Sarah Gibbard Cook
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Out of Control

8/16/2021

2 Comments

 
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Wildfires, conspiracy theories, and viral variants are raging out of control. Not that we ever held power over the universe, but don’t we remember once feeling we had a voice in it?

As the youngest in a smart and strong-willed family, I grew up with no illusion of control. Some friends and family members find me controlling all the same. Like many of us, I’m probably a bundle of contradictions.

Writing and (I suspect) other creative arts abound in contradictions about control. They require not only technical mastery, but also space for unpredictable flow. Fictional characters don’t always follow an author’s orders; they have their own ideas for what to do or say. Try to control too much and the result is formulaic and flat. Too little, and the result is often incoherent.

Either extreme can prevent ever finishing, the over-controller stymied by perfectionism and the under-controller continually distracted. The same may hold in the arts of politics and of everyday life. To hold on and hold loosely is an art in itself.
2 Comments
Connie GIll
8/16/2021 09:14:33 am

Sara,
I relate to your idea of the contradictions of control. I too was the youngest in my family of six siblings. I grew up understanding that I lacked control over anyone and anything. Yet, I try to control my home environment to achieve an orderliness, peace, and calm. I find it interesting too, relating the concept of control to fictional characters. In early drafts, they had control. Then came heavy edits to ensure that the story moved along in a coherent manner. Sometimes I feel as though I approach life that way. I allow it to take me where it will only to correct course when I've tried too many drafts of the same experience.

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Sarah Cook link
8/17/2021 06:21:19 am

Connie, interesting to know your experience as a youngest was similar. And you remind me how that background brings not only an awareness of lack of control but also an attempt to control what I can. You have peace and order in your home. I have an unfortunate tendency to interrupt that I'm sure comes from the feeling that unless I force my way in, my turn will never come.

Thanks for the description of how you and your characters relate in successive drafts, and the image of approaching life as a series of drafts in which you eventually step in to correct course. I want to try on that image and see if it fits for me.

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    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

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