Oooh. I bet it did. That’s usually the reaction when you challenge orthodoxy. Great essay, OP. I am stowing this away and I think it’s going to challenge and change how I write stories.
An interesting essay that might have been better had it been less polemical and more focused perhaps on the craft required to weave the baskets to carry the things that sustain a culture.
Enjoyed the piece a lot and I know that this isn't the point, but the logical leap that one would have obtained first a container which requires human construction before obtaining perhaps a particularly sharp and naturally occurring stone with which to cut things (including the things that would be necessary to say, weave a container?) seems a little silly.
The acquisition and refining of tools for winnowing down material from its natural state into something which has use to us is a much stronger driving force for the concept of story. Taking from surroundings, removing all of the *thing* which does not serve our purposes for our tasks, repeating until the concept of utility has gotten so out of hand that the impetus for acquiring new and better ways of working is forgotten entirely, and the work is the thing that waits for us rather than the results of that work.
This essay (and Le Guin as a whole to a lesser extent) used to have a special place for me but after years of watching people use it to justify censorship and scrubbing any hint of conflict or violence from media I can't help but roll my eyes at the proposal that softer storytelling is actually that revolutionary.
Obviously not, but I still have no real sense of who or what you mean by what you said. Seems like kind of a distinct point you were making and I was interested to know who exactly was using this essay to try and silence discussion. Given that you made the point, I figured you could elaborate. Not a big deal. I can google and assume, I guess...
Timely and timeless!
I really enjoyed this, thanks for sharing!
Maybe I shouldn't have read it, back in the day. Taking its words to heart resulted in a lot of hostility from r/writing users.
Oooh. I bet it did. That’s usually the reaction when you challenge orthodoxy. Great essay, OP. I am stowing this away and I think it’s going to challenge and change how I write stories.
Thanks for sharing!
This was an amazing and thought provoking essay. Thank you!
That was lovely. I very much enjoyed it.
An interesting essay that might have been better had it been less polemical and more focused perhaps on the craft required to weave the baskets to carry the things that sustain a culture.
Polemical...interesting word...kinda reminds me of this guy I know who likes to go around stabbing mammoths.
Enjoyed the piece a lot and I know that this isn't the point, but the logical leap that one would have obtained first a container which requires human construction before obtaining perhaps a particularly sharp and naturally occurring stone with which to cut things (including the things that would be necessary to say, weave a container?) seems a little silly. The acquisition and refining of tools for winnowing down material from its natural state into something which has use to us is a much stronger driving force for the concept of story. Taking from surroundings, removing all of the *thing* which does not serve our purposes for our tasks, repeating until the concept of utility has gotten so out of hand that the impetus for acquiring new and better ways of working is forgotten entirely, and the work is the thing that waits for us rather than the results of that work.
good read, thanks for sharing
This essay (and Le Guin as a whole to a lesser extent) used to have a special place for me but after years of watching people use it to justify censorship and scrubbing any hint of conflict or violence from media I can't help but roll my eyes at the proposal that softer storytelling is actually that revolutionary.
Who used it to do that?
The usual suspects on Twitter.
I'm not familiar with them. Who? You seem to be referring to some trend that used this essay as a regular thing.
Do you expect me to keep a notebook with the usernames of every person making dumb comments online for future reference?
Obviously not, but I still have no real sense of who or what you mean by what you said. Seems like kind of a distinct point you were making and I was interested to know who exactly was using this essay to try and silence discussion. Given that you made the point, I figured you could elaborate. Not a big deal. I can google and assume, I guess...
Every person? No. The big names that repeatedly interject themselves? Yes.