May not be a direct answer to your question but I've noticed my go-to in fiction is sad-girl narrator. Always has been, even as I've generally been one of the happier people I know (although how much do I know?) So I think I write to release my hidden dark side
"In my opinion. In 'my experience.' Etc. (These are all phrases everyone should start saying again en masse, btw.)"
You've made me reflect on one of the major ways AI has already changed human communication. All the most popular AI grammar tools tell users that phrases like "in my opinion" and "in my experience" sound too passive and unsure and should be edited out. And, thanks to these tools, the need to remove these phrases from our speech has become a strongly-held belief in corporate environments. At least in my experience. ;) People are so afraid to admit they don't know everything. But I agree with you. If we started putting this language back in our speech and acknowledging that our personal thoughts and experiences aren't all absolute, maybe fewer people would come off as dicks.
Writing is a compulsion for me as well. I don't know how to not pursue productive endeavors. It's like a disease; I feel physically and mentally ill when I don't create things. But the toll the writing process takes on me also makes me feel sick. The most rewarding part of it for me - the reason I don't give it up for a less laborious creative endeavor - is the ability to make personal connections with the people who see themselves reflected in my work and give them comfort in validation. That's who I write for now - weirdos like me who wander through life feeling like they're largely misunderstood.
Obviously I hope someone reads what I write and gets something out of it, but mainly I think I'm doing it to explain myself to myself. But ultimately I think it's a calling, whatever that means. A result of fate and chance intermingling. A writer writes because he has to. I wrote an essay recently dealing with the same sorts of questions, more or less.
‘I’ve been writing these “novellas” lately, fiction stories that are 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 words long, too lengthy to be called short stories and not lengthy enough to be considered proper novels. The in-between literary form. The twisted, strange 3rd cousin of the short story and the novel.
I enjoy writing these because they require just the right amount of exhaustion for me.’
I’ve been doing the same—writing work in this in-between form. I’m unsure why I write; it’s like a compulsion!
May not be a direct answer to your question but I've noticed my go-to in fiction is sad-girl narrator. Always has been, even as I've generally been one of the happier people I know (although how much do I know?) So I think I write to release my hidden dark side
I love novellas. I always feel like short stories are too short, but not every story is a novel.
"In my opinion. In 'my experience.' Etc. (These are all phrases everyone should start saying again en masse, btw.)"
You've made me reflect on one of the major ways AI has already changed human communication. All the most popular AI grammar tools tell users that phrases like "in my opinion" and "in my experience" sound too passive and unsure and should be edited out. And, thanks to these tools, the need to remove these phrases from our speech has become a strongly-held belief in corporate environments. At least in my experience. ;) People are so afraid to admit they don't know everything. But I agree with you. If we started putting this language back in our speech and acknowledging that our personal thoughts and experiences aren't all absolute, maybe fewer people would come off as dicks.
Writing is a compulsion for me as well. I don't know how to not pursue productive endeavors. It's like a disease; I feel physically and mentally ill when I don't create things. But the toll the writing process takes on me also makes me feel sick. The most rewarding part of it for me - the reason I don't give it up for a less laborious creative endeavor - is the ability to make personal connections with the people who see themselves reflected in my work and give them comfort in validation. That's who I write for now - weirdos like me who wander through life feeling like they're largely misunderstood.
Enjoyed your piece, Michael.
Obviously I hope someone reads what I write and gets something out of it, but mainly I think I'm doing it to explain myself to myself. But ultimately I think it's a calling, whatever that means. A result of fate and chance intermingling. A writer writes because he has to. I wrote an essay recently dealing with the same sorts of questions, more or less.
https://mikeknittel.substack.com/p/how-you-really-become-a-writer
Well said!!
To understand. To connect. To get my thoughts out of my head. To exhaust unresolvable problems. To come out of hiding. To confess. To connect.
Love 'to exhaust unresolvable problems.'
‘I’ve been writing these “novellas” lately, fiction stories that are 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 words long, too lengthy to be called short stories and not lengthy enough to be considered proper novels. The in-between literary form. The twisted, strange 3rd cousin of the short story and the novel.
I enjoy writing these because they require just the right amount of exhaustion for me.’
I’ve been doing the same—writing work in this in-between form. I’m unsure why I write; it’s like a compulsion!
Compulsion is a perfect word for the drive to write!!!