Artist Statement pt. 1

As part of the Thesis process, I’m required to produce an Artist Statement.

Artist Statement (required)

Think of this, as “The Conscious Artist Statement” required of all graduating MFA students. This is eight to thirty pages in which the writer deeply explores and conscientiously conveys what s/he has learned as an artist in the process of completing the thesis manuscript The Artist Statement serves ideally as a kind of self-recognition and closure in which insights and lessons are arrived at that can benefit future writers in the MFA program. This Artist Statement should not be essential to the reader’s comprehension of the thesis. It is a separate document. (Hamline University MFA Wiring Guidelines)

If you (the few, but dedicated readers of The Soulless Machine Review) have not already noticed, I’m a bit nutty. The Artist Statement is to be written after the Thesis is completed. I begin Thesis I in the spring. The first 1/3 of my project is due February 15, 2008.

However, I have entered into Thesis with more than the 100 pages necessary for a fiction student to graduate. It is all written. Most students still have some writing to do in Thesis I. I will use Thesis I and II to revise revise and revise.

Here are the first few musings of what may or may not be the beginning of my Artist Statement.

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“The easiest way to write futuristic (or futurismic) science fiction is to predict, with rigor and absolute accuracy, the present day” (Cory Doctorow, “Anda’s Game” Overclocked. p 57). This statement changed the way that I think about what I write. I have always been pulled toward headlines, the stranger the better, or in most cases, the more mainstream the headlines the better the story.

The saying goes; you need to hear something at least five times before it really sinks in. So, no matter what I pickup on it seems that I can turn it into something new and meaningful, or at least eye-popping. The Law & Order opening phrase seems work here: “Ripped from the headlines.” However, it is not quite this simple. The real work comes from the craft that produces good fiction, concrete details, vivid and believable characters, showing rather than telling, and a fun fast plot.

I started the program with the belief that I knew what it took to create good fiction and I only had slimmest of ideas. I even fought, like a child, with a few of my instructors. I still reserve a few disagreements, but I now see that the elements in any piece of fiction at the craft level, the architecture of the story are relatively similar from one to the next. The execution of this architecture varies widely. However, if you look closely you can see that plot is plot, characters are characters, and it is all held together with vivid details.

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Well, that was not much, but it is a start, and it is enough for a Thanksgiving morning. It is now time to turn my attention fully to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Happy Thanksgiving!

NaBloPoMo