POSTMODERNISM
Postmodernism
• Gary Ayleseworth: “a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices
employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum,
and hyperreality to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity,
historical progress, epistemic certainty and the univocity of meaning.”
Definition
• Postmodernism- Holds that all worldviews are constructed by historical
documents, by culture and religion; postmodernism sees those worldviews as
a function of power rather than truth.
-Encompasses theories of art, literature, culture, architecture, etc.
Postmodernism Characteristics/Culture
• Reflect a sense of discontinuity (lack of stability) in the world
•
Rethinks margins and borders
• A mistrust of the media as a presenter of “facts”
•
The world is absurd; no values/truths are eternal-everything is
momentary
• “Life just is”
Postmodernism Characteristics
• Belief that there is no Grand Design
Reality is only as it is presented to us• There is no objective truth or reality
•
Erodes distinction between classes & people
• Create your own values—no right, wrong, sin, etc.No right or wrong lifestyle
•
Biblical Truth irrelevant– okay to dismiss whatever doesn’t feel compatible with
personal journey
• Mixing of fantasy with Non-fiction
Creative Writing
Few things you need to know…
• Ideas
1.
Many good stories draw heavily on the experiences of the writer
2. Creative writing requires/demands considerable thinking and planning
3. Invest your heart and imagination into the writing (Set your heart and mind free)
4. Even though the writing is supposed to be creative, ergo, spontaneous, it’s
important not to leave these to chance(especially in the case of short-fiction):
Plot (how the story starts, what happens, and how it ends)
Character (s)
Setting
Narrative Technique
• Point of View
Narrative Technique
• Using variety in Sentence Length
The length of sentences in your story writing can have a positive effect on
the quality of your writing. Sentence lengths are important for special effects in
your story as well as for maintaining reader interest and excitement.
Billie’s legs are noodles. The ends of her hair are poison needles. Her tongue is a bristly
sponge, and her eyes are bags of bleach.
- Kelley Link, Secret Identity
Why not write it this way instead?
• Billy feels nauseated and weak.
The point of fiction is to cast a spell, a momentary illusion that you are living
inside the story. Fiction engages the senses (Taste, smell, touch, hearing, sight
and the sense of motion). It helps us create vivid, mental representations of the
experiences the characters are having.
The world was ghost-quiet, except for the crack of sails and the burbling of
water against the hull.
- Tobias S. Buckell, Hurricane Fever
Creating characters
• Many writers base their characters loosely on people they know or may have met.
Characters have a physical appearance, emotions and habits that makes each one
unique.
• Some writers devote considerable time describing the physical appearance of
characters, their emotions and/or thoughts.
• Develop characters
Showing not telling
• Many writers try to tell the reader too much and often too quickly. It
helps to arouse the reader’s interest if you don’t tell them everything
all at once.
Structure
• The introduction, or beginning captures the reader’s interest
• Complications are introduced which means problems that have to be
solved.
• The climax
• Problems are solved
• Resolution
*Not all stories follow this structure
Edit, Edit, Edit!
It is very important to proofread your work and rewrite until you are happy with
the result