I self-published a book along with some friends in the mid-nineties. It was a collection of fiction, slice of life articles, and poetry. The experience was eye-opening for different reasons. The most disappointing result was we didn't sell very many of them. Also, the editing job we did was not flawless. And then the one I never saw coming. It was people's reaction to what I wrote.
More than one person approached me and told me what they got from my fiction. Upon hearing their comments, I thought they had my work confused with something else they were reading. I learned that many of us interrupt stories in ways compatible with our experiences and beliefs. Such factors are going to color how the reader digest the story.
When I published my novel, 26 Women, I clarified that my protagonist was not my alter ego, as some of my pre-readers suggested. I stated in the preface that his experiences were not autobiographical.
I learned a writer can use this tendency of readers to write a better story. In my screenplay, Two Many Wives, about two women and a man who start a family, one can not ignore their sex lives. What happens in that bedroom? We know from the dialogue that the two women are active sexual partners. The man has sex with each of the women. Often, the three of them have sex together. Do I need to describe that activity?
Probably not, since my readers can fill in the blanks in a way that makes the story more palatable for them. Or they can banish the thought if it's objectionable to them. But, since they have children in later episodes of this concept, myths about storks will suffice for the more squeamish.
I promised you a look at my commemorative oil painting of the late feline princess of the Holthaus-Jordan household, Forsythia. (RIP)
Comments
Post a Comment