 Drama: October 20, 2010 Issue [#4011] |
  Drama
This week: Image Patterning in Dramatic Fiction Edited by: Joy  
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"My first book was rejected nine times. It turned out to be a best seller, Battle Cry? in 1953."
Leon Uris
"Nobody asks you to do this. The world out there is not panting after another novelist. We choose it."'
Paul Auster
"The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new."
Samuel Johnson
Hello, I'm Joy . In this issue, we are going to address the use of Image Patterning. .
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Image patterning means relating the words and images to one another and to the story's focus. In the strict sense of the word, images are visuals described through words. Image patterning, on the other hand, involves not only visual descriptions but also the sensory details such as sound, taste, touch, and smell, and then, mood, diction, actions, symbols, allusions, motifs, and repetition.
For example in Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros told through the main character Lala's point of view, the grandmother's shawl (rebozo)--called Caramelo due to its color and weave--plays an important role as a symbol. Through the use of that symbol, Lala discovers her background, her family, and her grandmother's life and her own as the shawl envelopes the family clan as one unit. The diction and its repetition, too, add depth of the story with words such as shawl, real silk, hand-made, fringes, braiding, weaving, etc. In this case, the symbol of the shawl, the weaving and braiding of the life experiences, and the grandmother's importance in Lala's life all come together as a cluster or a grand pattern of images.
"They don't make them anymore" Grandmother says. "Look, the more work is put into the fringe, the higher the price. Like this one I'm wearing, count how many rows of braiding..."
"Why my own daughter doesn't want to be seen wearing a rebozo..."
Now, why is this image patterning important?
It is important because the human brain gets confused by random things. The brain works through connections where most everything relates to everything else, be it a real-life story or a fantasy-world one. When we writers put information together to form a pattern, the relationships and their connections stimulate emotions, impact the readers' personal lives, and draw them into the story with greater attraction.
When we look at Shakespeare's work, we find out that he is a master in using image patterning. For example in (i)Hamlet, the repetition of death, killing, rotting flesh, bad odors from decaying bodies, and separation of people--of lovers, of family--relate to the characters and the plotline of the play. Then on the character level, Shakespeare has assigned "light" to Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, in which Romeo compares Juliet to light through the course of the play. According to Romeo, Juliet's light shines best against darkness as she "hangs upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear" ; Juliet's eyes are "two of the fairest starts in all the heaven" ; Juliet is the sun and "can kill the envious moon" ; she teaches "the torches to burn bright."
Image patterning can give fiction a repetitive quality like an echo that nails the idea in the reader's understanding, a rhythm as in poetry, and roots to hold the plot and subplots together.
To do this well, it is important to put together related images, words, symbols and events. For example, if I were to write a story about a character who wanted to walk for recreation and emotional reasons and if I didn't have the exact plotline yet, I would concentrate, at the start, on the images and different textures of roads in the concrete and abstract senses, verbs and nouns relating to footware such as buckle, lace, boot, buck, insole, heel and probably I would use verbs and phrases like to cover ground, parade, poke along, trail, traipse, and follow. Then, when I'd have the plotline put together, I would extend the same and related images throughout the story, thus weaving organization, unity, and depth into it.
Enjoy yourselves celebrating the Horror/Scary genre and best of luck to those who are planning to participate  in NaNo in November.
Until next time...
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Your Drama Newsletter Editors: esprit  Adriana Noir Fyn  Joy
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
 This Issue's Tip: Just as a writer can use a setting to describe a character (the character's home, garden, city etc.), the writer can use characters to describe a setting (the characteristics of people at a bus terminal for example), thus turning a setting into a character.
 Reading Recommendation: A book with drama
If you have a recommendation, a few words on a book or a product review, send it to me or to this newsletter. I'll highlight it here. 
Ape House by Sara Gruen
Since Sara Gruen's most famous Water for Elephants got its start at the NaNoWriMo, according to a few internet sources including the NaNo site and we are nearing another November, I am going to recommend her last book Ape House that came out in Sept. 2010.
I just finished reading Ape House and found it full of suspense and drama. Its subject deals with animal-human communication.
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Feedback for "Interior Monologue"
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Adriana Noir
Fantabulous newsletter, Joy! I really loved your presentation here and the advice on inner monologues. Great examples too. The Human Stain was fascinating as a book and a movie.
Thanks, Adriana. I don't remember the movie, but I enjoyed reading the book. Sometimes, when they make a movie out of a literary-genre book, they louse it up, but every once in a while, they succeed. The Human Stain must be one of those successes.
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andrew
Nice newsletter, Joy! I haven't seen that many of my favorite authors together in years.
That quote from Le Guin reminded me of Alice Walker's note at the end of The Color Purple - thanking her characters for taking the time to stop by. I know, for me, that a character's coming along well when I stop liking them. It's a strange way to put it, but it's always a good sign when they start getting into trouble on their own.
I can't remember if Empty Wishes has gotten a newsletter pick, but since it's such a story of interior monologue (and your three tips for this issue) I thought I'd toss it out for consideration...it's one that always gets a rewrite no matter what else I'm working on, no matter how old or worn at the edges it looks sometimes. Maybe I'll finish it someday, if the characters ever let me. =)
Best and take care - thanks for a great NL!
Thanks for the input, Andrew.
"For me, that a character's coming along well when I stop liking them" This is a very good tip, believe it or not. It draws attention to a character as a human being, not as only a goody-two-shoes. Something to keep in mind for those of us planning to do the NaNo in a few days. Thank you for that.
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