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Complete video at: fora.tv Critically acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates discusses how a writer develops realistic characters, using examples from her novel “The Gravedigger’s Daughter.” —– Joyce Carol Oates talks about “The Gravedigger’s Daughter.” A family desperate to escape Nazi Germany settles in upstate New York, where the father is demeaned by the only job he can get: gravedigger an cemetery caretaker. What follows is a tale of unspeakable tragedy, as the gravedigger’s daughter …
Tags: authors, books, creating, developing, dialogue, dramatic, editor, fiction, foratv, Literature, narrative, novelists, realism, writers
Posted in Writing · November 10th, 2009 · Comments (25)
April 15th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
I don’t really agree with her beginning about poets when she staples poetry to music and rhythm. There are some white (no) rhyme poems (not only, but I’ll use them as an example) that can carry you away with only the power of their words and the feel that they give without having anything to do with a harmonious sound. Although if some were to be combined with smooth transitions and a rhythm, it would create a sensation more powerful than the one evoked.
Other than that, a very educative lecture
April 16th, 2009 at 2:54 am
ok… i see… she a true nigga
April 18th, 2009 at 3:49 am
You’ve had her as a professor, or are you just reading her? If you have had her you’re lucky, even if you don’t know it.
It would be incredible to be taught by a writer of that caliber.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
I’m doing a research paper on Joyce Carol Oates. It’s hell, but I’m actually quite enjoying myself. I chose an excellent author to write about. (:
May 2nd, 2009 at 2:20 am
I love this woman. I thought her comment about poetry was strange, though. Considering her writing being as ‘musical’ as it is.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:39 am
omg she has the same birthday as me…
May 29th, 2009 at 4:38 am
That’s great. Wonderful writer.
May 30th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I can totally connect to the part where she says writing a novel is like hell for the first 6 weeks. BECAUSE IT FREAKING IS. you have to push yourself hard to be a writer and you’ve gotta have some sense of confidence. neither which i have…(im working on it)
June 11th, 2009 at 6:04 am
I doubt the comment was really sexist at it’s root. Sounded more of the traditional cliche of attitude marking an individual’s characteristics that could have applied to a male just as easily. EA Poe with his poor health and drugs while also being popular with the ladies would have fit the image well, while Stephen King being a sociably and well balanced family man may be a surprise for some fans. TV taught us to identify with ‘entertainer’s more then talent based on it’s own merits.
July 4th, 2009 at 8:48 am
“Where are You Going, Where Have You Been”?
July 31st, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Finding this video was a wonderful surprise! I’m going to look for more – I’ve read interviews with her and she always seems to have plenty of things to say that make sense, even if I don’t always agree.
August 4th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Poets who come from fiction backgrounds frequently start with characters; the character’s voice creates the structure.
August 12th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
When you arent’ lucky enought to live the States, it is very fascinating to be able attend this lecture on writing.JOC is a great writer but also a wonderful teacher.
Thank you for posting this video!
August 17th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Joyce Carol Oates really is a wonderful teacher, but don’t be too sure about living in the states being all that lucky…lol
August 17th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Lol living in the states may not be lucky right now, but there was a time when it was the best place to be in the world…where the american dream was based on hard work and accomplishing endless possibilities…you could be from the slums and thru hardwork and willpower become a doctor or lawyer…Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom of petition, freedom to choose…It’s a heck of a lot better than living in China or Vientnam….
August 17th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
The dream was as you say. The reality, however, was a bit different for many, if not most, Americans. True, there is less predefined stratification, even in the midst of American class-ist behavior, than exists in many parts of the world. And it’s better than China or Vietnam any day of any week. Mypoint is that as an American, I know many of those ideals to be more the product of an incredible PR department, focusing on a small faction of Americans, rather than a possibility for the masses.
August 17th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
yeah your a bit right…but I guess it just depends on when and where in the country you were raised…I was raised in a nice small-town suburb where I didn’t have to worry about gangs or inner city stuff…and I was a kid in the 90’s which was arguably one of the best economic decades and worry-free….
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm
DAT FACE
September 12th, 2009 at 2:58 am
Characters aren’t always the best starting point for a novel. My favorite author (Michael Crichton) admits to never having a fascination with characters, preventing them from ever upstaging the plot, the science, the fiction, and the commentary. Maybe that is why they often make terrible movies.
September 14th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Joyce Carol Oats is stalking about literature and artists, not literary potato chips.
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:36 am
I never thought of it that way. Good point
October 13th, 2009 at 2:02 am
This woman is a god. I worship her!
October 21st, 2009 at 7:56 pm
I am currently reading “Blonde” and I hate reading it because I have the tendency of getting lost into the world of the story.
Literally, Joyce Carol Oates has the ability to suck you into the story and place you into the life of the main character-I love her, she is extraordinary. Her writing is mesmerizing.
October 31st, 2009 at 7:57 pm
very well done!
November 7th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
characters make the story, without them, readers don’t become attached to the book, causing them to lose interest, and causing them to never by another one of your books.
Michael Crichton is an exception, and an anomaly.