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affective power

A JavaScript Poem Shuffler

July 18, 2020

creativity, defamiliarization, javascript, meaning, poetry, programming

As I’ve mentioned many times on the blog, meaning is a very fluid concept in literature. This fact inspired me to see what happens when we completely distort the author’s original intention, while still maintaining some minimal cohesion. This JavaScript poem shuffler was the result.

As the name perhaps implies, my JavaScript poem shuffler takes a poem and randomly reorganizes its lines.

Now, you might have two questions about this:

Doesn’t that render the poem meaningless?
Why should we care?

Amazingly, both these questions have the same answer, as we’ll see in more detail. Briefly, let me just say that this little coding exercise also provides us with excellent teaching material in terms of affective power and, indeed, the creation of meaning in literature.

JavaScript Poem Shuffler — Apparently chaotic patterns can still hold meaning – if they are predicated on **affect**. This JavaScript poem shuffler is a good example of this

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How to Use Poetic Licence Properly

July 6, 2020

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

affect, artistic license, fiction, poetic licence, writing

Poetic license (or artistic licence) refers to ignoring factual truth for creative purposes. There is a wide area covered by this definition and so, inevitably, some uses are proper whereas other improper.

In other words, there are ways to use poetic licence properly (enhancing the affective power of your novel), but also improperly (muddling the waters and creating confusion).

In this post we’ll take a look at all these elements – what poetic licence refers to in more detail, ways of using poetic licence, and of course which (and why) are the ways I consider optimal.

how to use poetic licence — The facts of the photo (I assume and hope!) are that the shark is superimposed on the image and the woman was only in a narrow water tank, alone. The use of **poetic licence** allows the artist to present a “reality” that might not be strictly speaking factual, yet possesses enhanced affective power

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Write Drunk, Edit Sober: Fiction Editing Tips and Tricks

May 24, 2020

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

editing, fiction, writing

I hate editing my fiction. I hate everything about it; the way it sucks life out of a text, the way it’s a clinical, passionless process. But you gotta do what you gotta do. In my long, sometimes painful writing career, I’ve learned a thing or two about editing. Today, I’m sharing these fiction editing tips and tricks that will hopefully spare you some frustration.

As you might remember from earlier posts, the phrase “write drunk, edit sober” is attributed to Ernest Hemingway. It’s quite probable that Hemingway never said such a thing, but that’s irrelevant. The quote is memorable, and its advice solid – though there is a twist in the plot, as we will see. You do need to write with emotion (“drunk”) and you do need to edit without it (“sober”).

Fiction editing is a diverse process, and there are more than one right ways to do it. I certainly don’t claim that my fiction editing tips are the best for you, let alone the only ones.

I’m only sharing these fiction editing tips – perhaps one day I’ll share my nonfiction editing tips, too – to inspire you and give you a head start. Take what you can use, discard the rest – there’s a meta-editing tip there, if you’re perceptive 😉

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