"Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!" She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest.
Flannery O’Connor
Literary critic Josh Romain has said this gives us a model for thinking of fine writing; fine writing should make the reader spring back as if snakebit. Any gauge of fine writing must assume a field of energy between the writing and its reader. That field of energy might not provoke anything as violent as the effects of snakebite, but it ought to engage a reader actively, not passively.
Anyone who puts words on paper must consider the desired field of energy and how that field might affect a reader. If you write a grocery list, you want your reader to get the groceries. If you write a music review (Lady Gaga), you want your reader to share some of your enthusiasm for her work. If you write contentions regarding your latest reading assignment, you want a fighting response from the teacher.
How do you envision and describe the field of energy between the text and the reader?
I see these fields as magnetic fields. They are attracted to each other like magnets. the fighting language pulls the reader towards the writing.
ReplyDeleteIts pretty much what hunter said in that they are magnets. If two magnets are put together they attract, but if one side is changed then the magnets are opposing and they wont attract. Just like text and the reader, in that if the language isn't fighting then the reader wont pay attention to it.
ReplyDeletei agree with hunter
ReplyDeleteO'Connor uses fighting language very well. she really makes you fell that your right there with the Misfit and the Grandmother.
ReplyDeleteAdding on to Hunter and Evelyn's comments, I too see this as a magnetic field. The magnets could attract and repel each other. I believe what makes good fighting language is the reader wanting to continue reading. If you have to force yourself to read something it is like forcing two positive magnets towards each other- they repel to one another. If the fighting language is strong and convincing, the magnets will come together immediately. Another point to think about is how sometimes (on stronger magnets) it is difficult to pull them away once they are attached. This is the same for the text and the reader. If the reader strongly agrees and enjoys the text, the reader will not want to put the text away.
ReplyDeletei think by her saying that it gives two characters an automatic connection whether its mutual or not. They have a common bond and its clear when she says that,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hunter, I also think that as a writer you have to decide who you want to be your reader. It is impossible to write something that will satisfy everyone's taste in literature but it is possible to target a specific kind of reader and design your writing to attract their mind.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is the author's job to give the reader an idea. It is then the readers job to take that idea and develop it......
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cory, it's just like a magnetic field, everyone has different taste and styles they like better then others therefore the writer must stick to what they like and accept some people will be attracted while others will "repel". Just like magnets, if you have good fighting language then the reader will be attracted but if it doesn't exist and your forcing yourself to read it, you, like the magnet are un-attracted aka repelling.
ReplyDeletei agree with elizabeth, corey, and evelyn. the reader and the text are connected like an ion. The fighting language must act as the positive charge leading and attracting the reader (the negative charge). When the misift recoils from the grandmother's touch, the reader is pushed away by the opposing force. The misfit was finally beginning to open up and hoping that no only you but as well the misfit had gained the clarity achieved by the grandmother,you are thrown back into the darkness with the guarded misfit, also unsure of what this "clairty" revealed to her.
ReplyDeletei agree with hunter if the writing doesnt pull the reader and attracts it ,it wont have a point for the reader. You should share some kind of interest to the writing in order for it to stick to you
ReplyDeleteWriting is the spark to dormant human inquiry, words themselves are the means to igniting interest within a reader's mind in order to create a reaction. This excerpt from O'Connor ignites a flame within the reader's mind because it of how it connects to our realities and how it is unique.
ReplyDeleteFine writing needs to intrigue the reader. The reader must be able to emotionally connect with the text if they are to invoke any response to it. That is the challenge of fine writing: how to obsess the reader. The ideal for any writer would be for their readers to "have to find out what happens next!" That kind of involvement in the story is what keeps you reading. I always know that I've read a fabulous novel when I get so invested in the story that I eventually look up and realize that I've run out of pages:the story is over and there's nothing I can do about it. THAT is fine writing.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't say it better than Hunter
ReplyDeleteHunter really said it, atta boy. Just like magnets with the same poles, if the writer doesn't use fighting language the reader will be pushed away from it and lose interest. But if they writer uses fighting language to the best of their ability and pulls in the reader they'll be hard to separate.
ReplyDeleteWhat Hunter said was excellent. Also, it is how the writer says it, and what contest he/she puts it in.
ReplyDelete