Your glossary exercise reminds me a bit of when I was reading Blood Meridian and I thought, "How does this writer know all of this specialized language?" I guess it's a bit like reading Moby Dick too. The language reflects the worldview, the interest, the genre. I love reading work that expands my vocabulary because it also expands my way of perceiving the world through attention to language. I think it's really cool that you created a glossary for yourself so you could reference it to ensure that your storytelling is rich with domain-specific language.
During my MFA in Creative Writing, I took a Form & Theory class in which the professor argued that a lot of the magic of creative writing comes from mashing up two unalike things within language (I think this was based on some other famous writer/theorist's theories about writing, but I can't remember who right now). We had to write an essay on it where we sort of proved that theory through analyzing writing craft. I chose The Virgin Suicides for my essay, which mashes up the language of suburbia and its perfection with death and decay. So, we can both achieve this affect through creating cross-genre moments through our language and also anchoring language to oppositional or unexpected themes and images.
This is an excellent take, especially on what you wrote about The Virgin Suicides. I wish I'd put this in my lecture! That glossary I made was just from one novel. I could have used several, and of course I could have made many different glossaries, including a prairie dog glossary, which I kind of did, and so did the copy editor in their notes to me, which was super interesting. For me, this particular Ten Sleep glossary came late in the process, when I had exhausted much of my other research, and I wanted some thematic growth to my language based on a literary take on the American West specific to the are of Wyoming I was writing about. You're right about the "magic of creative writing comes from mashing up two unalike things within language." And that just gave me a breakthrough in a current conundrum. I didn't realize I was trying to figure out/identify two unalike things in the story I'm outlining/thinking about. I still need to figure it out, but you've put me on to something . . .
hahah! Yeah, even if both of us were in there with him, I'd hop the ropes and run to the nearest restaurant so I could watch the rest go down while eating some tacos.
The idea of a glossary never occurred to me but now, having heard and read, it's so obvious. One of my daughters lives in Sheridan, not so far from Ten Sleep, so if you want to take a little trip I'm sure they'd be happy to have you stay with them. You can fly SB to Denver to Sheridan. They have cars too.
Your glossary exercise reminds me a bit of when I was reading Blood Meridian and I thought, "How does this writer know all of this specialized language?" I guess it's a bit like reading Moby Dick too. The language reflects the worldview, the interest, the genre. I love reading work that expands my vocabulary because it also expands my way of perceiving the world through attention to language. I think it's really cool that you created a glossary for yourself so you could reference it to ensure that your storytelling is rich with domain-specific language.
During my MFA in Creative Writing, I took a Form & Theory class in which the professor argued that a lot of the magic of creative writing comes from mashing up two unalike things within language (I think this was based on some other famous writer/theorist's theories about writing, but I can't remember who right now). We had to write an essay on it where we sort of proved that theory through analyzing writing craft. I chose The Virgin Suicides for my essay, which mashes up the language of suburbia and its perfection with death and decay. So, we can both achieve this affect through creating cross-genre moments through our language and also anchoring language to oppositional or unexpected themes and images.
This is an excellent take, especially on what you wrote about The Virgin Suicides. I wish I'd put this in my lecture! That glossary I made was just from one novel. I could have used several, and of course I could have made many different glossaries, including a prairie dog glossary, which I kind of did, and so did the copy editor in their notes to me, which was super interesting. For me, this particular Ten Sleep glossary came late in the process, when I had exhausted much of my other research, and I wanted some thematic growth to my language based on a literary take on the American West specific to the are of Wyoming I was writing about. You're right about the "magic of creative writing comes from mashing up two unalike things within language." And that just gave me a breakthrough in a current conundrum. I didn't realize I was trying to figure out/identify two unalike things in the story I'm outlining/thinking about. I still need to figure it out, but you've put me on to something . . .
This is great, Nicholas! Thank you for sharing. Also, was your talk in a spa?
hahah your homie Tod dared Gabino to do the interview in a bathrobe. I think he looks like the undercard bout before an old Tyson fight...
If I saw Gabino in a spa or a boxing ring I would GTFO!
hahah! Yeah, even if both of us were in there with him, I'd hop the ropes and run to the nearest restaurant so I could watch the rest go down while eating some tacos.
The idea of a glossary never occurred to me but now, having heard and read, it's so obvious. One of my daughters lives in Sheridan, not so far from Ten Sleep, so if you want to take a little trip I'm sure they'd be happy to have you stay with them. You can fly SB to Denver to Sheridan. They have cars too.