Discourses of the Real

When a comment is added to a text in a blog, the action constitutes a discourse. A discourse as defined by Foucault is "a group of statements which provide a language for talking about - a way of representing the knowledge about - a particular topic at a particular historical moment" (Hall 1992: 291).

According to the constructionist theory, 'reality' and audiences are formed within discourses, and discourses are what make up the meaning in our daily lives, how we behave, how we see things, and how things are seen as norms in our social lives. We come to understand what is 'real' through what we know and expect of the material world, just as we come to know about our subjection to the law when we read about punishment for crimes in the newspaper. By knowing about the law we learn how we should behave in a society and this knowledge produces power that makes us subjects.

This means in essence that 'discourse produces the objects of knowledge' and that 'nothing which is meaningful exists outside discourse' (Hall 1997:44; Foucault 1972). This does not mean the inexistence of the material world, but that 'meaning' does not exist outside discourse. When a topic about something is discussed, we talk within a discourse. When we see things in the 'real' world but do not talk about it in an understandable language, 'meaning' is lost and communication is broken.

So what is actually the 'real' world? Is it a construct? According to media studies, the 'real' is a construct make up of representations within discourses. When we read in the newspaper about a war in the Middle East as an audience far from the site of occurrence, we essentially depend on the reporter to tell us the story. The story, although 'real' as far as the media and its audience are concerned, is from someone who provides meaning to what he or she hears and perceive about the event, which is usually quite different from the view of a person experiencing it.

Discourse about what is 'real' is simply how we seek to understand about representations. As readers and audiences we need to know how to see things from difference perspectives in order to understand the meanings of what messages are being conveyed in media texts and through understanding negotiate our positions as subjects in the society.

REFERENCES
Foucault, M. (1972), The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Tavistock.
Hall, S. (1992), "The West and the Rest", in Hall, S. and Gieben, B. (eds), Formations of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press/The Open University.
Hall, S. (1997), "Discourse, Power and the Subject" in S. Hall (ed.), Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: OU and Sage.

Converting Audio CD files to MP3

Not too long ago I wrote an article on how to convert songs from audio CD into MP3 files. If you are interested to know how, read my article:
http://www.edvencomm.net/mp3edu.pdf

PLEASE NOTE: All material and content in the magazine is copyrighted.

Blogging: The Article

On August 11, 2004, I mentioned in this blog about an article I was writing for a magazine on the subject of blogging.

The article is now published and can be read on line at:
http://www.edvencomm.net/blog.pdf (Hi Res: 5.49MB)
http://www.edvencomm.net/blog2.pdf (Lo Res: 2.41MB)

PLEASE NOTE: All material and content in the magazine is copyrighted. To purchase hard copies of the magazine or request permission for reproduction, please write to the publisher.

Contemporary Fiction: Genres and Beyond

Writing fiction is an art, and although I am probably not the right person to talk about contemporary fiction since I currently only write non-fiction, any constructive comments or advice on the subject will be welcomed at this blog.

Now that my stand on the subject of fiction writing has been explained, I wish to add that although I am not an expert in the fields of fiction writing, I am however academically trained in the subjects of Contemporary Fiction and Authorship and Writing. Over the past few years, months, and days, I have the opportunity to read a number of fiction novels as part of my academic curriculum. The many novels and genres I have been tasked to read and analyze include Oranges by Jeanette Winterson, Psycho by Robert Bloch, Nice Work by David Lodge, The Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing, On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin, Guerrillas by V.S. Naipaul, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, and Beloved by Toni Morrision.

The novels mentioned above are writings consisting of many different genres, and although these are not the usual types of books that I would have preferred to read, an important lesson learnt from all these readings is to be a good fiction writer, one must read more than these and understand the many different genres of writings.

Analyzing literary is not exactly an easy task and to comprehend the many different genres and then categorize each type of writing content is only for the purpose of identifying the different kinds of writings represented. The pitfall of this is the generalization of different genres in writings and the assumption that all writings fall under a certain type of category. Unfortunately, this approach is not always correct, since there may be multiple genres represented in a single writing.

For example, an author may choose to include humor and suspense in a romance novel. To categorize the novel under romance alone will mean limiting the audience's perception of what the novel represents as a whole. If a reader is only interested in books of thriller or sci-fi, what are the chances of the reader entering a bookstore and going to a section selling books on fantasy or folklore instead?

There are of course many areas of fiction writing apart from genres and these include setting, characterization, plot, point of view, style, target audience, historical and literary background, narrative and narrator.

In the area of style, the writer may wish to consider content such as dualities, binaries, layered meanings, connotations, reminiscence, reflections, rhetoric, metaphors, folklore, and others. Examples of these are the dualities and binaries of academia versus industry in Nice Work, the layered meanings and connotative resentment of enlistment to fight the war, the reminiscence and reflections of events in the past in On the Black Hill, and the metaphors in Memoirs of a Survivor.

In a story setting, aspects such as historical background, constructed society, realism, context of past, present and future may be considered. Experiential content such as historical events that happened in the life of the author may be used to add constructed realism to associate the content in the story that readers may identify. Examples of story setting are the association of colonialism in the writings of Guerrillas, the depiction of societal chaos and the future in Memoirs of a Survivor, the folklore of telepathy of twins in On the Black Hill, and the classical example of Ben-Hur in the times of Jesus.

To write a fiction book or novel for a large audience in the international market, the author must explain or eliminate aspects of writings that contain associated content that is confined to a local context. These will include aspects of language, culture, words and literary terminologies.

For guides on modern language and literary writings, visit the web site of the Modern Language Association at www.mla.org for more details.

Feature Writing

Sam lost his job two years ago due to the economy downturn. Believing it to be only temporary, he actively seeks employment while upgrading his skills through short-term courses. Today, he is still unemployed. Now at the age of 41, he is forced to consider self-employment and entrepreneurship but is hesitant because he has been an employee his entire working life.

The introduction above is an anecdote that kicks off a news feature story on entrepreneurship. When writing a feature, there are usually four components to be considered. These components are: anecdotes, quotes, facts, and statements of theme.

For writers who are new to feature writing, a common mistake is to pen an anecdote from a first or second person's points of view. For example, when writing the story mentioned above using 'I' or 'you':

You have been an employee your entire working life. Two years ago, you lost your job due to the economy downturn. Believing the downturn to be only temporary, you actively seek employment while upgrading your skills through short-term courses. Today, you are still unemployed.

To write an anecdote, the story must be written by a third party or a third person narrator. The purpose is to use content 'pull' technique to attract readers to a sense of reading a novel or a storybook. For a feature story to be successful, at least one anecdote should be included to help readers visualize the 'reality' of a situation or the life of the person being told in the anecdote.

A feature should also include facts and quotes for angles of human interest. Facts may be research finding that quantify the content of the story, official statistical figures, or actual events witnessed by people:

According to official figures from the manpower department, unemployment is now at 4.5 per cent.

Quotes are actual account of events by witnesses or spoken comments of people interviewed. Quotes can be direct or indirect. For a feature story to be credible and interesting, both direct and indirect quotes will be necessary.

A direct quote is the actual spoken words by persons interviewed:

"I have been an employee my entire working life," said Sam Doe, 41, a retrenched worker.

An indirect quote is a paraphrased or rephrased writing of actual words spoken by persons interviewed:

Sam Doe, 41, said he has been an employee his entire working life.

Statements of theme are sentences that links original theme of the story to various parts of the feature. This is especially useful when there are multiple sections or story points that need to be expanded in different areas of the feature. The objective of statements of theme is to draw the readers back to the main theme of the story.

The feature story is usually written with each paragraph pulling the readers forward to read on to the point of closure or a conclusion or instructions to proceed further. It is usual to end the story by drawing the readers' attention back to the points being told at the lead paragraph, but with added knowledge on the subject.

Ghostwriting

One of the less glorifying works that a writer can do for a living is ghostwriting. Ghostwriting, as the name implies, is about writing a piece of work on behalf of someone else. The writer is the ghost and the person who hires the writer is the owner and author credited for the written book.

As a ghostwriter, one does not get the satisfaction of seeing his or her name in print. What is seen is someone else claiming authorship to the written work, which is an experience that can be painful for one who has put in many hours of work and in some ways, degrading. However, ghostwriters are often well compensated in monetary returns in disclaiming association to the written work, and this in itself may provide consolation to the writer.

Ghostwriting entails many areas of considerations in practice and this article hopes to detail some of the guidelines that will be useful in understanding the procedures that may be necessary for providing this service.

For starters, the ghostwriter should understand that it is usually someone who wants to publish a book under his or her own name that will contact the ghostwriter for the assignment. Once contacted, the task of the ghostwriter will be to first estimate the time and cost required to complete the desired writings, computed in dependency to the complexity of content and the need for research. A book project will normally completes within four months of the start date, but this is dependent in part on the ghostwriter's availability, the length of writings required, and the topic.

The hirer of the ghostwriting service will first provide the story or ideas in a two to three pages sample in draft or outline format, and the ghostwriter will then produce a custom sample for the hirer to evaluate the style of writing before the hirer officially invest and hires the ghostwriter for the work. A precise quotation of the price will accompany the sample so that the hirer can know exactly what is entailed in the complete investment.

If the hirer accepts the sample and wish to proceed with the project, he or she will make a 25 per cent deposit of the project cost which will be non-refundable once approval to commence is given. The ghostwriter will begin writing and send chapters along the way for approval, in which any number of revisions will be permitted at no additional cost. The only time revisions become an additional cost is when acceptance of the individual chapters have been confirmed and approved, as any revisions at that point will affect the remainder of the story.

When the book is halfway through completion, another 50 per cent deposit will be requested and on receipt of payment the writings will continue as per normal. Upon reaching 100 per cent satisfaction with the completed book, a final payment will be collected.

The remainder tasks upon completion will be the actual production and publication of the book, and these are not included in the cost quoted for ghostwriting. A reasonable price to charge the hirer for the service will depend on the market price in the country of service provided. This can differ very widely, depending on familiarity to the topic of writing, the research requirements and others. As a ghostwriter usually requires 'full time' concentration for a few months on the project, a good guideline for pricing will be to calculate the opportunity cost and opportunities lost as a result of taking up the project. In addition, the price should also include goodwill for 'selling' one's right to authorship.

With all these aspects considered, it is ultimately up to the writer to decide whether he or she is willing to participate in this less glorifying role of writing as a ghost. If monetary returns are important, then ghostwriting may be the ways to go, depending on its demand.

Live to Write

Everyone in this world believes in the right to choose what he or she wants to do for a living. Not many people however live the lives they want because jobs are scarce in the world of economics. In the heart of hearts, many people would have at one time or other desired to be a writer or an author, but not all of these people get the chance to live lives the way they want it.

To be a writer is a noble thought and to see one's name published in an article or a book is a satisfaction that goes beyond actualization and personal achievement. It is a signifier of success and authority on the subject of what has been written. For a fiction writer, it is the power of imagination, a fantasy beyond reality, a demonstration of creativity. For a non-fiction writer, it is an accomplishment that propagates the writer's expertise on the subject, a canonical authority to power in knowledge.

Many people who pursue a career in writing began their career as a journalist after they have obtained a diploma or a degree in mass communication or journalism. Academic achievements, however, need not always be quintessential to good writing, although many employers would prefer to engage someone with at least basic writing skills or qualifications, especially in Asian context.

As a journalist or intern journalist, there are various paths in which writers can achieve their goals. The first consideration is usually to write for the broadsheet press or main newspaper, a place that provides a good start for building an outstanding portfolio. This path, however, will not be an easy ride and new comers entering a newsroom environment will usually start as reporters. To work as reporters can be hell because the deadlines for each story is within several hours, often less, because of the required time for meeting people, conducting interviews, and getting the story out for editing and print within the same day. News that do not make it within the scheduled time on the same day will be discarded as it will no longer be news the next day. Apart from the rush, writing for the mainstream has advantages as well, the key gain of which is a portfolio that provides good reference to an impressive CV or resume.

The second alternate path is to write for non-mainstream press or tabloid. Although the desired prestige may not be what the writer seeks to have, depending on the track record of the publication's circulation capacity, it can still substantially provide some publicity and recognition for a good portfolio.

The third path to consider is to write for periodicals, magazines, or on-line publications. The advantage of writing for these types of publications is primarily in the area of deadlines. Articles for such media usually allows a slightly longer time for writing completion as the audiences are more selectively targeted. Production for magazines and periodicals are usually scheduled for weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly release and content of writings feature based, often with added sophistication that allows writers the avenue to express their writing styles as well as presenting thoughts of people interviewed or their own.

Apart from seeing one's name associated to the article he or she has written, working as a journalist has other forms of satisfaction as well. When a journalist is invited to attend an event or a media conference, he or she is always treated with utmost courtesy by the people who invite, sometimes with souvenir gifts and seats arrangements that are usually only for the VIPs. These do not mean that the journalist must then write something favorable accorded to their courtesy, as journalists essentially abide by the code of journalistic practices.

Besides journalism, there are other ways for aspiring writers to start a career. As explained earlier, writing for a living is not dependent on qualifications, literacy, or academic achievements. For people who do not have the required qualifications but desire to write, they may sometimes be better off than those who have because they are not restricted by what they have learnt. In the case of fiction writing, those without degrees and diplomas often possess better imagination and creativity, with the ability to distance themselves from stereotypes. This, of course, does not mean that writers who are qualified are unable to write fiction. It does mean however that trained writers have a tendency to follow prescribed rules in their writing style which can limit a person's creativity and stifle a good story. Having said that, however, it should be noted that good writings are dependent on a person's flair for writing, not good qualifications. For a writer to be good, he or she must possess a burning passion for what he or she writes, not just write to live, but also live to write.