I have a gripe, a complaint, if you will.
I'm a preacher. I can confront and probe and prod and encourage and all that. Quite directly sometimes. Less direct other times. But never suggestively.
As a future (and current...ish...) storyteller, I must learn to be suggestive in my challenges. Films and novels and comics and stories do not lecture the audience. A character does not say, "Gee, I'm glad I made that decision, maybe everyone else should, too." They... do... something else....
That's kinda my problem. I just don't know how to be suggestive. I'm not good at subtley or manipulation. If I want something, I ask. I don't plant the idea in someone's head, watch it grow, water it for weeks, and then, all of a sudden, they decide to start changing.
I say, "CHANGE NOW!" And if that doesn't do it, I kick them.
So... I'm trying to change that part of me. And trying to not let my brain think that I need to switch back to youth ministry. Because that scares me.
Toodles.
9 comments:
You should ask Michael for a few lessons in subtly and manipulation. Only a few, as of course Michael won't want to give away all of his secrets.
^_~
~*~ Rad
hey now! ...well she does kind of have a point.
"Mother, why are you such a good driver?"
*Sticks tongue out at Michael*
I don't understand CJ's quote...
~*~ Rad
Subtley and manipulation can be dangerous things, even if they are for good reasons. So be careful...
Maybe, just maybe, instead of "manipulation," what really happens that act of belief
I think there's a lot of merit in being able to tell someone directly what's on your mind, and I believe it helps them out a lot, as well, not to have a friend who wants to help beating around the bush. So, don't squash that out of yourself. However, there is also a lot to be said for story, and getting the message across within the story instead of through a mini essay. Having realized that i am good at neither confronting nor telling story, I'd say it's a wonderful directon you're headed in, just don't exchange one trait for another. both are beneficial. And, I would say, blessings.
I can give you subtlety lessons if you can give me being blunt lessons. ha.
I think it is the the challenging things that drive us.
For example: English is my worst subject.
goober peas.
as stories go, my motto has become "show, don't tell." I had some problems with overly descriptive or preachy moments when I first began to write fiction, but I've gotten better--though I still catch myself doing it sometimes. you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink...and where people are concerned, you'd do better to just put a glass on the table in front of them, drink your own, and walk away. They'll either get it or they won't, and that's the department of the Dude upstairs. sometimes really cool things happen, and people see things in it that you never even tried to put there.
random philosophical-esque thought: is all (fallen) human interaction really just various forms of mutual manipulation? (there's one to keep you awake at night...weird.)
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