1. Blag

    Blag New Member

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    What are my limits when it comes to creative composition?

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Blag, Aug 31, 2015.

    Can an author play around with existing rules for grammar and sentence formations, probably break a few/several rules to facilitate creative expression?

    I once had an idea to write a complete story/novel in first person, everybody refers to each other in first person, everybody (perhaps every thing? no that would be too hard) describes itself if need to. There is no he, or she, or that man or woman, everybody is referred to in first person. There is only one person who is referred to in 3rd person and one could develop on that. Is this impossible to achieve/approve of?

    Or if thats too extreme, perhaps write a complete story without names/professions/straightforward 3rd person references? I'm not good with technical terminology of english so i'm unable to express my ideas/question too well.
     
  2. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Yes, of course you can do that. you can find all sorts of experimental approaches. There's no rule that you have to follow for your creative output, except perhaps that whatever you do you have to do effectively. In other words, make it work.
     
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  3. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    I can't imagine how one could possibly pull this off without it being mind-bogglingly confusing.
     
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  4. Blag

    Blag New Member

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    Thats why you shouldn't do it/try to imagine even harder. Nothing's impossible :) , and judging by your reply, i guess nobody has tried it before?
     
  5. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    I had the same thought as @OurJud. I'm sure it's possible and it would be a good exercise that you might learn from but I'm not sure how good a story it will result in. I hope you post the results if you go through with it because whatever happens I'm sure it will be very interesting!
     
  6. Blag

    Blag New Member

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    You should give it a try too, as a challenge/imagination training. I'm pretty sure there are writers much more experienced than me out there who will love to jog their creativity a bit more.
     
  7. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    Don't get me wrong. It wasn't my intention to put you off, I'm just struggling to see how it could work.

    Go for it! Like Tenderiser I'd be interested to see the results.
     
  8. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Sounds ok to me.
     
  9. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    All any writer can do is try. The proof whether it will work will be in the trial and error of execution. Go for it.
     
  10. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    Story trumps all. Make the story readable and don't get in its way and you can do anything.
     
  11. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I think that you need to clarify what you mean by "can..." Is it physically possible to do it? Yes. Can you do it and not get arrested? Yes. Can you do it and self-publish it? Yes, though that doesn't assure that anyone will buy even one copy. Can you do it and get it traditionally published? Fairly unlikely. That doesn't mean that you can't try it; various convention-breaking experiments have been published. But if you're wondering if your odds of being published are as high as they'd be if you followed most of the standard conventions, I'd say no. If you're wondering if your daring experimentation will make it MORE likely that you'll be published, I'd again say no.

    So it probably won't be traditionally published, and it probably won't be read by many. But if you want to do it, if it would give you pleasure, do it anyway.
     

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