Atmosphere and Ecological Constructs / Part One

There has been a lot of conversations lately about crafting ecologies or places where our characters exist. And while this may sound like a familiar conversation, it is also no surprise because of the massive push to discuss "world building" as a means to write epic fantasy or sci-fi stories. But it feels like the concept of atmosphere and ecological emersion is less about world-building and more about finding a tool that is useful in creative writing, pushing setting from a static archetype to something more meaningful and tangible. In a world of virtual immersions and screen time, it is relevant to talk about stories that emphasize place and atmosphere. As we disconnect through technology, writers seem to be finding ways to reconnect in fiction. 

This concept also comes from significant and overwhelmingly profile landscapes from Tolkien, Herbert, and Martin. These epic sagas have created more than just setting to cast characters, but the setting themselves (Game of Thrones and Dune) become active and significant protagonists in terms of the stories and the development. Other worlds come from Star Wars, Star Trek, and other expandable settings that are being developed. What has also given rise to this kind of world building is the rise of the expanded TV series created and shaped by on-demand television binge watching. It has allowed cinema to move into a greater arc of storytelling and allow for expandable ideas through character and platform.  

Having said all that it is this sense of ecology and atmosphere that I've been hearing about more than "world building." To me, world building is based on the construction of things that aren't relatable at all to a common narrative. In fact, it is the burden of the world builder to create a bridge between the possible and the impossible. But to connect atmosphere and ecology to the concept of setting and atmosphere is less grandiose and more about pushing on a literary element that enhances the experience. It is writers like Jon Krakauer and Into Thin Air that connects the complete epic moment of gaining the summit of Everest and being so close to death, that it really doesn't matter. The balance between the world that is vastly different and the characters in it comes with vivid and compelling stories. In fact, I haven't written a fictional scuba diving piece because I struggle to connect the story with this uniquely remote and often isolating place. Nonfiction seems to show better in terms of writing about underwater, but without dialog, without grounding, this is a hard place to write for me. 

It is classic writing like Jack London, Melville, and Steinbeck that I think of these elements as being an important narrative quality. Cannery Row is not a whole new world, but there are moments that are stunning and vivid and so close to my own that it makes me awe. When Doc finds the dead girl in the rocks, it is a stunning literary element of the shore and what it can reveal. 

When and how do atmosphere and ecology evolve into a type of antagonist? In simple terms, does a war, or the sea (Moby Dick), or the jungle (Heart of Darkness) become an extension of the antagonist? Or can it be the antagonist alone? Or perhaps it was always the antagonist by design. How do these concepts arrive in stories and how does nature, while always described as an archetype, become more than a theme and plot construct and move into something more dominant in a novel, or in a selection of stories. 

"Setting" can be a backdrop, but with the discussions and workshop topics that cover world-building and ecology, it makes sense that perhaps "setting" is evolving from the backdrop of the production to a more significant and complicated element in creative writing. And in an emerging generation of writers and thinkers who have embraced "An Inconvenient Truth", recycling, and ecological preservation of the planet, it makes sense that atmosphere and environment would also mean more than fancy background curtains, but something that is coming, shaping their stories, and even acting out against their characters as a harbinger of change, conflict, and resolution of their dying world.  

Over a series of articles, I want to work out some of the setting-to-antagonist ideas that are out there and map them. It will be interesting to see where they go and why we should consider putting more value into them.

If you have any suggestions or connections and want to share, please feel free to post in the comment section. Feedback is always welcome.  


References
Bachelard, Gaston. The poetics of space. Vol. 330. Beacon Press, 1994.

Projects and Tools: Small Project and Tools that have Big Impacts

Over the last five years, it feels like my passion isn't in creating a lasting digital legacy, it is about contributing to something. When I was a student a Western Connecticut State University getting my MFA in Creative and Professional Writing, I started a digital literary magazine. This is where I saw my imprint on the world as a publisher and editor and I really enjoyed it. But what I thought was a project turned into a very significant organization. To this day I am grateful to that community that fostered my experience in editing and publishing. However, it was a massive undertaking and the saving grace was how naive I was about creating something like that. After more than three years, I finally let Miranda Magazine. Not because it wasn't productive, but I couldn't keep up with the hundreds of submissions, deadlines, and the support of the people who were helping me. 

In 2015 I started immersing myself into a community that was different than poets, writers, and artists. I immersed myself in teachers and learning gurus. I joined the Rhizo15 - a Massive Open Online Course and my whole world shifted. There were so many ways to approach learning, creative things, and there were tools and connections to make these things happen. Not only did I meet some of the most prominent thinkers in the field of online learning and thinking, they were also some of the kindest in supporting the course and the community. I then participated in Digital Writing Month and then continued with groups as they emerged over the last few years. During this time, my thinking shifted. I didn't want to make websites that created massive organizations, I didn't want to create three hundred page websites. I wanted to make projects.

I introduced the concept of Digital Humanity Projects to my students and why that is important. How to create a directory of resources is better than explaining one source. I spoke to them about collections, curation tools, and learned that students would gravitate to their own interests in a project. For example, we wanted to catalog historical buildings on campus using an interactive map that would explain how and why all the building are campus came to be. We discussed and created QR codes that we put on bookmarks for virtual book reviews that students could read. I wanted to make tools that connected. 

What does that mean? I didn't want to create a massive product and sell it. I didn't want to create a service and sell it. I wanted to make something that connected people - students, writers, scholars, and just browsing people. In CLMooc - creating and making things digital and real is the cornerstone of the community. But I had been thinking about websites, blogs and connections that were smaller, different, and useful to other people - if only in how they might use it. 

This year I made a few specialty blogs including a political art blog Art from the Resistance and a literary science blog about the ocean titled The Ocean Journal: Writing and Art from the Sea. These two sites are collectives of ideas and connections and not meant to be a complex web magazine. And they create an opportunity for writers and artists to collaborate on topics and ideas that wouldn't find mainstream acceptance. If a fiction writer wrote one obscure piece on falling into the ocean, then it might be an excellent match for the Ocean Journal. Beyond that, perhaps there are marine science writers who like to write essays on their favorite locations and connections. And of course, everything would be a welcomed consideration. 

This year, I created a website called The Experimental Novel Index. Every entry is an explanation of an experimental novel and connections. While there is room for people to write critically about these books, share links to scholarly articles, the point is to connect. Creating tools and resources is practical. And while you create them, you may also find a community who would also use them. We see the all the time as teachers using shared resources. It doesn't need to be epic, you don't need to create an LLC, it just has to connect to something that is meaningful. 

Ultimately I want to create fiction. But what is fascinating to me -- is to take up the challenge. Look around you, what resources are missing in your creativity, in your life, and why? And then start thinking of a process, a way, and creative entry point to make that resource and sustain it. We are in a new era of making. Building something electronically, physically, artistically, or methodically is easier now than ever before. It is a form of creativity, just like writing a poem or painting a canvas. All you need is a little inspiration. The rest will happen. 


Feel free to discuss what you make and how it came about in the comments section. Would love to hear from you. 

The Ocean Journal 
Experimental Novel Project
QR Code Project