I recently finished re-reading Chuck Palaniuk's "Haunted", and I didn't realize how much his writing has affected my style.
Palaniuk describes himself as a minimalist writer. Minimalism is a style of art that focuses on simplifying everything else to contrast the subject the artist wants the viewer to see. It's about "cutting the fat"; keeping and mentioning only the things that are important. He often uses things like repetition or broad, abstract strokes to describe his characters and moments. Typically, using abstract ideas distances the reader because it doesn't give the reader a clear idea of the tangible, yet Palaniuk can capture scenes, expressions, and feelings while using a few short phrase. That's economy of language.
A great testament to Palaniuk's writing prowess is the fact that his first book, Fight Club, is less than 50,000 words long. Why is that important? In publishing circles, your target audience often dictates the length of your book; younger audiences need shorter books, older need longer. Your typical novel marketed to adults should be around 80k words. Great fantasy epics (like Game of Thrones, Wheel of Time, et cetera) should be around 120k words. NaNoWriMo (Nation Novel Writing Month) tries to encourage new writers to write a 50k word story in a month... yet by industry standards that would be considered a novella, and not a novel. By NaNoWriMo's measuring stick, Fight Club doesn't pass the bar, and yet Palaniuk has maintained a loyal following from a short and should never have been published novel. Crazy, right?
So why do I say that Palaniuk's style has affected mine? One of the stories in "Haunted" is about a chef who goes around killing food critics who give him a bad review. In this story, the narrator uses specific cooking terms and injuries/problems that only a person in that particular profession would encounter. One the stories I had written two years ago was about a catering company and the head caterer managing his people and his deadlines. I too, use very specific cooking terms and bring up problems that only a caterer would encounter. Eight years had passed between the time I read "Haunted" and the time I wrote that story, and yet I was writing a story that appropriated elements of Palaniuk's style.
With any artist who inspires you, you'll start practicing their style. Eventually, if you practice long enough, their style will be incorporated to yours. With enough influences, your style will become an algamation of multiple aritsts, and eventually becomes "your own". As I mentioned in a previous post, Lissa Treiman says that your style is much like your signature; it gets practiced so much that it eventually just becomes short-hand for... you. :)
As much as I appreciate Palaniuk, I think he takes too much of a pessimistic view of humanity. Fight Club often mentions our recycled, consumerist culture and how it has emasculated men. One of the most popular quotes from the book and film was from Marla Singer's remark that terminall-ill people actually listen to you, and not just "wait for their turn to speak". Haunted focuses on a group of wannabe writers escalating the pain and suffering they feel (actually commiting cannibalism and dismembering themselves) so that their "survival story" will be more popular by dent of painting their "captors" as truly viscious and vindictive. The narrator points out that the American dream is about "turning your life into something you can sell". Not a very appreciative perspective of the human race, to say the least.
I think that while a lot of people lack a certain measure of alturism and empathy, I don't think it is intrinsic to a person's nature, but a matter of reinforced choices they have decided to make. I want to write stories that encourages people to do good, to think deeply and sharply. Here's to trying, I guess.
See you next week. :)
Photo cred: https://thesouloftheplot.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/poster_fightclub.jpg
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