Elif Şafak speaks about writing.

[thelake]

Thanks to chicaintcheap I saw this video where one of my favourite Turkish writers, Elif Şafak (Shafak) gave the most inspiring talk about writing and going beyond borders and cultures with stories.

It's a ~20 minute long speech, but I guarantee that you will want more when it ends. Please watch, especially if you write.

You can go ahead and download the video from the main page as well: http://www.ted.com/talks/elif_shafak_the_politics_of_fiction.html


Her vision and perspective about writing is almost as same as mine.

I'm writing original stories for more than 4 years now and I have a pretty good reader base. Not so big, but not so small either. I'm not published or anything, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm a writer. I write, therefore I *am* a writer. Period.

During the speech Elif Şafak shared an anectode about a literature critic where he said to her: "I liked your novel, but I think you could have written it differently." There is absolute nothing worse or frustrating for a writer than this statement. You like the story, but you don't like how it's written? A big bag of bullshit.

Mostly people expect me to write about Turkish characters. I had lots and lots of criticism about why I kept naming my characters Jane, Caroline, Ewan, Jack, or some made up ethnic name etc. etc. Why not Ahmet, Ayşe, Haluk, Kerem?

Why should I?

Elif Şafak defends the same thing as I do. I love her for that. Towards the end of the speech she questions the famous rule of thumb of creative writing: write what you know.

It's safe. It's convinient, but is it really creative?

She said that her life was utterly boring as a child, that's why she started writing stories about unknown lives and a lot of different people. *THAT* is the reason why I'm writing today. I don't want to write what I know. I'm already experiencing it. I already know all about it. I want to write about different lives. That's what being creative is all about. At least for me.

She also said she loves not knowing what's going to happen after 10 pages. Oh how I love her! I feel like all my views about my own writing is justified in some way, you know?

The speech was absolutely beautiful and inspiring. Especially from a perspective of a Turkish writer who is also in close relation to several other cultures (French, American, etc.) The way she said how writing in Turkish was more poetic and writing in English was more mathematical made me smile :) It's exactly right. And the gap between mind and tounge? Very well put.

I'm going to share this everywhere like an obnoxious person. Beware.

Comments

[x-immortal.livejournal.com]

videonun son 4 dakikasını falan izleyemedim kadın meddah dedi video kapandı :(

ama beğendim ben. düşüncelerini oldukça hoş, sakin, kimi zaman iki gülümsetecek şekilde dile getirmiş. çok hayranı değilim hatta şu ermeni durumu yüzünden okumuştum ilk kez. etrafımda bir dönem o kadar çok konuşuldu ki o kadın. bende insanların düşüncesini benimsemek yerine kendim okuyup karar vermek istemiştim ondan dolayı okudum bir tek o kitabını ama beğenmiştim şahsen. kadının kitaplarındaki anlatım tarzı da çok güzel. çok olaylı sürükleyici tarzda bir anlatımı yok ama yazdıkları okuyucu sıkmadan kendini okutturuyor bence... tıpkı bu konuşmasında olduğu gibi ;)

the gap between mind and tounge?

bu söylediğine hele o kadar katıldım ki...

bir kademe daha sevdim şu an kendisini.

[opheliaangel.livejournal.com]

That's a really nice speech. Thanks a lot for sharing :) She has nice thoughts about lots of things especially about how fiction connects us and what people except from turkish and muslim writers. And what's wrong with that critic d'oh "I liked your novel, but I think you could have written it differently." that should be a crime!

[deifilia.livejournal.com]

Daha önce izlemeye fırsatım olmamıştı az önce sakin sakin izleme fırsatı buldum ve inanılmazdı. Haberim olmasını sağladığın teşekkür ederim Dilek Abla. Henüz hiçbir kitabını okumadım açıkçası Elif Şafak'ın çok farklı olduğunu düşünmüştüm. Etrafımdakilerin yorumları vs okumasam da olurmuş dedirtmişti bana. İzleyince içimden koşup okumak geldi. O kadar güzel açıklamış ki düşüncelerini! Tüm yıl okuldaki ingilizce öğretmenimle write what you know konusunda tartıştıktan sonra koşup ona izletebilmeyi istedim bunu. Ne yazık ki fazla kişinin anlayamadığı bir konu. *çok şey söylemek ister, hiçbir şey söyleyemez*