It's in "Swim", this "shit mountain" thing, you'll find it. But you'll find an expanded & I think better explanation in the text of an address George gave at AWP in 2018 and which appears in "The Writer's Chronicle", Sept 2018 issue, page 38ff. Check the AWP archive. The idea, basically, is an argument against imitation and how George fo…
It's in "Swim", this "shit mountain" thing, you'll find it. But you'll find an expanded & I think better explanation in the text of an address George gave at AWP in 2018 and which appears in "The Writer's Chronicle", Sept 2018 issue, page 38ff. Check the AWP archive. The idea, basically, is an argument against imitation and how George found his own way & how we might also"find our own voice" as he says in the piece. Here's something else George wrote from an essay entitled "Why I Wrote Phil" & which I think is even more helpful: "[I]f a story is compelling line-by-line, then theme, character, politics, etc. will all take care of themselves." Hope this helps.
THANK YOU, Rosanne—very helpful! I LOVED "Swim in the Pond" and I'm always amazed at seeing what sticks with me and what doesn't in anything I read—I'm probably dissociating the portions that strike too close to my biggest challenges!
What a great thread...and exploration of George's Shit Mountain theory from Swim. I love Mary's explanation and now I'm imagining myself hiking in that valley. I've noticed that when I let my character do the talking (instead of me!) something magical starts happening too. And then I'm flying over my own Shit Mountain and seeing the world through my character's eyes and my own (because I made her up!)
It's in "Swim", this "shit mountain" thing, you'll find it. But you'll find an expanded & I think better explanation in the text of an address George gave at AWP in 2018 and which appears in "The Writer's Chronicle", Sept 2018 issue, page 38ff. Check the AWP archive. The idea, basically, is an argument against imitation and how George found his own way & how we might also"find our own voice" as he says in the piece. Here's something else George wrote from an essay entitled "Why I Wrote Phil" & which I think is even more helpful: "[I]f a story is compelling line-by-line, then theme, character, politics, etc. will all take care of themselves." Hope this helps.
THANK YOU, Rosanne—very helpful! I LOVED "Swim in the Pond" and I'm always amazed at seeing what sticks with me and what doesn't in anything I read—I'm probably dissociating the portions that strike too close to my biggest challenges!
What a great thread...and exploration of George's Shit Mountain theory from Swim. I love Mary's explanation and now I'm imagining myself hiking in that valley. I've noticed that when I let my character do the talking (instead of me!) something magical starts happening too. And then I'm flying over my own Shit Mountain and seeing the world through my character's eyes and my own (because I made her up!)
Nice, Dee, keep going with this! Anything (legal?) that gets us flying is good!