Art of Fiction (David Mitchell's Speech Conspectus)

Pashkov House 09/09/2013 20:00 Art of fiction conspectus
Novelists: DM - David Mitchell EW - Evie Wyld AI - Alexander Ilichevsky
What is key to the art of fiction? [DM] This is an enormous question. St.Augustin’s expression comes to mind: “I know exactly what time is until someone asks me to explain it”. I feel the same way about this question. However I would say there are 5 key elements in the art of fiction: * Plot: what happens in the story * Character: who it happens to * Themes/Ideas: what about * Style: language in which the story is transmitted * Structure: how the narrative is constructed
Yes, indeed, what is published changes all the time.
Ah, and very importantly: imagination – where do stories come from.
This is from within human DNA: story-telling mammals, is one of the definition. And indeed this gives us an evolutionary advantage.
Theater: story telling involving body.
Film: new ways to tell stories.
But all of these actually serve to feed the appetite of human beings for stories.
We love our job and we have great predecessors.
One of them, Bulgakov, has cast a very long shadow indeed. And we are very honored to be in this building, to which as far as I understand he is very much connected.
And I hope when we die we are worthy to be mentioned in this tradition of novelists.
Just a theory I’ve evolved: novelists are useless at any other job.
[EW] these 5 components of a novel. I think about them when reading, but when writing… it somehow doesn’t matter. I find it hard to separate. You just chop it around to tell a story in a better way. I am much more practical, than theoretical. I write on a page. I think in a page. I write stories. I feel very unacademic. I’m interested in people and in stories. Once I’ve written a story I find what it’s about.
I write a story and it takes me to interesting places. I write it from the gut. It’s emotional. I’m feeling excited about the story I write. I wanted to know hat the character is. Energy that excites me – that what makes me write stories.
[DM] _____ said: there are two plots in the world literature. “Hearer takes the journey” and “stranger comes to town”. This is the power to reduce. It’s a power to see something very basic in something very complex.
Follow the live of a novel. How did the idea of Cloud Atlas come? From structure: what if it is a nest of matrioshka dolls. What will happen if you structure a novel like that? Would it work or would it be a mess?
Unlike Evie, I do think about these 5 elements I mentioned. But actually the novel starts with character, in fact, plot, themes and style depend on the character. Structure is a bit separate, but other than that, it’s a character that you chop around to tell a story in a better way. It’s like “Dear David, my name is ___ and I’m a character of a novel…”. Writing a novel is about fleshing out the characters. Language: are they confident speakers? Are they shy of using long words? What’s their social class identity? When the character is fleshed out like that, the readers can tell the author believes in the character and more importantly, the character believes in himself and therefore is real.
A writer is somewhat a schizophrenic. He has to believe in the character. We believe sufficiently in realities that don’t actually exist. And we can also boast to have a certain degree of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) to be able to focus exclusively on one aspect: living in a non-existing world.
About lose of public’s demand for novels. The more art becomes chopped up, the more we can hear about death of human attention span. As the scenes in the movies become shorter and shorter, as we read Internet faster and faster. But I think in these conditions the appetite for a good long story is even more than ever. The need for deeper, slower immersion into non-instant impressions… worlds which will inhabit the reader for weeks after.
[DM, question] Have I been in a situation when I wrote something and it turned out someone has already written something similar? That’s a first time I hear this question, which is good. Accidental plagiarism I assume is what you mean. The answer is: “er… not really…”. To elaborate my point. You see, originality is not in the what, it’s in a how. If you try to discover your own voice and sincerely follow it – you are bound to end up with something that will be unique the same way your iris of the eye is unique, your fingertips, your DNA…
[AI] But it’s important to consider the works of others in terms of culture.
[DM] I love the quote of Isaak Newton: “If I can see this far, that’s because I’m standing on the shoulders of giants”. But I also feel like quoting Picasso’s saying: “An artist first finds something and then goes looking what it is”. Writing is about inspiration.
[DM, question] One of your characters said Tokio smelled of the seamy side of the pocket. What does Moscow smell of? – Thanks! Thanks a lot for this question, which puts me into a very delicate position! Ha, that’s my zen answer to it! What Moscow smells of… Great human potential, fulfilled future, perhaps greater than in the past.
[EW, same question] Ah, well… I did smell a lot of very expensive perfume, which is lovely.
[DW] who is in charge of a novel: the character or you? Gleaming, plutonic, beautiful, utopian vision of the perfect novel. That’s what is guiding.
[EW, same question] I’m following them, so in my case, yes, it’s a character..