How to write fiction that comes alive - Nalo Hopkinson
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0:08 - 0:12We read fiction for many reasons.
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0:12 - 0:13To be entertained,
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0:13 - 0:15to find out who done it,
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0:15 - 0:18to travel to strange, new planets,
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0:18 - 0:19to be scared,
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0:19 - 0:20to laugh,
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0:20 - 0:21to cry,
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0:21 - 0:22to think,
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0:22 - 0:23to feel,
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0:23 - 0:28to be so absorbed that for a while
we forget where we are. -
0:28 - 0:31So, how about writing fiction?
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0:31 - 0:34How do you suck your readers
into your stories? -
0:34 - 0:36With an exciting plot? Maybe.
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0:36 - 0:39Fascinating characters? Probably.
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0:39 - 0:43Beautiful language? Perhaps.
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0:43 - 0:48"Billie's legs are noodles. The ends of
her hair are poison needles. -
0:48 - 0:53Her tongue is a bristly sponge,
and her eyes are bags of bleach." -
0:53 - 0:58Did that description almost make you feel
as queasy as Billie? -
0:58 - 1:01We grasp that Billie's legs
aren't actually noodles. -
1:01 - 1:04To Billie, they feel
as limp as cooked noodles. -
1:04 - 1:07It's an implied comparison, a metaphor.
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1:07 - 1:10So, why not simply write it like this?
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1:10 - 1:13"Billie feels nauseated and weak."
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1:13 - 1:18Chances are the second description
wasn't as vivid to you as the first. -
1:18 - 1:21The point of fiction is to cast a spell,
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1:21 - 1:26a momentary illusion that you are living
in the world of the story. -
1:26 - 1:28Fiction engages the senses,
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1:28 - 1:31helps us create vivid mental simulacra
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1:31 - 1:34of the experiences
the characters are having. -
1:34 - 1:37Stage and screen engage
some of our senses directly. -
1:37 - 1:42We see and hear the interactions
of the characters and the setting. -
1:42 - 1:43But with prose fiction,
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1:43 - 1:48all you have is static symbols
on a contrasting background. -
1:48 - 1:52If you describe the story
in matter of fact, non-tactile language, -
1:52 - 1:54the spell risks being a weak one.
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1:54 - 1:58Your reader may not get much beyond
interpreting the squiggles. -
1:58 - 2:00She will understand
what Billie feels like, -
2:00 - 2:04but she won't feel what Billie feels.
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2:04 - 2:07She'll be reading, not immersed
in the world of the story, -
2:07 - 2:13discovering the truths of Billie's life
at the same time that Billie herself does. -
2:13 - 2:16Fiction plays with our senses:
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2:16 - 2:17taste,
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2:17 - 2:18smell,
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2:18 - 2:19touch,
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2:19 - 2:20hearing,
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2:20 - 2:21sight,
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2:21 - 2:23and the sense of motion.
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2:23 - 2:29It also plays with our ability to abstract
and make complex associations. -
2:29 - 2:31Look at the following sentence.
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2:31 - 2:33"The world was ghost-quiet,
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2:33 - 2:38except for the crack of sails
and the burbling of water against hull." -
2:38 - 2:41The words, "quiet," "crack,"
and "burbling," -
2:41 - 2:43engage the sense of hearing.
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2:43 - 2:47Notice that Buckell doesn't use
the generic word sound. -
2:47 - 2:53Each word he chooses evokes
a particular quality of sound. -
2:53 - 2:56Then, like an artist laying
on washes of color -
2:56 - 2:59to give the sense
of texture to a painting, -
2:59 - 3:04he adds anoter layer, motion,
"the crack of sails," -
3:04 - 3:08and touch,
"the burbling of water against hull." -
3:08 - 3:11Finally, he gives us
an abstract connection -
3:11 - 3:15by linking the word quiet
with the word ghost. -
3:15 - 3:17Not "quiet as a ghost,"
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3:17 - 3:19which would put
a distancing layer of simile -
3:19 - 3:21between the reader and the experience.
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3:21 - 3:26Instead, Buckell creates
the metaphor "ghost-quiet" -
3:26 - 3:29for an implied,
rather than overt, comparison. -
3:29 - 3:32Writers are always told to avoid cliches
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3:32 - 3:36because there's very little engagement
for the reader in an overused image, -
3:36 - 3:38such as "red as a rose."
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3:38 - 3:39But give them,
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3:39 - 3:42"Love...began on a beach.
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3:42 - 3:47It began that day when Jacob saw Anette
in her stewed-cherry dress," -
3:47 - 3:50and their brains engage
in the absorbing task -
3:50 - 3:53of figuring out what
a stewed-cherry dress is like. -
3:53 - 3:57Suddenly, they're on a beach
about to fall in love. -
3:57 - 4:01They're experiencing the story
at both a visceral and a conceptual level, -
4:01 - 4:04meeting the writer halfway
in the imaginative play -
4:04 - 4:08of creating a dynamic world
of the senses. -
4:08 - 4:11So when you write,
use well-chosen words -
4:11 - 4:16to engage sound, sight, taste,
touch, smell, and movement. -
4:16 - 4:21Then create unexpected connotations
among your story elements, -
4:21 - 4:25and set your readers' brushfire
imaginations alight.
- Title:
- How to write fiction that comes alive - Nalo Hopkinson
- Description:
-
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-write-fiction-that-comes-alive-nalo-hopkinson
The point of fiction is to cast a spell, a momentary illusion that you are living in the world of the story. But as a writer, how do you suck your readers into your stories in this way? Nalo Hopkinson shares some tips for how to use language to make your fiction really come alive.
Lesson by Nalo Hopkinson, animation by Enjoyanimation.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:42
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Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for How to write fiction that comes alive - Nalo Hopkinson | ||
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