Writing Forum

Thank you Joto-Kai,

There is an arrogance in writing. Should I say that it is essential? We write and expect that it will be read, we pour out our soul, or more likely not, and we hope that the genius we feel in ourselves has been transmitted in such a way that another reads and understands, appreciates, is moved.

Have I revealed myself? Certainly nobody is so foolish looking as the one who thinks himself the smartest man in the room but who seems, rather, to others as an idiot. I worry about such things. The arrogance of writing. I have been reading Orson Scott Card (listening actually) and being amazed by the man's arrogance, appreciating it, being moved.

Perhaps I should write the question I really meant to ask. How do you write what you are not and do it convincingly? What Card is engaging in is not chronicling the crime solving high jinx of a group of missfit genius' like in the new "Scorpion" TV show. He is writing about super genius. Sometimes I just have to think to my self, "damn, the balls on that guy." I think Card has done pretty well for himself. I think he's a good writer. I doubt seriously that he has an IQ approaching his character's.

How do you write what you are not? So I picked out intelligence. I confess, I chose it not only because I've been in the Ender Universe of late, but also because I think I'm very clever and it would be a bit hmmmm, arrogant, yes that's it, to ask, "Look, I'm pretty smart, how the heck do you write stupid people?"

Even that would be a bit disingenuous because writing smart or stupid isn't really the problem either. How can an arrogant man write so as to hide that fact from his intended audience while both maximizing the size of the audience by being the most inclusive and fooling them into believing the characterizations to be honest portrayals so that the mark err I mean reader identifies with the character, appreciates, and is moved by that character.

Tangentally I imagine that this is also a question about writing for specific audiences, for YA or even young children. I know I originally asked about the traits of characters. I do take your meaning that you establish their bonafides within the context of the story. Smart ones realize things first, act on things first, do the right things first, if they are the voice they think the right things first and bring others to realize it afterward. I believe that I will have another look at your examples and see if I can draw more from that and make sure that I didn't arrogantly leap to my own conclusion without fully engaging with your ideas. I know my flaws, at least some of them, and I like to try to hide them when I can. Still, perhaps it is best to be more transparent.

How do you write to the lowest common denominator without seeming to condescend? OR put a another way: How do you write to the widest possible audience and provide appropriate clues (both as characterization and narrator) to present your characters in an engaging and understandable way to the afforementioned widest possible audience?

I may need to re-read this thread as I do believe I'm babbling.

LSO