Treading the Line

I hate writers who cannot do it and writing that does not have it.

Treading the line does not mean social or political activism. Treading the line is when a writer has something they like and a narrative that they wish to tell and can write out both without sacrificing either. This usually means that the writer combats his or her own likes, inspirations, or desires in favor of preserving the all sacred narrative.

I write these sentences with some passion because for the past few days now, all I have been reading are stories filled with writers succumbing to their wants and killing the narrative. Ugh, it disgusts me.

Either the writer will like a character too much, or a character's trait too much, or loves pleasing the fans too much, or something and suddenly, character development, storyline flow, insights, and reader inspiration completely dies. The writing becomes mangled, garbled, confused and frustrating for the reader. It does not inspire, it does not even convey. It just simply rests, speaking with wasted words about nothing!

It's like a writer being struck with some muse that whispers an amazing tale filled with wonder, hope, adventure, and the depths of human emotions, and then along the way, the writer says something like: "Yes, this is great, but the story is getting in the way of my glory!" And then, the writer promptly sabotages it with lackluster, cop-out chapters to fill pages and satisfy his or her vanity.

Concrete examples would be something like the show House. Season one and two had been filled incredible writing. The dark, arrogant doctor House that the viewers understand shows an odd, tortured philanthropist side of him. The character builds. Tension rises. The narrative blooms as powerful and unforgiving. Amazing. Then, at the tail end of season three, it seemed like someone at headquarters decided to fire the writers that made this show good. I suppose they did it in an effort to draw in more viewers at a fast rate, and thus resorted to underhanded tactics. Shock and awe became the paradigm of the writing. The show, for me, tanked. Then, upon seeing this drop in ratings, headquarters must have said: "No! It must be the quick wit of the show AND the shock and awe that drove the ratings! Save it! Save it quick!" And thus they focused solely on wit and shock and awe. What happened to character? What happened to development? Inspiration?

Though, now, I hear that the last two episodes may actually have some redeeming qualities, and so I shall give it some more time and patience before utterly abandoning it. Yet, my point comes across clear.

I despise writing that had an opportunity to instruct, uplift, inspire, complex, convey, or deepen but stubbornly pursued other, cheaper, interests. I despise it even more so than just meaningless dribble.

And now here is the kicker, I am not sure where this line lies for me. This is my most profound fear. I bear this in all honesty, grasping for some sort of comfort. I will not have bad literature published, but I have such a deep bias for my own writing I do not know what that could mean. I know I love certain characters, and certain types of characters. I know I cannot help but indulge in writing lengthy sentences wrought with apt, though unusual words. This is probably why I call it treading the line.

It is all too easy to fall one way or another when walking on this line. Too much narrative causes a dry, thin story barely held up by its skeleton, and too much indulgence makes it fat, cumbersome, and grotesque. I need something in between. Something charming and seductive, passionate and sensual, strong and agile. Something compelling. I really hope that I have a good enough handle on my craft to achieve this.

I will never settle for anything less. And this becomes but one of the many dark tortures my craft deals me even while leaving me in raptures.

God help me tread this line!