The Writer's Soul Purpose?

[Dan Coleman]

Is the writer's purpose or personal agenda to expose his or her soul, to offer a message more important than the mundane, or an interesting, entertaining story?

One notices the deeper, more incisive thinking of some of our members here, no matter the topic--Jon Loomis, Peg Herring, I.J. Parker, et al--and is often stopped by it and made to think, because there is the suggestion of some kind of morality at work, some ulterior purpose in the writing conveyance.

Personally, I'm convinced one writes in order to stand out among peers in some way, to leave something bigger than oneself, to out-live one. I don't think anyone STARTS out to write for money, professional success. I just think it's a burning need to carve one's name on the world so as not to be forgotten or overlooked.

Or just get drunk and lie in a pile, like the Romans.

But what the hell do I know?

Tell me, what is it?

[minervaK]

For me, it depends on whose point of view you're talking about. From the reader's point of view, my purpose is to give them ~300 pages of entertainment that takes them outside the bounds of their everyday life. From *my* point of view, I'm writing this (first) novel just to see if I *can.* What I've discovered in the process is how much I like putting together a novel, structurally. It's a form of pattern-making that's deeply satisfying to this mammalian brain. I admit, though, that I also enjoy dealing with subjects on which I think my personal view might be enlightening to others. I don't like being preached to by writers, so I try to avoid that -- but I like making my characters do/say/think things that touch on larger ideas. At least, I hope they do. It could all just be crap.

MK
www.minervakoenig.com

[Dan Coleman]

Yes, I forgot to mention it might be the simple and perfectly legitimate act of writing for the fun of it, aside from any moral or philosophical reason. Entertainment. It's why I've always loved humor, though the laughs can't be inscribed on my tombstone for posterity, won't do a thing for my future or memory, written or verbal, except help make me live longer. Good enough.

[Donna Carrick]

OK, Dan, I heard this joke yesterday. I won't bore you with the whole thing, but the gist was that a writer longed for success. The devil offered a bargain: his soul in exchange for success. He refused. In punishment, BB made him live an extra 30 years in obscurity.

The man had a family, friends, a job. He was happy and lived long...

[Dan Coleman]

I'm longevity freak, so that'd be okay with me.

[Donna Carrick]

Just realised I should have given my hubby Alex Carrick credit for this bit about the bargain with the devil. It's from a story he wrote for h is blog yesterday.

[Donna Carrick]

I love that final line: It could all just be crap! I suspect every single writer has had that thought enter his/her brain many, many times! ha ha We do our best with what we're given, and if we manage to convey something of our place and time to those who will follow, well, that's a grand notion, but one that deserves a little credit.

[I. J. Parker]

Thank you, Donna, for your comment on my blog. The site won't let me post any comments.

[Donna Carrick]

You're welcome, I.J. I meant it -- the artistry is very compelling and the character has a life-force. Let's just see where these times of our are leading. My mother always said: Better days are coming. I often miss her optimism.

[Karyn J. Powers]

Would have liked to have heard that as opposed to my mom's favorite quote, "Life isn't fair."

[John McFetridge]

It's all of the above, it's different strokes for different folks. Sometimes writing is comfort food, a great big bowl of ice cream and sometimes it's a really nutritious meal.

Some writers take the Trojan Horse appoach and hide their "deeper meaning" inside a more entertaining story (that's Loomis and his cries for tolerance and acceptance in his mysteries).

For myself, I take the approach that journalism is the first draft of history and novels and short stories are the rewrite with the story fleshed out a little more. I wrote my first crime novel a few years ago when there were all kinds of crime stories in the news in my city that when reported seperately looked random and unconnected but for which I thought there was an underlying connection. So I used the novel to dig a deeper and get to what I saw as the 'real' story.

Matt Benyon Rees on Crimespace said on his blog once that he gave up journalism and turned to writing fiction because he wanted to write the truth.

[Donna Carrick]

John, I like the Matt Benyon Rees quote. I often think in my fiction the truth has a much bigger playground than it has in non-fictional forums.

[Jon Loomis]

All I'm doing is representing GLBT people as people, not as stereotypes. I also like to make bad things happen to bigots in my books, but that's really kind of childish of me.