From Where You dream
by Robert Olen Butler
Butler, Robert Olen, and Janet Burroway. From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction. New York: Grove, 2005. Print.
Summary:
Butler's text is deemed more than a simple guide, but a boot camp for creative writers. He informs readers of the rigor and requirements of strong writing. These include a writing process of longer and deeper thought that permeates intellect, venturing past bigger pictures and focuses on emotion to compose aesthetic writing. Butler emphasises exploration of oneself and others utilizing the dynamics of desire - a proposal he calls yearning.
Mimetic:
This piece is not a narrative; it is nontraditional text
Butler uses a language that is abstract, and it is so because the writing process and the places one must travel in order to produce good work aren't tangible, not concrete. It can be very difficult to explain complex thoughts and concepts of this manner, so Butler uses a polyvalent register. He uses many references to text outside of his own to help explain his ideas. He quotes the bible, Dickens, Burroway and many other authors and works, especially himself and his own work, The structure he uses is similar to Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer in which a concept is explained and then a passage is given and then it is explained how that passage has used the concept creatively. It is like show and tell.
Reflection:
From Where You Dream was the first book I attempted to read. I had an expectation that it would help me visualize more easily how the authors of the narratives I would later read had come to write their stories. I had an expectation that this book would educate me, would prepare me for the course, for I felt very under-read. I didn't think I had the experiences my classmates had. I read through the first part and attempted to write blog posts with meaning. I wound up writing a summary of concepts I learned.
At the time, we were creating networks of controlling values. I couldn't fit one together because there was no narrative. However, I did recognize that Butler was suggesting that good writing requires thought.
Controlling Values:
Passionate and multidimensional thinking produces good writing --->
If you don't think about what you write, then you will produce unworthy writing
Although a good lesson, I didn't believe it was extensive enough to be a network, so I tried again, although I hadn't realized at the time or wrote down my thoughts.
Controlling Values:
Understanding what a character yearns for will produce multidimensional, believable characters --->
Producing a narrative with characters that don't desire anything will deem your writing unworthy
This is also fairly simply; but it was all that I had gotten from the text. I thought it would be useless, so I started reading another book.
Later in the semester, I used the idea of yearning, a character's desires several times in my posts and comments. I pushed my groupmates to question what drove the characters they were discussing in their posts. I did the same for myself. I questioned why Corinne, the mother in Flowers In The Attic, would lock away her children or would go to the extreme of murder. I also questioned why Stephen King wrote of his alcoholism and abuse, and what were the desires of the characters in Wuthering Heights. Each time I had an inquiry, I produced a blog post. A lot of my semester revolved round investigating the motives of characters.
by Robert Olen Butler
Butler, Robert Olen, and Janet Burroway. From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction. New York: Grove, 2005. Print.
Summary:
Butler's text is deemed more than a simple guide, but a boot camp for creative writers. He informs readers of the rigor and requirements of strong writing. These include a writing process of longer and deeper thought that permeates intellect, venturing past bigger pictures and focuses on emotion to compose aesthetic writing. Butler emphasises exploration of oneself and others utilizing the dynamics of desire - a proposal he calls yearning.
Mimetic:
This piece is not a narrative; it is nontraditional text
Butler uses a language that is abstract, and it is so because the writing process and the places one must travel in order to produce good work aren't tangible, not concrete. It can be very difficult to explain complex thoughts and concepts of this manner, so Butler uses a polyvalent register. He uses many references to text outside of his own to help explain his ideas. He quotes the bible, Dickens, Burroway and many other authors and works, especially himself and his own work, The structure he uses is similar to Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer in which a concept is explained and then a passage is given and then it is explained how that passage has used the concept creatively. It is like show and tell.
Reflection:
From Where You Dream was the first book I attempted to read. I had an expectation that it would help me visualize more easily how the authors of the narratives I would later read had come to write their stories. I had an expectation that this book would educate me, would prepare me for the course, for I felt very under-read. I didn't think I had the experiences my classmates had. I read through the first part and attempted to write blog posts with meaning. I wound up writing a summary of concepts I learned.
At the time, we were creating networks of controlling values. I couldn't fit one together because there was no narrative. However, I did recognize that Butler was suggesting that good writing requires thought.
Controlling Values:
Passionate and multidimensional thinking produces good writing --->
If you don't think about what you write, then you will produce unworthy writing
Although a good lesson, I didn't believe it was extensive enough to be a network, so I tried again, although I hadn't realized at the time or wrote down my thoughts.
Controlling Values:
Understanding what a character yearns for will produce multidimensional, believable characters --->
Producing a narrative with characters that don't desire anything will deem your writing unworthy
This is also fairly simply; but it was all that I had gotten from the text. I thought it would be useless, so I started reading another book.
Later in the semester, I used the idea of yearning, a character's desires several times in my posts and comments. I pushed my groupmates to question what drove the characters they were discussing in their posts. I did the same for myself. I questioned why Corinne, the mother in Flowers In The Attic, would lock away her children or would go to the extreme of murder. I also questioned why Stephen King wrote of his alcoholism and abuse, and what were the desires of the characters in Wuthering Heights. Each time I had an inquiry, I produced a blog post. A lot of my semester revolved round investigating the motives of characters.