Concept (1 Viewer)

[OutOfOrder]

Hey.
I was wondering if you think it's okay if a story doesn't have a deep concept?
Like some people are writing stories about Suicide, or Reflections of the soul etc etc.
Do you think it's fine if a story has no central concept?
Because i'm just writing a story to be read and enjoyed.. should i try add some deep meaningful concept to it?

 

[Seung.Hur]

As a side note, suicide = does not go well with the markers. I know, because I was considering to make an simple allusion to seppuku (since my work looks into the Kamakura period, in which the whole concept of seppuku was first put into place), and I was given a prompt "Don't do it", from my supervisor, a past EE2 marker. Works about suicide = suicide.

Your work doesn't necessarily have to have a central concept; but then again, what are you going to write about in your reflection statement if you don't?

Instead of adding deep and meaningful speculation within your work out of the blue, first consider consulting your supervisor, mentors, friends, family, etc. before you make that decision. Who knows, maybe you do indeed have a central focus. Maybe your work works fine without a central concept. If it doesn't seem to work, then you may have to consider a new direction, despite the time ticking down very quickly.

Now, if you're still unsure, here's a question that was passed to me in my Viva Voce: "Why should I read your work?" Can you answer that question competently? If you can't, why should you hand it in as it is?

Fiction is a good yarn. Literature is a good yarn, that makes you think.

 

[black_man]

seinfeld was made with a concept of nothing...

 

[666_blessings]

Seinfeld was a success because it was about nothing. But that's a one off case and I tihnk it would be good to find a central concept in what you've already written instead of trying to shoe horn one in.

 

[Seung.Hur]

Seinfeld is not an EE2 work, Seinfeld isn't getting marked by teachers, and Seinfeld isn't considered "literature"...

 

[kami]

A text can be whimsical and without a core concept, but you may find that it still can hold an audience and be something of merit, as we have seen with Seinfeld in the technical sense. However often you will find that many things that seem without a core concept will evolve one on its own or at least a semblance of one.

As far as this course goes, I think a fair few of the major works submitted are more whimsical and less rationalised or "literary" than alot of us would care to admit, especially since with creative writing at least, we usually start off with a vague idea simply because we like it - not because it challenges some deep philosophy(though some would start out that way).

Also remember that core concept and plot and values are different things and they are not neccesarily co-requisites. Your text may reflect values without having a grand concept.

 

[jhakka]

If you're making your concept deep for the sake of it, a good marker should see through it. But I suppose it depends on how cynical the marker is.