An aspiring author confronts the literary demons of the world and sets off in search of an agent.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Story is NOT the by-product of magic!

The Demon is feeling persnickety, cantankerous and audacious today. Which means someone, perhaps a Pulitzer Prize winning author, is going to feel his wrath...

I was reading Summerland by Michael Chabon when I came across the following, "take everything back to zero as long as magic and its by-product, story..." Huh? Is Chabon saying story is the by-product of magic? Do they really give authors prizes for writing such fallacies?

Story isn't a by-product of anything. To speak of it that way is to diminish its power and, yes, its magic. Story is not akin to whey, rising like a watery afterthought during the cheese-making process. Yeah, this is a visceral reaction on the Demon's part and it's hard to offer a logical proof to refute Chabon. But this persnickety, cantankerous and audacious Demon knows that story is not, has never been and will never become a by-product of magic or anything else. You listening, Chabon?

Perhaps the closest thing to a proof I can offer is the following from Elie Wiesel: "God made man because He loves stories."

Yeah, that sounds just about right!
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1 comment:

Kate Evangelista said...

It's not? Then that spell I cast was for not? Sigh.