Mary Ann Clarke Scott

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Internet, Social Media,Youtube, Computer Games: Opiate of the Masses?

ARE WE RE-WIRING OUR BRAINS?

Were you online today? Did you check your email , read a favourite blog, watch a video or look at some pretty pictures on Pinterest? Did you Google a question – perhaps the price of a pup tent at Canadian Tire, how to repair the damned hot water system on your sailboat, or look up a quick (probably untested) recipe for a salad using yesterday’s leftover grilled corn on the cob? As the day waned, did you download a movie to chill with or play a little Scrabble or World of Warcraft?

Is that a stupid question? (Or a series of stupid questions. There are rather a lot of questions in this post.)

Brain_MRIThe internet has certainly changed the way we spend our time, hasn’t it? I’ve been wondering if the glut of easily accessible information and addictive entertainment available to us in today’s computer age inhibit our ability to read and think deeply? Is it changing the way we actually process information, and consequently the decisions that we make? Is it depriving us of time spent face to face with our families and friends, with other human beings in the flesh?

Yes, of course we are, in some ways, better informed than we ever were. But to what degree is the information that we swill around and regurgitate really valuable to us? The internet, whether Google or Wiki or whatever, puts the answer to any question at our fingertips. There is no lag time. We no longer have to physically go to a library, conduct any thoughtful research, skim and search for the right book or books and read copiously to find what we are looking for. We no longer have to consult with people who may have expertise or first hand experience addressing the problem we face. We barely even have to go to a store and browse to figure out what to buy.

Is the information that we so gladly grab and gulp really reliable? Or is it overly filtered by the intermediaries of advertisers, bloggers and corporate websites? Does it deprive us of both the burden but also the opportunity of gathering perhaps more information than we need and then having to filter it, synthesize it, analyze it and think deeply about it, forming our own conclusions and opinions in the process, and even stimulating our own imaginations? Did not this experience in fact help to form as well as to inform us as intelligent and discerning human beings?

What skills and abilities will the current generations, growing up with no other way of being, be lacking? Should we be worried? The answer appears to be: HELL YES!

BEWARE OF MONKEYMIND

Have a look at this interesting blog post by David Rainoshek, which, though it focusses on FaceBook, discusses at length the addictive impact of the internet in general on our brain chemistry and structure, and our well being. It rich with references, links and even a Ted Talk. It also references Nicholas Carr’s book The Shallows, in which…

“… he argues that the internet’s ‘cacophony of stimuli’ and ‘crazy quilt’ of information have given rise to ‘cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning’ – in contrast to the age of the book, when intelligent humans were encouraged to be contemplative and imaginative.”

And as for entertainment, I wonder, completely aside from the impact of the prevalence of gratuitous and ubiquitous digital violence in many video games these days, if playing with computers, mostly by ourselves, even if we sometimes play with virtual versions of our friends online, or with a multitude of strangers, deprives us of something essential. And don’t even get me started on mindless Reality Television, which it seems to me is a glorified excuse to intrude into the private lives of pathetic strangers and to glibly judge and criticize and ridicule them.

512px-Family_playing_a_board_game_(2)It used to be, not so very long ago, that people sat around the kitchen table, and along with the game board, the cards, the playing pieces and score sheets, spread out drinks and snacks,  might have listened to music. In between turns, we might have conversed on all manner of topics, exchanged jokes and stories. As well as entertainment, we used games as a medium to get to know people better, and as a way to educate and train our children in the social arts. Playing games was an excuse to have friends over, and having friends over was an excuse to play the games we loved.

“…HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS OF THINGS JUST FLYING THROUGH YOUR CRANIUM IN A HEAP”

Now I fear that our children are growing up without the advantages that these slower, more social modes of interaction and learning provided. We can’t possibly know what this will mean for them in the future, or how these changes are affecting our world on so many levels. But the research certainly suggests that it ain’t good. And worst of all, while the majority of people spend more and more time tethered to their computers for one reason or another, I have to wonder what the governments and power brokers of the world are doing behind our backs? It seems to me they could do pretty much whatever they wanted and no one would even notice, until it was too late.

One of the most delightful and rewarding experiences of my summer so far has been spending time in a small, rural community. In fact an island, where community life is still alive and well, and being outside in nature doesn’t require a decision, a negotiation or a car ride. There have been community meals, live performances by local and visiting musicians, a readers and writers festival with recitations and readings of both world class and local poetry and prose,  and even beer tastings. A bike ride down a quiet country road, overlooking pastoral views of farmland and the sea, swims in small lakes, weekly visits to community and farm markets and satisfying yard and garden projects that rival any expensive holiday abroad.

512px-Villach_Voelkendorf_Sankt_Johanner_Hoehenstrasse_Mussestunde_unter_der_Linde_05112008_43My advice: Take a break from the computer this summer if you can. Pull out the old-fashioned board games and a deck of cards and gather ’round the kitchen table. Take a stroll to the local library and spend some time just browsing in the stacks. FInd a paper book and read it in a lawn chair. Start a conversation with your next door neighbour over the back fence. Look around your own neighbourhood or community and discover what other people are doing, and engage face to face. You never know what might happen. You might have an original idea, and feel really happy to be alive.

And as if I haven’t asked enough questions already, what do you think about all this? Do you think you’re addicted to the internet? Do you think it’s hurting us and our children? What are you doing about it?

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Social Media for the Meek: This is not a Party

2978305256_6041f65aa6BLOGGING IS HARD

I’ve been trying to transition from an occasional and erratic blogger into a regular blogger for some time now, and toward that end have read books and taken classes, such as Kristen Lamb‘s Are You There Blog It’s Me Writer, an her  WANA Tribe blogging class, and most recently, moved to a new domain name and server here at www.maryannclarkescott.com, but the actual act of blogging regularly has yet to manifest. Not for lack of trying. I sort of have a plan.

But last night I had an epiphany about why it’s not happening, and I realize it’s because when I contemplate regular blogging, I experience a monumental anxiety attack akin to that one might feel as one steps up to a podium in a large auditorium filled with 2000 people, all eyes trained on me, waiting expectantly for my insightful and brilliant words. GAK!

Or, and this is even more telling, the way I feel just before I go to a large party. Or even before that, standing in my undies in front of my closet at home deciding what to wear to said party. (I’m obviously  not the first person to draw this analogy. See Nathan Bransford here.) What! you might be thinking. What’s up with that?

Lautrec_ball_at_the_moulin_de_la_galette_1889

I DON’T DO WELL AT PARTIES

Well… I don’t like parties, not big ones anyway. I like planning them and throwing them. I just don’t like being at them. I’ve never liked being with large groups of people. I become the epitomy of the nerdy wallflower. I’m painfully shy and socially awkward. I forget to introduce myself or others, and even forget the names of people I know well. I feel terribly self-conscious, gravitate to the buffet and overeat, gravitate to the bar and drink too much. Once I have a couple of drinks, then I loosen up and overcompensate. I talk too much, say stupid things and put my foot in my mouth, inadvertently saying all the wrong things, or failing in the social niceties. This immfediately leads to guilt and self-loathing. And who needs that? I don’t care for dancing. I find most conversations at parties are inane and I desperately want to escape. The boredom overtakes my self-consciousness and I become surly, dreaming of the easy chair and good book that await me at home.

Gosh this makes me sound like a nasty ogre. Even an anti-social one. But put me with a group of 2 or 5 or 8 and I’m completely different. I enjoy people, and I enjoy myself. I listen well, am interested in people and what they are doing and have to say. I relax and tell funny stories, sometimes even attempt lame jokes. I like to feed people and take care of them and entertain them. And I especially like to share ideas. Introverts are not necessarily loners, as I’m sure many will attest.

314px-Fröhliche_Gesellschaft_c1850

DROP BY FOR A GLASS OF LEMONADE

And yet I’ve learned that of all the various social medium, the blogosphere is the place where I feel the most comfortable, and I’d like to have a place here to call home. Clearly, the solution is that MY BLOG will not be a big party. Instead, this will be my metaphorical kitchen table, my sundeck, my garden, my neighbourhood coffee shop. A place where my good friends come by for a glass of lemonade or a cup of tea and chew the fat awhile. On good days we can share triumphs and accomplishments, tell funny stories and share dreams. On bad days we can complain of our aches and pains or gripe about the difficult people in our lives, confide our worries, disappointments and frustrations. But good or bad, we can find community with people like ourselves, and share our life experience,  our wisdom and our expertise.

I hope you’ll decide this is a good place to drop in one in awhile, and that when you come you’ll find interesting like-minded people, and topics being discussed,  a sympathetic ear, or even a shoulder to cry on. I’m also hoping this new paradigm will make it a more comfortable place for me to hang out, too.

Tell me what you think? Is social media more like a big party or an intimate discussion between acquaintances? Do you think different platforms (FB, Twitter, Blogs, etc.) are more like one or the other? And do you have the same problems I do or do you think I’m nuts?

 

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Elevens Tag: Random Facts About Me

I was tagged in the ‘Elevens Tag’ by Emily Dring at Ficklebrain. So, it looks like I’ve got eleven questions to answer. If I have tagged you, you’re next! Look to the end of this post for my new eleven questions and get typing away…

Mary Ann Manga FaceHow to play Elevens Tag:

  1. Post these rules.
  2. Post a photo of yourself (if you want to) and/or eleven random facts about yourself.
  3. Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post.
  4. Create eleven new questions and tag new people to answer them.
  5. Go to their blog/twitter and let them know they have been tagged.

1) Is there anything that you like that most people don’t, or that you don’t like that most people do? Getting up in the morning and having to interact with other people. I like to start my day very slowly and quietly, puttering, drinking tea, hugging my cats, and not talking and rushing around. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like the idea of a regular office job. I’m a night owl through and through, and the world is always getting in the way.

 

MA&ZU

2) Can you name one funny thing that you believed to be true when you were younger (which isn’t true)? That it’s frivolous, irresponsible or foolish to be an artist. That art is a nice hobby, but you have to do something sensible and practical to survive. Now I know that if you are called to be an artist, in any medium, then that’s what you need to do. Follow that passion. Use your talent and vision. I regret not following my instincts when I was younger. I was always trying to be sensible, please others and make them proud. Now, I’m trying to make up for lost time. Trying to get closer to the real me.

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3) Which fictional character do you relate to the most and why? Jo March, because she knows what she wants, she is determined to get it, she just doesn’t fit in, and she is willing to give up the love of a good man and the good life he can provide her to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. And Elizabeth Bennett, because she’s idealistic and a bit naïve, an introvert, and believes in true love.

4651808861_7ae17b432c_z4) Can you name three places in the world that you would like to visit but have not yet had the opportunity to? Thailand, Greece, Eastern Europe (Prague/Warsaw/Kiev)

5) What has been your proudest achievement so far in life? Completing three novels. No, having my son. No, completing my novels. No, wait… Having my son taught me about commitment and discipline and patience and integrity, and that made it possible for me to write my novels.

my son when he was small

6) How do you think we can tell ‘good’ writing from ‘bad’ writing? Good writing doesn’t get in the way of the story, either by being too awful or too spectacular. It’s pleasurable to read beautiful writing, but I don’t like to be distracted from a well-structured, creative, deep and entertaining tale about interesting, believable characters. That’s the main thing.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA7) If you could only drink one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Probably tea. But I’d miss white wine.

Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees,_May_8,_2007_edit8) If you were the Queen of England for a day, what would you do first?  I think QEII is a pretty strong, incredible woman who has generally been a great monarch for the modern world, under trying and constantly changing circumstances. I admire her. Maybe I would try to get the Royal family to step back out of the spotlight a bit more. Let them find normal. Even though the English people seem to like what they do, and of course there’s the whole noblesse oblige thing. They do live a life of incredible privilege, but at a high price, I think. And the press won’t leave them alone, anyway.

9) What exactly is it that gets you really excited about a book, film, programme or song that you love? … a well-structured, creative, deep and entertaining tale about interesting, believable characters. The character arc.

10) What good quality do you possess that you don’t think gets enough exposure? I’m very tolerant of others’ differences. Very open-minded. But because people are often embedded in who they are and what they believe, and not afraid to express opinions, I find I often bite my tongue, not wishing to offend those with different views to my own. I always figure I’m better off listening and observing anyway, and maybe I’ll learn something that will change my mind on a topic. This has happened many times already. So I don’t hold too many strong opinions. It probably makes me appear weak-minded or dull, but there’s a lot going on upstairs. Sometimes it’s because I just don’t have a position, for spiritual/metaphysical reasons. I’m very apolitical. This makes blogging difficult for me. I can’t abide empty chatter, and I don’t like to lock in too many ideas either. I’m constantly working things out.

S-Tolerance

Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on “I am not too sure.” -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)

11) Why did you start blogging on WordPress? Well it was/is just a web site to begin with.  A place-holder, so that anyone looking for me (the unpublished writer) would find the right me. Then, because I understand writers can’t be eccentric hermits these days (much as I’d like that), and I need to create an author brand, a community, an island in the vast sea of the internet that can be my home. A place to figure out who I am and who I’m talking to, and what I have to offer. I’m still working on that.

There we have it! Eleven questions answered, and now eleven to ask! Even if you weren’t tagged, please feel free to play along. Here are your eleven new questions:

1)   What is your favourite happy meal?

2)   What genre of fiction do you love the most and why?

3)   What belief do you try to convey through your blog, explicitly or implicitly?

4)   What dangerous thing do you dream of doing, if only you had the courage?

5)   If you could live your life over, what one decision would you change, knowing what you know now?

6)   Do you believe there is life in other galaxies?

7)   Who is your favourite comic actor and what do you love about him/her?

8)   Which book have you re-read the most?

9)   If you could learn and master a new skill, what would it be?

10)  Which real historical character do you most admire?

11)   If you could live and work in any city in the world aside from where you are, which one would you choose?

My eleven tagged bloggers are:

1) Karalee @ http://5writers5novels5months.com

2) Christine @ http://christine-ashworth.com

3) Gretchen @ http://gretchenkwing.wordpress.com

4) Maggie @ http://maggieamada.com

5) Karen @ http://KarenMcfarland.com

6) Kim @ http://KimCleary.com

7) Lynn @ http://lynnkelleyauthor.wordpress.com

8) Jason @ http://JasonAndrewBond.com

9) Connie @ http://stilettosstoliandscribbles.wordpress.com/

10) Arthur @ http://arthurcrandon.com

11) YOU

 [Are we connected on Twitter yet? If not, why not? Let’s get sharing – find me at @Mary Ann Clarke Scott.]

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The Real Know-It-Alls

6173548853_05969af167I just had to repost this from The Fickle Brain because I agree with it so much. I’ve always been addicted to learning, and can vouch for the fact that the more I learn, the less I feel I know. This has posed a problem when it comes to blogging, by the way, because in the glut of information that we all swim today, how can I possibly have anything worthy to add to the pile? It makes it very difficult to decide what to blog about, and feel that I’m not just taking up space with words that someone else, someone better qualified, could say in a much more erudite manner. Still dealing with that, but at least I’m able to pass along this post from The Fickle Brain

 Real Know-It-Alls.

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When Work Feels Like Play

Writing is a solitary affair, as many have noted before. And, ironically, filmmaking is a highly collaborative effort, although often screenwriters are excluded from the process once the screenplay has received its final edits. This past weekend I participated in an innovative, collaborative INTENSE workshop for screenwriters that involved a talented group of actors as well. This connection proved to be a unique and fascinating education for all of us. The more we got involved, the more our work resembled play. And when your work feels like play, you know you’re on the right track.

394540090_28fc78726f_zThe workshop, called The Ring Screenwriting Intensive, was developed and taught by Michael St. John Smith of McIlroy & Associates of Vancouver, an experienced actor and screenwriter. The three day workshop covered both the basics and many unique, in depth techniques for screenwriters to learn and hone their craft. Scenes written during the workshop were then cast and read by actors also participating in training workshops. Bringing together these two groups is both innovative and extremely valuable. As I mentioned, they don’t often work together, and yet there is so much to benefit both when they can begin to see how the others think and work, not the least of which is a larger understanding and respect for the skills and discipline of each group. Working face to face with actors and having them bring your written words to life, all in the matter of a couple of days, is at once terrifying, validating, exhilarating and humbling. A writer immediately realizes that locked away in their solitary writing studio, they cannot achieve a completely realized project without a deeper understanding of what others with talent and specialized skills will bring to it once it leaves their hands. One is left with a sense of both renewed confidence and also humility.

Energy levels were very  high all weekend, and although drained by the end, I felt an almost euphoric energy both within myself and in the room as this collection of creative, talented and passionate writers worked through exercises, viewed film clips, shared ideas, sharpened their pencils and immersed themselves in storytelling. It was electrifying. Afterwards, as the workshop wound down, it was clear we were already feeling a sense of withdrawal from the intimate community of minds and personalities that we’d forged in such a short time.

Fortunately, The Ring workshop is new, and so its developers, Michael and Andrew, are very open to input regarding improvements, further developments and platforms to allow this fledgling community of writers to be sustained. Walking away at the end of the weekend, I can say I have a healthy appetite for more of the same, and a strong desire to ensure this community lives on and thrives. There is no excuse for sitting in your writing studio alone and cut off from the world when a community of writers and others can so energize and empower your work. Besides that it’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I strongly recommend The Ring workshop for those in the Vancouver area, but regardless go out and find like-minded individuals with whom to share your ideas and passion. There’s nothing better.

Have you had a similarly empowering experience? In the comment section below, tell me about your experiences working with other writers or actors to develop your craft, or a similar experience in a different field.

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Emotion in Fiction

Well the study junkie’s been at it again. As usual I ‘ve had my head up my (*cough*) in my books, immersed in one topic or another for the past several months, undoubtedly at the expense of my writing. Well, in the short term anyway. In the long term, I hope it all adds up to something even better.

One of my recent distractions, and it’s been a MAJOR distraction, has been screenwriting and film making. But I’ll get to that in another post.

by ambernwest @ WANACOMMONS

by ambernwest @ WANACOMMONS

Most recently, I’ve thrown myself into a new topic, one which I realize is a shortcoming in my own writing – and that is emotion. I entered two of my unpubbed manuscripts into the writing contest of my local RWA chapter, The Judy, and last month discovered that I placed second for one of them. Yay! A prize! This is a rare and beautiful thing in a life so lacking in validation.

What I valued even more than the prize, however, was the detailed scoring and comments of the six judges who read my two entries. The perspectives of experienced writers, many of them published, with fresh eyes on my work, and the generosity to tell me what they think – that is priceless.

So, ironically, it was the comments on the manuscript that did not win that I focussed on first, because this is the manuscript that I earnestly pitched at the National RWA conference in Anaheim this past July. And to my surprise and delight, the one agent and four editors all asked to see it. So of course I hurried home and took a good hard look at it.

One of the things I decided to do was apply Margie Lawson’s Deep Edits technique to at least part of the manuscript to discover if there was something I had overlooked. It’s not that this story hasn’t been revised and edited a thousand times already. It’s pretty tight.

And that brings me back to emotion. What I discovered, over and above the valuable suggestions made by the contest judges, was that, according to Margie’s system what my manuscript lacked was, of all things, emotion. Well, in fact it’s not absent. It’s just not explicit enough for the particular market to which this book aspires.

My reading history is broad and deep and varied, and one of the things I sometimes have trouble doing is adjusting my writing to suit a particular market. So I might be writing a commercial women’s fiction story but use language or voice that’s more suitable to literary fiction. And I’m beginning to see that this just won’t work. I think. Or at least I have to find the balance that’s just right for my story and my “hypothetical” readers – whoever they may be.

So while I believe there’s tons of emotion in my novel, I don’t necessarily make it as obvious or visceral as I probably should to give my target readers the kind of reading experience they are looking for, and are used to. The emotion is situation and character based, and it’s often between the  lines. I know readers are clever, but I’m learning that there’s a pretty powerful effect that certain kinds of language has on the reader’s emotional engagement.  So my current learning curve is all about finding artful ways of engaging my readers in the emotional experiences of my characters.

And the material I have from Margie Lawson is invaluable in helping me to do that. Revisions are underway.

But of course when you cast the net of consciousness you catch all kinds of things. One of these, that kind of fell into my hands last week, was a book entitled The Passional Muse: Exploring Emotion in Stories by psychologist and author Keith Oatley, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. Someone with the same professional background and perspective as Margie Lawson.

While I agree somewhat with the Quill and Quire review of this book, and did have the same difficulty the review discusses engaging in Oatley’s short story, One Another, embedded in the academic text, I still found much of his discussion of the role of emotion in fiction in our developmental experience as fully formed human beings quite fascinating and enlightening.

In any case, it points to the fact that wherever my work fits on the commercial-literary continuum, emotion is such a central part of fiction and the reading experience that I’d better get some clarity about how this ought to be conveyed in my own writing.