If We Never Think, Our Words Will Never Exist
“I think, therefore I am” — Rene Descartes
Although Descartes’ cogito (I think, therefore I am) was referring to the nature of existence, the cogito can also be applied to the brainstorming step in the writing process. Every book, article, essay, film, and play, whether they be world masterpieces or incomplete and nearly incoherent scribbles in a notebook, are extensions of ourselves; therefore, an extension of our existence. For instance, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the result of his existence in a time before the abolition of slavery and reflected his beliefs about integration among people of different races. At the gates of the Oracle at Delphi, a sign read “Know Thyself.” This self-awareness is the key to writing. We write what we know.
To truly understand how to write, one must first understand himself or herself in relation to the world at large. This is what the philosopher, Paulo Freire called “conscientization.” Although this seems dauntless, the truth doesn’t lie in a reflection on a mirror, nor does it simply pop up on our phone as a notification. Grasping at the truth can be a slippery and elusive process. Not only does this adventure require us to think, but it requires us to dig deep into our consciousness to see where, or what, our true self resides. It is not merely an exercise in thinking but is an exercise in thinking about one’s thinking — a process known as “metacognitive” in academic circles.
One’s true self is both the light in the darkness and the darkness itself. It is a devil that devours the worst of us like a ravenous cannibal and is also the best of us that manifests itself as a glimpse of the divine. It is a self that manifests itself in a happy place where one has had unforgettable and revolutionary experiences or a place of sadness where we have learned most of life’s lessons. It is from these parallel selves and parallel places, that we get the position that we occupy when we write. We feed on all the jaw-dropping ideas that we receive from that place. This begs the question, “What do authors do to receive these gifts from their inner selves and where does its inner self originate?”
To answer this question, I will be gathering information from famous authors who have shared their inner selves through biographies, interviews, and other second-hand accounts that reveal the inner selves of the author. I will do this by conducting interviews with successful authors and doing academic research. With these resources, I will bring this inner self to light so that I may show how this is the foundation for the brainstorming process.
Famous authors like Stephen King create situations that seem beyond comprehension. Readers often ask, “what kind of mind could conceive of such a thing?” For example, Jeff Lindsay is the author of a series called Dexter. In these novels, he tells a story about a serial killer that kills killers. Although on the surface, the premise seems absurd and the main character seems morally reprehensible, once the reader begins to engage with the story, the reader begins to sympathize with Dexter. It is an extremely clever idea and begs the question, “how did he come up with such a thing?”
So that we may grow as writers, we must first be able to see how others are able to write well. We must understand the genesis of the idea. We must understand how they get to that inner place. Only then can we discover our own. Andre Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name, reaches a similar conclusion when He refers to this self as a nerve. Also, he says that this nerve talks about the “nerve.” Aciman writes that his nerve is a place and claims “I’d spot mine in a second. It is place. I begin my inward journey by writing about place” (Andre Aciman). According to Aciman, his voice comes from the place he was born — Alexandria, Egypt. In his article, “A Literary Pilgrim Progresses to the Past,” Aciman claims his characters usually have a difficult time getting a good grasp on the world and are generally a mess. This, I believe, is an extension of himself and the difficulties that come with being a transnational author from Egypt living in the United States.
I come to this conclusion because to Westerners, Egypt has poisonous water. Also, it has an unstable economy and government. According to the website, Heritage.org, Egypt currently has an inflation rate of 23.5%, an unemployment rate of 12.1%, and a corrupt and ineffectual government (especially since the Arab Spring). In contrast, The United States has an inflation rate of 2.1%, an unemployment rate of 4.4%, and widespread corruption is rare. Because of Egypt’s economy, as well as its government, Egypt is an extremely unstable nation-state/ This would lead people to be uneasy and constantly keep them on their feet. Change and uncertainty must be a large part of their daily lives.
While Aciman is geographically American, much of his identity is likely tied to the land of his birth, Alexandria. This is why he writes from a place that is Alexandria. The uncertainty of the Egyptian government and economy comes out in his characters. Aciman is able to capture that restlessness and writes from that place. This is where his self resides — in a time and place of struggle. Andre Aciman knew his voice and he realized that it came from his childhood in Alexandria. However, not all authors know themselves in that same way.
This inner self appears to us in different ways. We human beings are complex and diverse creatures. It is nearly impossible to pinpoint a single life event or choice that led to that author’s spark of creativity. However, If we understand the author’s cultural background, we might be able to gain some insight into that inner voice. For instance, history shows us how and where Shakespeare wrote. Research shows where he might have gotten his inspiration. However, as new information becomes available, so do new hypotheses about where that inspiration came from. The same could be said about Acimen.
Biographical information is paramount in exploring where authors get their material for their work. For example, I recently learned that Charles Dickens may have hallucinated his characters. This comes from the film, The Man Who Invented Christmas. According to Kate Samuelson,“ Dickens did see his characters appear before him as though they were real, fully-formed human beings” (Kate Samuelson). This was fascinating to me. It made me wonder where he got the idea for Oliver Twist. Was he eating dinner and envisioned a poor orphan child asking for seconds?
According to Jennie Cohen on the History Channel, Charles Dickens was fascinated by all things paranormal. This fascination began in his teens. Cohen reported that Dickens was allegedly a member of the ghost club in Britain (Jennie Cohen). This fascination with the paranormal could be a contributing factor in Dickens’s inspiration for his books. When he encountered a place or an object, his inner self may have provided him with a way of seeing that led to his writing some of the most memorable books in the English language.
Another example of how one’s biographical history may have contributed to their inspiration is Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. According to Luke Lewis, a reporter for Buzzfeed, Stoker was a conspiracy theorist. Among these half baked theories were that Queen Elizabeth was a man dressed in drag impersonating the Queen of England. According to legend, Queen Elizabeth died at the age of ten and the court got a boy from the street to take her place so that the crown would not go to her successor. Stoker wrote about this theory in his book, Imposters (Luke Lewis).
Stoker’s work revealed his paranoia, suggesting that his inner self came from a very dark place. This would explain how he would be able to conceive of Dracula. Stoker’s character fits both an obsession with death and a phobia of foreigners. It was no coincidence that Count Dracula brought the soil of his native land with him when he came to England. This case study of Stoker demonstrates that one’s inner self can come from a very deep and dark place. By understanding this, one can see how one’s beliefs contribute to the worldview from which one’s writing emerges.
While researching famous authors like Shakespeare and Stoker shed light on where the inner self comes from, there is no substitute for first-hand accounts. Therefore, this research will be supplemented by first-hand accounts through interviews with two authors who are alive and well: Dr. William McCarter and Dr. Melissa Miles McCarter.
Dr. William McCarter earned his Ph.D. in English, specializing in American Cultural Studies, American Literature, and Critical Theory, from the University of Texas-Arlington. Dr. McCarter has published both academic and creative work in many publications. Most of Dr. McCarter’s fiction is about life in the rural South and the strange things that happen there. McCarter has published many short stories about his mythical Piankashaw County, Missouri, and is currently working on a series of novels. According to Dr. McCarter, his inner self comes from his love-hate relationship with his rural American culture. Dr. McCarter claims that the same people that exhibit endearing traits of a member of a close-knit community are also xenophobic and skeptical of outsiders. He says that “living in the rural South is like being trapped in a Twilight Zone of cognitive dissonance.”
I asked Dr. McCarter how he gets his ideas for his fiction and he responded by saying that these things come to him when he reads something that reminds him of his past. However, Dr. McCarter says that he cannot overlook that cognitive dissonance and his work often comes out as satire. He says that one can see the love-hate relationship in his work. He claims that “you do not love something or someone because of what or who it is, you love someone or something despite what or who it is.” For him, that is where the cognitive dissonance comes from and why that it can only be resolved through satire. Dr. McCarter claims that his “biting sarcasm” comes from being able “to laugh in the face of adversity.” “It is a weird kind of joyful pessimism.” (Dr. William McCarter).
Like Dr. William McCarter, Dr. Melissa Miles McCarter also has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas-Arlington. However, her area of expertise is in Rhetoric and Composition. She has also published widely. Dr. Miles McCarter is a regular contributor for Medium. Her most recent work is Why Frozen The Movie Is Important to Our Family. In this piece, she talks about the connection between the movie Frozen and her experience with in vitro fertilization using frozen embryos. I asked Dr. Miles McCarter how she generated ideas and she claimed that she began by thinking of her life struggles. It’s these life struggles that bring her inner self to life.
I asked her how her inner self was reflected in her writing and she said that “I’m very introspective” (Dr. Melissa Miles McCarter). One only needs to spend some time with her to know that this is reflected in her behavior. More often than not, she can seem “preoccupied” due to her “inner dialogue.” Also, since she is introspective, she is very “aware of how actions affect others” (Dr. Melissa Miles McCarter). It’s this introspective nature that causes her to write. She’s always reflecting, mulling over, and recapping the past and trying to make sense of it.
It’s clear that this inner self is the key to finding those jaw-dropping ideas during the brainstorming process. That self allows us to engage with the world and our place in it and then translate that experience into our writing. It is the starting point of where and how we develop an idea. Without exploring and connecting with this inner self, brainstorming can be an empty and unrewarding process. To truly grow as a writer, one has to begin at the beginning and cultivate the inner self. The Greek philosopher and mathematician, Archimedes once said, “give me the place to stand and I will move the earth.” This beginning — this inner self — is just that — a place to stand.
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