monotonous, self-evident reports, but when we are invited to “accompany a writer’s process of discovery, to experience the moments when they cross boundaries.” It seems that it is.

Specifically, if you start writing with a question such as “What is going on in this work?” or “How is ____ treated in this world?”, as you write, you may find yourself You can make surprising discoveries. And that surprise is conveyed to the reader as well. That’s why when you’re stuck writing, it’s important to let your curiosity guide you and dig in directions where you don’t know what you’ll find. “At the end of the day, nothing enlivens the final work more than showing the process of discovery and the wonder it brings,” Smith said.

◆2: When you get stuck, rely on analog and spatially direct your ideas
Many people use PCs, smartphones, etc. to write, from creating idea memos to creating plots and actually writing. However, when you are stuck, it is a good idea to try an analog process, such as printing out the materials, printing out the manuscript and marking the areas of concern, or writing by hand. According to Mr. Smith, when you are engrossed in writing, your brain becomes unbalanced, but research has shown that by moving your hands in an analog way, both the right and left brains work perfectly, creating connections between thoughts. Apparently there is.

In addition, writing down an idea map on a whiteboard or writing themes on sticky notes and replacing them while pasting them can sometimes lead to the discovery of new combinations that could not be seen with digital bullet points. In addition, when Ananda Lima, a Brazilian-born poet, is worried that his work is inadequate or unfinished, he folds a page of his manuscript in half, cuts out a section, and pastes it. We recommend that you make paper crafts. According to Lima, craft work requires concentration and can temporarily relieve anxiety, and it can help you realize once again that your work is tangible and made with love. It is said that it has the effect of

Advice that the solution when you feel anxious about your own work is “paper craft” – GIGAZINE

◆3: Work to distinguish between the theme of the work and its explanatory elements
Even if you write about a specific topic, it is not necessarily necessary to explain the topic in detail. Mr. Smith wrote “Even After EverythingIn “, she writes about her own experiences of pregnancy, miscarriage, and becoming a new parent, but she only uses each as an example, and the theme of her work is “the risks that come with love.” Mr. Smith describes the theme of his work as a “prism of individuality,” and says that, like light leaking out from a prism, it is transmitted to the reader through the development of the story and logic without being directly told. . It is important to distinguish between the theme of the work and the elements that convey the theme, and to help the reader reach for the important elements.

◆4: Give appropriate names to demonstrative words such as “that” and “this”
From his experience as an editor, Smith points out that writers often write sentences that abstract the subject starting with “It” or “This.” Just as Mr. Smith believed that it would be easier to generate sympathy from the reader if he began his work with a question and then explored it, the process of writing involves exploring while writing, so he continued with the subject noun abstracted. It may happen. However, texts that resonate with readers are created when “truths, experiences, and realities that readers have felt but have never identified in words” are made explicit. At the sentence level, having precision in the subject noun increases the volume of your writing, making it more memorable and cited. At the structural level, it allows you to express the subject matter of your work. To do this, it is necessary to make the subject matter, which was abstract at the time of writing, concrete through the revision process.

Summarizing his four points, Smith says, “If you’re having a hard time deciding what your book will be about, listen to the tension, and the tension will tell you what center to aim for. If you believe in something and walk through the maze of ignorance, the path will lead you there.”