I dunno about your envy issues though. It sounds like you both hold in contempt yet want the same things, i.e. someone else's experience.
Modern novels are generally supposed to be full of sex, alcohol, drugs, and disillusionment. Nihilism. Partying. Hypocrisy. A sense of entitlement. That cute blonde with the musky perfume. White guilt. Thyme would be much better at writing about those things, because she has experienced at least some of them. I live in a different world, so I intend to write on different subjects, and am sure that I'll be able to do that very well. It's just that I am in no way capable of writing a "modern novel," because that's not the world I grew up in.
I don't think my writing will be dropping any jaws. I think they'll be saying "Wait, why are you writing fantasy in a memoirish course?" And I'll have to say "Because it is my memoir, you rube. It may have swords and a distinct lack of Chinese takeout, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen something like this. And no, I am not a 12-year-old girl. I made this choice for a reason..."
Bleh. I always write vaguely allegorical fantasy, and I always get paranoid about it.
@ Vector: If you're not finding inspiration with the given prompt, talk to your Creative Writing Prof. about it. Maybe mention that you think the prompt is too limiting, or isn't what you had in mind, and see if they'd like to brainstorm another subject with you. My Creative Writing professor loved that sort of initiative, and was happy to work with students on things like that... unless you don't think you'll get much out of the class even with that. Even so, you might want to give talking to the prof a shot first.
In regard to the Mom thing... when she starts getting opinionated and ranty at you, have you ever just mentioned that you may be of different opinions on the subject? You can mitigate an argument by saying that you feel it's fine for her to have a different opinion, but that you'd rather discuss something else. It's not rude... it's just asking for her to respect your differences. If she oversteps the line, or starts pressuring you, she makes herself out to be the bad person... so as long as you make a point of accepting her opinion as different than your own, you can't not win. If you try it, do your best to be genuine about it too. Being snarky in those cases, even in jest, has exploded in my face before.
Nah, at that point I was just annoyed because I really didn't want to write a lovers' quarrel. There's other things for men and women to talk about than "the things men and women usually talk about." It just seemed odd that we had to have a man and a woman, arguing, rather than two women or something like that.
As far as my mom goes, her preferred mode of conversation is complaining rants about relatives, racial groups, and how she was treated. This is a woman who has never been interested in respecting differences. I have intimated that perhaps her point of view is not my own and also asked to change the subject, which is when she starts chewing me out for being anti-social and naive. In reality, it's not about discussing. It's about her feeling that no one will listen to her (possibly because she's a socialist when it suits her and extremely conservative otherwise), that she's turned into some sort of Cassandra figure, and that she must warn me against Those Other Races.
She doesn't make herself out to be the bad person, because she is always the good person, driven by her circumstances. The basic rule is that when she decides not to do something, it's because she's too tired; when I decide not to do something, it's because I'm irresponsible, lazy, unfeeling, self-centered, and trying to punish her. When she snaps at me, she has been brought to it. When I am snappish or grumpy, it is a moral lapse. If I am anything less than perfectly polite, it is because I am ungrateful and cold. When she is, it is because She Is The Mother. This goes for basically anything and everything, though I'll admit that she'll occasionally stop by to say "you know, Vector, I think [x positive thing] about you and I'm not trying to destroy you."
So, to make a long story short: no, I don't think it's possible for me to win. I've told her outside of these rants that it's really hard to talk to her when she speaks at length and doesn't pause for outside input, but no dice: she just tells me I need to stop interrupting her, and also that I get to talk plenty. Mostly true, other than the fact that I only talk that much when I've been accused of something I didn't do,
again. No matter how you know me here, I'm really shy in real life.
Eh. Maybe I should talk less.
Would that I had the time to say anything more, but having read that - have you not right there found something to write about? Screw the wording of the assignment, right about your mental conflict with your parents' intentions, and don't make yourself the badguy.
It's all about a sort of cathartic absolution, apparently, wherein we own up to our sins and, in confessing them to the world, find peace. The teacher is extremely Catholic--or, at the very least, Catholic enough that he thought he should announce it at the beginning of class.
I have plenty of writing material. I just don't have any travesties against humanity to confess.
Point is, don't let her try to live her life through you, or make you live in what she imagines her world used to be. As if you needed to be told, but don't ever let the fact that she's your mother make you doubt that you're in the right on this one.
I won't, and thank you.
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Topic: Things that made you sad today thread. (Read 9786461 times)