Tag Archives: creative writing
The Epic Battle Continues: Is Star Wars or Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld,” Fantasy or Science Fiction?
Exactly How It Went Down
Last week, two of my School of Visual Art students almost got into a fist fight during class discussion. Alright, that is not entirely true. Nor is it partially true. It was all very civilized and uneventful, although chairs may have been thrown had I left the room and didn’t reign the discussion back to its original purpose: dissecting the narrative structure of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” Somehow, during the course of our discussion, we ended up having a bit of a quibble over Star Wars being boxed into the Fantasy or Science Fiction genre. Or possibly both of these genres.
We started discussing the basics of story structure from Aristotle’s “Poetics,” and predictable horror films and romantic comedies where plot and characters were clichéd, and stlll we paid our ten dollars to watch these stories unfold exactly as we thought they would in the cinema. We paralleled this to Shakespeare’s comedies ending in a marriage and his tragedies ending in bloodshed and a pile of dead bodies, including the protagonist(s) at the end.
Pau and Brandon Look Just Like This.
We were in the middle of breaking down the inciting incident, catalyst, call to action, which are all exactly the same thing, and about the rules that allegedly govern genre. Most of my class had watched Star Wars (yet another reason I love teaching here!) and we had just begun to talk about what its catalyst might be, when the two trouble-makers of the class, Brandon and Pau Something Or Other (not related, despite the same last name) made their very brief arguments for their difference of opinion in regards to the genre.
Pau felt that the narrative of Star Wars was pure fantasy, while Brandon thought that since technology was guiding the story, it was a clear case of Science Fiction. They naturally spent the rest of class wearing dunce caps and sitting on opposite ends of the classroom looking remorseful.
We eventually brought the discussion back to Shelley’s use of the letters where bugger all happens until letter four, the purpose of Walton narrating the story, and the use of the stark empty plains of the North Pole as the setting. Shelley wasn’t on a budget. Gothic castles and scenery were available, as were humped, scary looking man servants from Transylvania. But as a massive Star Wars fanatic, and as an admirer of writers from both genres, I was intrigued. I saw the point both Brandon and Pau were making. Brandon’s position is based on a fairly simple and widely accepted criteria for the distinction between science fiction and fantasy. If futuristic weapons or aliens are involved, it is Science Fiction. If a quest, knights, dragons, a princess, or magic are involved, it’s fantasy.
Pau’s argument is one at odds with this distinction and centers on the narrative, which as we all know, is one complicated mofo. She also loves the term “magical realism,” which I’ll save for another post. To oversimplify the narrative of Star Wars:
Armed with a fancy sword and guided by a wise old wizard with great zingers, a gallant knight sets off on a quest to slay the evil dragon and save a beautiful princess. Along the way, he learns martial arts from a master, combats evil, and is shocked upon discovering that the evil dragon is really his father. And the sequels begin.
Terry Pratchett, one of my all time favourite British writers, most famous for Discworld, is known the world over as a fantasy writer. It doesn’t help matters that he wears massive black hats, has a bit of a lisp, and is not shy about wearing what look like magician’s cloaks. And he wears the title (as well as the honorary “Sir”) with pride. In the video above, he says in no uncertain terms that when he was writing Discworld, he was making a conscious decision to write fantasy by using dwarves and wizards. It features virtually the whole gamut in addition to incompetent wizards and wise witches: There are mythological and real creatures, all of whom take on human characteristics. But science fiction writers like H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, or Ursula LeGuin would probably not agree with his notion that “Science Fiction is a subset of fantasy.”
A lot of libraries and bookshops can’t be bothered to separate the two genres, so often meld the two together in an unholy literary medical experiement, placing books in both genres alphabetically in the Fantasy/Science Fiction section as if they are exactly the same thing. I’m sure that most, if not all writers of what we consider to be in the genre of fantasy or science fiction, made a conscious decision to put elements of their genre into their story on some level. But this doesn’t bring us any closer to a definitive criteria of what makes Science Fiction, science fiction, and Fantasy, fantasy.
Some claim it stems from the narrative, the plot devices, or the characters. Others claim the distinction lies in far more integral ways. science fiction is –as the name implies– rooted in science. It must create a world and the laws that govern its logic through facts, and should be based loosely on what we know to be true today in order to speculate a future utopia or dystopia.
British Fantasy Writer, Terry Pratchett
But this sounds like what a lot of fantasy writers do as well. Terry Pratchett has consciously sought out to write fantasy and has followed all of the rules a fantasy writer follows. But he has also broken many, perhaps unconsciously, or perhaps he was just concerned with writing a bloody good story. If a science fiction writer is rooted in science, then a fantasy writer is obviously rooted in fantasy, or the land of make-belief. It generally doesn’t have to provide the science or logic of its world. In Lord of the Rings, for example, we simply accept that this world of hobbits and trolls and dragons and an evil magical ring exist. There is no effort from Tolkien to go out of his way, or even in his way, to explain their logic.
But there is an awful lot of science and logic and what not that underpins every single one of Terry Pratchett’s novels and short stories, which is not surprising, given his influences. The Discworld series contains all of the elements of fantasy, but it also speculates on society, draws clear parallels with political and religious ideology and how silly all of it is, as well as delves into the logic of the world. He breaks down how it is possible that this world is a large disc with a waterfall on its edge, that rests on the backs of four elephants, who are standing on a massive turtle. This sounds very familiar to religious myths from Buddhism and Hinduism to explain things like death and even earthquakes (an angry bull needing to be appeased) .
"Creature" or "Monster," That is the Question.
Add to this confusion, subgenres like supernatural or horror that have become accorded all of the rights of a proper genre. Now, where does Frankenstein fit? Technology isn’t actually used and there aren’t any aliens or technological weapons. But the idea of a creature being created through “science” is easy enough: Science Fiction. This is clearly no fantasy. But it is scary. Horror, then? But there is no gore; And unlike her predecessors, Shelley attacks what was thought to be a sacred institution: Nature. Through an intensely amplified moral argument, she sharply questions our morals as individuals and as members of a collective society. This sounds more like Science Fiction though doesn’t it? It is making a speculation. But it is scary. Existential Gothic Horror Science Fiction perhaps?
And then there are those who feel that stories like Star Wars or Discworld can’t be neatly placed in one genre, and that this whole thing is a “false duality.” You can see the parallels with the Heroic Epics of Beowulf or Homer’s Iliad/Odyssey. Whether we’re talking about Achilles or Huck Finn; Odysseus or Beowolf;, Mulan, that kid from Transformers, or Luke Skywalker, the “quest” of the Hero is the same: to save someone or something greater than him/herself. And when you bring in a spiritual quest, it complicates things even more.
If a bookshop felt like putting Star Wars or Discworld in a category called Science Fiction/Fantasy/Spiritual Adventure, I would be fine with it. But it is rare to see a story transcend whatever genre it is intended for these days. The prequel of Star Wars, for example, is completely technology based with no wiggle room for anything other than Science Fiction. A story about an alien invasion with no depth to the narrative, is generally agreed on as being Science Fiction; a story about a mythological creature living in a mythological land wanting to rid his land of evil by destroying a ring is Fantasy. I don’t know if there is a debate on the genres of these things because as I’ve told my wife, Sona Charaipotra many times, I am not a nerd.
To paraphrase this entire blog post: “Neither.”
Weekly Update For NanoWriMo 2011: Days 1-7
WEEK ONE : TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1 – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2011
Weekly Word Count Goal: 1,644 x 7 = 11,508
Actual Weekly Word Count: 6,200
Total Words Written: 6,200/50,000
The Good: I am excited that my novel is finally taking shape and that I’m not constantly second-guessing the story, the characters, or the narrative structure of the entire thing. I am also very pleased with the progress and the fact that I am sitting down to write. So, I am at peace with the progress I am slowly making.
The Not So Good: My progress could obviously be better. I do need to stop dwelling on refining sentences and move forward with the plot. But most importantly, I really need to carve out time from my schedule because otherwise, everything else will take precedence. Even though, I’ve only hit 53% of the NaNoWriMo goal, it is a 53% boost from where my writing was at on October 31st. This coming week will be better. Wish me luck!
NanoWriMo 2011: Day 6
DAY SIX: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2011
Start Time: 2:30 pm
End Time: 3:00pm
Today”s Word-count: 17 (no, that isn’t a typo!)
Total Words Written: 4,200/50,000 (from Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four and Day Five)
The Good: We got to Cape May in good time. The room is lovely as is the beach and the weather is nice. Kavya is thoroughly enjoying herself.
The Not So Good: I got so bloody knackered that I completely zonked out when we came into the room. I did sort of work on my writing for about half an hour, from 230pm to 3pm, but I got 17 words that I think mostly consisted of vowels and were refining sentences that were already there. So I’m definitely not pleased about my progress today.
Dialogue Makers: Attack of Short-Story Writers
When I first started my M.F.A. in fiction at California State University, Fresno, I had zero interest in Southern fiction. I had, of course, heard of Ernest Hemingway, and had to analyze two of what I had thought were plotless short-stories: “Hills Like White Elephants,” and “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” I was admittedly bored out of my head at the prospect of having to do it again in graduate school. But I was pleasantly surprised because the analysis this time wasn’t focused on the symbolism, or on understanding what the writer meant, not even on forcing the motif of light and dark or the abortion imagery. Instead, Steve Yarbrough, my creative writing professor and thesis advisor, focused the discussion on the mechanics of the short-story.
Dialogue is one of the most underrated skills for a fiction writer to study. It’s viewed almost as the exclusive territory of screenwriters. The stories that I enjoy reading (short-stories, novels, non-fiction) use a range of tools to tell their stories. There are beautiful sentences with lovely imagery and words that pop into your mouth and crackle (description); the plot is intriguing, and the dialogue is believable and the characters are deliciously complex. So, the stories of the authors mentioned above are not ones I read just out of entertainment, but the fact they are fantastic stories to really attempt to dissect how the writer’s achieved the effect they did.
NanoWriMo 2011: Day 5
DAY FIVE: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2011
Start Time: 9:30 pm
End Time: 11pm
Today”s Word-count: 2,000! ! !
Total Words Written: 4,200/50,000 (from Day One, Day Two, Day Three, and Day Four)
The Good: Not only did I get to hang out with Kavya during the day, but I put in a major dent into my story. While there was some dilly dallying with refining bits and pieces and stopping to add to the backstory, overall I am quite chuffed that a) I surpassed my daily goal and b) that it seems to be coalescing smoothly.
The Not So Good: This is not necessarily a negative yet, but I have a feeling I know what is going to happen tomorrow and the day after. So, starting on Sunday morning until Monday afternoon, we are going on a little family trip (just me, Sona, and Kavya) to a little seaside beach called Cape May, about a half hour from Atlantic City in New Jersey. We’ve brought our laptops, but I think it’s safe to assume bugger all is going to happen with the writing. I just don’t think we’re organized enough to switch Kavya off between the two of us so that we both get some writing time. This is the ideal situation, but hopefully it will just be too cold that we stay indoors the whole time, Kavya sleeps the entire time, and we do some hardcore writing. Yep. That’s what might happen. I am of course very happy with my word count today, but it’s not so much that I can take so many holidays of having days with word counts of ZERO. Wish me luck!
NanoWriMo 2011: Day 4
DAY FOUR: NOVEMBER 4, 2011
Start Time: None
End Time: None
Today”s Word-count: A Big FAT zero
Total Words Written: 2,200/50,000 (from Day One and Day Two)
The Not so Good: Kavya wasn’t feeling well, so we kept her at home, which meant I got woken up by Kavya saying hello to me and wanting me to read her one of the gabillion Elmo books on the shelf to her. I also had grading to do, which would have taken me about an hour to do, but ended up taking about seven because Kavya kept running away with my papers or wanting me to take a break and clap my hands like a mental patient. So, basically I was absolutely knackered by the time evening rolled around and I made a half-hearted attempt to look at my story, but ended up falling asleep. Tomorrow is Saturday and some words need to get written!
NanoWriMo 2011: Day 3
DAY THREE: NOVEMBER 3, 2011
Start Time: None
End Time: None
Today”s Word-count: A Big FAT zero
Total Words Written: 2,200/50,000 (from Day One and Day Two)
The Good: I got to hang out with Kavya. We talked about many interesting things, like lava formations on the Big Island in Hawaii; she kept saying “more” and after a pause, “waataarr” then proceeded to get the entire cushion I was sitting on, including my trousers wet. We did some yoga. She knows one move: the downward dog. This is followed by her climbing onto my head.
The Not so Good: Thursdays are my full on days where I start at 9am and come home at 4pm. The only writing I did today was while sitting on the train for about fifteen minutes, and that essentially consisted of adding a vowel or an article before closing my laptop back up and walking home. And as soon as I came home, I took a nap. Then I woke up and Kavya was climbing onto me, saying, “Papa, Elmo?” followed by her flinging herself over to the bookshelf to get a book and wanting me to read it to her. So that was the end of my night. Tomorrow doesn’t look all that promising either as we are headed to Sona’s mum and dad’s after my class at S.V.A. and have a fun trip planned for Sunday and Monday to Cape May. So, I am hoping that I keep my momentum going and it doesn’t flatline because I have a novel to write!
NaNoWriMo 2011: Day 2
DAY TWO: NOVEMBER 2, 2011
Start Time: 9:30 am
End Time: 2:00 pm
Today”s Word-count: 1,000/1,644
Total Words Written: 2,200/50,000
The Good: I did force myself to sit down and write. And I am pleased with the progress I am making and with where the story is going and how it’s taking shape. Plus, so far, I haven’t veered off my outline . . . although I’m not moving forward with the plot either. I am trying not to be overly critical and getting too bogged down with the minutia of perfecting my sentences and ideas.
The Not so Good: I dawdled a bit too much during my writing time. I had five hours to write, but a lot of it was taken up by looking up names of Bollywood films I’m referencing in the opening and on youtube videos and articles on Bollywood star, Amitabh Bachchan’s link to inciting mob violence in 1984. Yes, research. It wasn’t necessary. I am also not thrilled I didn’t meet my full word count for yesterday and today, but I am pleased I’m writing. I did still refine and added bits to the first part of the novel, rather than ploughing straight ahead. I’m also needlessly concerned about tomorrow when I have a full teaching load. I should have just concentrated on today and gotten my writing sorted.
Overall: I didn’t get completely bogged down in making the sentences and ideas flow perfectly, and I am happy that I am writing with a direction, so I don’t feel like I’m wasting my energy in developing plot points or characters that aren’t going anywhere (as has happened in the past). I may have stopped the narrative a wee bit with the description and introduction of the sister character in a flashback that wasn’t there before. Hey, I did say I am trying not to be overly critical! So, overall, I feel like I’m making good progress.
NaNoWriMo 2011: Day 1
NOVEMBER 1, 2011
Start Time: 9:00 am
End Time: 11:00 am
Today”s Word-count: 1,200/1,644
Total Words Written: 1,200/50,000
I didn’t hit my exact word count, but so far, so good, athough I did a lot of refining and I did still go back and edit. I’ve actually sat down and written more than I have in the past year and am actually progressing with my novel. So hip, hip hurray for me.
I attempted to write my novel during National Novel Writing Month in 2009 (NaNoWriMo or just plain NaNo), and while I would like to blame many things other than myself for not putting in much of a dent, it was through a lack of planning. I didn’t have an outline or even a sense of where I was going. This year, I am hoping it will be different. I am going to try and write 1,600 words per day.
I found these nifty word count image meter thingies that I am going to update you with daily during November. For those of you interested in using them yourselves, they are very easy to use.
You just put in this url and change the word count, target, and mood number: http://wordmeter.heroku.com/meter/words=1200&target=1644&mood=2
This year, I made an open declaration to all those who read this blog in my resolution post, Literary New Year’s Resolutions for 2011 of my writing goals this year. The reason I made it public rather than simply scribbling it down in my journal is so people would see my progress and I would be publicly shamed if I didn’t make strides in accomplishing my set goals. So far, the only two people who bully me into admitting my failures in letting Jersey Shore or FaceBook trump my writing goals are Sona Charaipotra (that’s my wife) and Dhonielle Clayton, her classmate, fellow fiction writer and homegirl at the New School’s MFA program, and blogger extraordinarie at TeenWritersBloc.com
You will find a public display of my inadequacies and . . . adequacies. No, that’s not the right word. My successes and failures – that sounds better – in keeping up with my writing goals for the next 30 days – click tab above that says “NaNoWriMo” or (check out http://www.navdeepsinghdhillon.com/category/nanowrimo). According to my New Year’s post, every week, I aimed to write 3 days a week, 500 words per session. So 1,500 words per week. It’s now November and my word count is at 0. So slightly short. This month for National Novel Writing Month, I’m going to put in a more respectable effort. Bullies welcome. Caste no bar.
What Are You Doing to Prepare for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), 2011???
Yep. This cartoon by Errol Elumir pretty much sums up my thoughts on preparing for NaNoWriMo. I have my Scrivener sorted out (here’s a post I wrote to figure out what writing program to use: Scrivener vs Storyist). I have my pencils sharpened and my notebook organized. But . . . no outline!
It’s National Novel Writing Month, Can I Get a Woop Woop?
Two Novembers ago, I attempted to write 50,000 words – a completed novel – during National Novel Writing Month, most commonly referred to as NaNoWriMo, and those in a love-hate relationship with it refer to as NaNo. It has become a perfectly acceptable verb to use during November: “Are you NaNo-ing?” “How’s your NaNo-ing going,” or in my case, “Sod this Nano-ing. I’m NaNo-ed out of my head. ” Of course, I didn’t mean it. I have mad love for NaNo. But also mad hate. While I was doing it in 2009, it was definitely mad hate. And the whole of last year was filled with mad-guilt. This year, thanks to a great chat with Sona and Dhonielle, where I was forced (literally) to break down my story, I’m starting NaNo on a more cheerful and optimistic note. So yes, mad love for now.
Writing, like many other creative fields, is an incredibly lonely and isolating thing to do. It’s difficult being anti-social, not so you can put your feet up and unwind, but so you can sit in a corner of your house with a laptop. So two of the things I like about NaNo is that it connects you with a quarter of a million people around the world who are all trying to write a novel, and there are some amusing “pep talks” by established novelists. All of the participants, especially the aspiring novelists, are thinking This is the year. Very few will be disciplined enough to actually write 1,667 words a day, and make it to the full 50,000. What it gives aspiring novelists is a community and above all, hope. The hope that this year they can put a dent in their novel, maybe finish it, maybe even publish it.
Summer of Fun . . . and no Writing!
Me and Kavya Bhangra-ing On the Beach
This Summer, I had big plans to make amends for my word count of about 0 since January. Needless to say, my New Year’s resolutions didn’t pan out quite as well as I had hoped. I’d like to say it’s because of my work and duties as a father and husband are exhausting. But the primary reason is pure laziness. I had a tiny bit of a bump in the road with my story and rather than sit there and work through it like a proper writer does, I opted to take the approach a muppet would: to go muppetting about and do anything except my writing. Some of it was indeed legit stuff: tidying the flat, grading papers, working on syllabi. Those sorts of productive things. And when I couldn’t be bothered with that, but still didn’t want to face the mess of my novel, I went on FaceBook, which was the beginning of the end. Then there was Twitter. YouTube. And channels on the good ole telly.
Over the Summer, time has been the culprit for my not writing, and I really am a victim this time. Really. Alright, not really. But it is taking much more effort for me to focus because we’re on “holiday” to visit my Mum and Dad in Central California for a month. Before that, Sona’s cousins came to New Jersey for a visit, so of course, we “had to” go to Point Pleasant, chill out on the beach, and scarf down deep-fried oreos and chocolate covered potato chips. Here in California, Sona still has freelance assignments she’s doing, my Mum is at work till 5pm, and my Dad . . . well, let’s just say he’s easily distracted when he gets a phone call or gets on the computer. So, essentially, me and Sona are balancing doing our work with watching Kavya, and our writing has taken a massive backseat.
Tandoor in Back Garden of Central California
Added to the mix are fresh berries, fruit trees, chickens and roosters strutting about, a tandoor and a barbeque (sometimes used to cook the aforementioned chickens) in the acre and a half backgarden of my parent’s home, not to mention a paddling pool, and a shaded patio. So, even if sitting indoors with my laptop open was an option, you can see what a struggle it would be to choose that over a paddling pool. Oh yeh and then there’s that daughter I’m a father to. I love the quality time I’m spending with her, but she is quite knackering. Sona and I are absolutely shattered by the time my mum comes home. And Sona has erratic assignments that she has to do on top of all that, so it’s difficult for either of us to have a solid writing routine.
So, while Sona does her interviews or watches her shows for work, I end up playing . . . I mean taking care of Kavya, This involves a lot of bhangra, running, splashing, tickling, changing of nappies, combing of hair, attempts at putting rubber bands in Kavya’s hair (my wife doesn’t appreciate my artistry in styling my daughter’s hair).
The Challenge
Starting this week, both Sona and me have been trying to get a routine going for our writing. I drop Sona at a Starbucks in the morning and then hang out with Kavya for two hours, sometimes roaming through various shops and the bookstore. Other times just dropping Sona off and coming home and playing in the paddling pool with her. Once we just parked in a shady spot, Kavya took a nap for a good solid hour, and I worked on my outline in my notebook.
Speaking of outlines, I haven’t fully crossed over and embraced the outline, but I am definitely seeing the merits in it. So far, I’ve been doing what I found out is the “skeleton outline” through Scrivener. Basically, I write a general gist of what is going to happen in a scene. The “cons” in this type of outline, I read about in a novel writing book I glanced at while at the bookstore with Kavya, is that it isn’t very thorough. This I can attest to, but it does allow flexibility, which you can see how well that worked out for me and my writing process.
The other type is one I don’t think I’ll ever use for creative writing: the “structure plus.” It’s too analytical. You basically have to know what the purpose of a scene is, and also who exactly is going to be in it, and what some of the lines will be. I wish I could have it all mapped out like that, but just not my style.
I’ve started fiddling about with a hybrid between the two for my own notes. I’ll still use the Scrivener notecards describing the gist.
So far, this hybrid has really helped me shape things up by breaking down the structure. One of the problems I was having was figuring out what happens after a secret is revealed in my novel. At first, I thought the partition of 1947 or 9/11 in and of itself is a catalyst for something. And it very well might be, but that’s not the type of story I’m writing. What I’ve found helpful is to use screenplay structure to break it down. Screenplays are obviously much more rigid in the sense that turning point 1 must occur by page x, or Act I and Act 3 must be 30 pages each, and Act 2 must be 60 pages. Fortunately a novel is more flexible, but can benefit from this structure.
There are three acts or parts of a story: Act 1, 2, and 3. Act I introduced the status quo (characters, setting, current situation, etc). Act 2 complicates things, and Act 3 gives us the new status quo/offers some form of a resolution.
Once I thought about my story in these terms, it made my objective with the outline a little clearer, but I still didn’t know how to integrate some of the historical facts into the narrative, or breathe life into some of my characters that I initially thought would be minor.
My only time to write is late at night, even though I have to be “on” starting relatively early in the morning. I am awakened to Kavya pointing at my stomach and saying “tidoo,” followed by wild slaps and hysterical laughter. So, no snooze button available there. My strategy, for now, is to write a paragraph or so for the crucial parts of my novel, including some transitions, and logistical bits. I’m giving myself four weeks to hammer it out. Then I’ll worry about word count.
Day 1 for me officially starts tomorrow: Thursday, August 11, 2011
Four weeks from tomorrow: Thursday, September 8, 2011
Sona already has a pretty solid outline, so is zooming along. Here’s her post on her Summer Writing.
Wish me luck! And wish Sona luck as well =)
Martin Amis on “The War Against Cliché “
The mere mention of Martin Amis’s name (in England, anyway) sends grown men hurtling towards a nostalgic past they were probably never a part of, and women into hysterics. The sort reserved for Michael Jackson when he did the moonwalk. I can’t think of any other author who has ever had the power to elicit this sort of behaviour from grown men and women, let alone still be able to pull it off in their late sixties.
Martin Amis is the grand-daddy of Lad-Lit (classily referred to as Dick-lit in America). He exploded onto the literary scene at 24 years old, winning the prestigious Somerset Maugham Award with The Rachel Papers in 1973. The plot of his novels has never been very exciting, but he has managed to amazingly move past cliché, despite the story he’s telling, and even the characters controlling the story epitomizing cliché itself.
Stoopid NYC MFA Students
Seth Abramson and Sona Charaipotra
I always love a good literary throw down because academics will never concede they’re in any way wrong, so it usually ends in a shootout. Oh wait, I’m confusing it with a gang war. It actually ends with one person having a strop (British slang for behaving like a child) and storming off. It’s even funnier online because there’s nowhere to go. It is, in one very fitting word, “awesome.” This time it involved the lawyer, poet, Ph.D. student, and blogger Seth Abramson, and Sona Charaipotra, a hot mama, New School Young Adult MFA student, TeenWritersBloc blogger, oh, and my wife =) It’s exactly like the feud between the East Coast and West Coast rappers. Sona’s like Tupac and Seth is like the Notorious B.I.G. Don’t let his Harry Potter outfit fool you. That is a Harry Potter outfit, right? Anyway, Seth wrote an article in the Huffington Post in which he does not call NYC MFA students idiots, and Sona wrote a blog on TeenWritersBloc.com titled “NYC Students: We’re not all idiots” See. Just like gangstaz.
James Frey and his best friend, Oprah Winfrey
Seth Abramson’s article, “James Frey and the Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts” has very little to do with either. He starts off discussing the unethical and exploitative nature of James Frey’s publishing company (check out my blog about it here), and then the article abruptly stops being about Frey and springboards into what he writes about on his blog: the perils of being in a high priced MFA program that is not fully funded. It reminds me of those reefer madness posters from the 60s.
Navdeep’s Reverse Bucket List
This is a small get together
The first time Sona introduced me to her immediate family, we ended up going to her cousin’s house for a “small get-together,” which turned out to be 40 people! And this became indicative of any celebration, big or small. We were constantly surrounded by immediate and extended family in New Jersey for all of the big celebrations, which we knew was a production (food, washing up, dealing with drama), but was something we all looked forward to, and took for granted. We just couldn’t fathom that there would be a momentous celebration where the whole family wouldn’t be present.
We assumed Thanksgiving this year would be a boisterous affair here in New Jersey, as it is every year, with Sona’s family spread out all over the house, the steady boom of Raju Mama’s voice bellowing “oh ya, ya, ya,” the constant sound of people chattering, Meena, my sister-in-law complaining that she is hungry while talking about cake, the clinking of glasses, Sona and her cousin, Arun, baking an assortment of delicious goodies, “the cousins” making plans to be part of the criminally insane crowds lining up at 3am at Menlo mall for Black Friday sales, and of course, the intoxicating aroma of masala turkey - a Charaipotra tradition.
Instead, it ended up being a very intimate affair, much like I’m used to having with my family back in California. The difference, however, is that most of my extended family are all in India, whereas most of Sona’s extended family all live minutes away from her parents’ house, so it was a very strange feeling not having them here for Kavya’s first thanksgiving.
Masala Turkey
We all sat at the table, including Kavya, our nine-month-old daughter. Each of us had contributed something to the meal: Sona’s mom made the famous masala turkey, which has never failed and is integral to Thanksgiving at the Charaipotras, and now, the Dhillons too! Me and Meena had made some deliciously concepted desserts: red velvet cupcakes and low-fat pumpkin pancakes respectively, both of which failed in execution; Sona made mac and cheese, which I hear good things about; Sona’s dad made some scrumptious mushrooms with vegetable filling; Tarun had initially disgraced himself by mashing up the potatoes a little too vigorously causing them to become mushy, but redeemed himself with Wasabi, Green-tea, and Dark Chocolate Kit-Kats he brought all the way from Japan, all of which were delicious.
And Kavya? Her contribution is simply existing. With all the negative things that weigh down on all of us, she represents the inherent goodness in everything.
Although it was a much quieter Thanksgiving than we were expecting this year, it also gave us a chance to really reflect on the things that are important to us, the things that we are thankful for.
