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Affect in Writing: A Way of Feeling

March 10, 2020

Writing

affect, art, fiction, writing

If you searched Home for Fiction for the term “affective power”, you’d discover tons of results. I have referred to the concept of affect in writing in many of my posts – “Sounds in Literature”, “Writing and Reading Symbolism”, and “Narrative Exposition”, to name three.

I now finally decided to write a proper post about it, for two reasons: Firstly, it’s important to speak a bit more analytically about something I use so often. Secondly, I realized that some of my more academically inclined readers might think I make some claim to Affect Theory.

Let’s clear this latter part right away: Although perhaps some accidental commonalities might exist, the way I use the concept of affect has absolutely no connection to affect theory.

Rather, I deploy the concept of affect in writing to refer to emotions, thoughts, and states of mind. I’ll open up the concept in more detail, also explaining i) why it’s important for writers; ii) how to use it in your fiction.

affect, image of woman
Affect in writing is an expression involving emotions, thoughts, and states of mind
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Unintended Misinformation: Dynamics and Dangers

March 4, 2020

Society

internet, manipulation, misinformation, society

A mythological king was once asked what was his most precious asset: his health, his army, his wealth, or his offspring. “Information!” he said. “Give me information, and I can easily get back the rest”. Of course, information also comes with misinformation. And unintended misinformation, in particular, can be a very insidious, dangerous concept.

Unlike fake news or intentional propaganda, unintended misinformation neither involves malice nor has ulterior motives. Those spreading misinformation aren’t aware they’re doing so. Instead, they believe they’re helping (either a cause or the general dissemination of knowledge).

But, as I mentioned above, unintended misinformation can be an insidious process, causing significant damage and having far-reaching repercussions. The problem, as we’ll see in more detail below, lies precisely in its lack of intention or malice. Put simply, its dynamics are such that preclude detection of the misinformation until it has effectively displaced the truth.

Unintended Misinformation
Once the door of unintended misinformation is opened, it’s very hard to close it
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Writing Criticality: Identify and Control Points of Divergence in Your Fiction

February 26, 2020

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

fiction, plot, writing

In physics, criticality refers to a nuclear reaction that is able to continue by itself. But for our purposes, I use it as a metaphor to indicate “points of no return”. In other words, points of divergence in a novel, where the plot can take two (critically) different directions.

The concept of points of divergence might be familiar to authors writing alternative-history science fiction. For an example, you can see my review of Elleander Morning. However, when I refer to writing criticality, I’m not limiting myself to speculative fiction.

The concept of points of divergence is ubiquitous. It pervades all fictional narratives, regardless of genre. Or at least… it ought to! In this post I’ll show you how to work with points of divergence – identifying, controlling, and deploying them successfully.

A note on terminology: I use the terms “Writing Criticality” and “point of divergence” interchangeably in the post.

points of divergence
Writing criticality is… critical. As does criticality in a nuclear context, points of divergence imply a point of no return. Once you commit to a plot line, you need to stick to it.
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