Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Literary Cubism: Liberation from Stricture

It was bound to happen; after all, literary cubism eschews convention, rejects stricture.

Deep in the creative fog of writing Christmas in Mecca, I stumbled into another form of expressive structure that serves to tell the story: instant messaging. I had come to the point in the narrative where two characters have a philosophically and personally revealing exchange of thought and perspective. Each character is introverted. Each is intelligent. Each is comfortable with and drawn to the written word. How best to frame such a dialogue, a discussion between two reclusive, bookish characters? I decided on instant messaging. This form of interpersonal communication preserves the informational and revelatory content of the dialogue. It also sets the conversation in a context that reveals the introverted nature of the characters, two people who prefer to exchange ideas while sitting alone in the privacy of a closed room.

And so now I have a vignette written solely in a series of instant messages. Gosh, I love literary cubism! :)

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