Visions of Sugar Plum Fairies

vision--a writer's outlook; a philosophical map of a particular segment of humanity; an attitude toward a system or condition of behavior; an emotional assessment of life and its denizens; the way a writer looks at material.

Along with voice, vision is a significant, transformational factor in determining how a writer views circumstances, turns them into dramatic situations, and populates them with distinctive characters. Writers may have a cynical outlook or one that is preternaturally optimistic. There is no right or wrong choice, only the need for honesty. A writer who is notable for technique but no vision will produce work that has the same effect as the floats in the rose parade or as pinatas used for holiday or party celebrations or paper cups intended for single use. The technique will trump the story--and while being amazed by the technique, the reader will mourn the loss of drama.

Regardless of the size or nature of the landscape, the ripened writer will see it with all its quirks and dents, will know if the undersides of the bureau drawers have been painted or varnished, will be aware if there are any recycled parts within it, and will have taken pains to see that everything is is smooth working order. Whether the setting is a colony on Mars, a girl's school above Mill Valley in northern California, or a patch of backyard garden, the landscape will seem important because of the way it is regarded by the writer and by the characters who are somehow connected to it.

Writers variously think the world is going to hell in a hand basket, is a venue for unparalleled chaos, spawns mediocrity, is a splendid opportunity for growth and progress. To the extent they are capable of dramatizing these views, they achieve readerships and as a consequence of that exert some influence on what their readers believe. To the extent that writers cannot dramatize these feelings, they push their readers back from direct engagement to the end that they are lecturing their readers rather than entertaining and challenging them.

Pick a handful of writers, say five, who entertain you. Compare these with a group of writers who cannot seem to get beyond the merest semblance of plot and whose characters are as stiff and uncomfortable as though they were first-time visitors at a family gathering of an intended lover. Compare the difference between the two groups of writers, then look at the way their characters react to one another, produce chemistry, produce a tangible feel of a particular vision. Notice also the difference in the physicality of the characters from writers you enjoy.

Look at it yet another way: study Louise Erdrich's memorable first novel, Love Medicine, which will perhaps distract you away from the intent of this exercise thanks to Erdrich's evocations of her characters, but which will ultimately give you a full, vivid sense of her overall vision as well as the dramatic energy within her scenes.

Vision and voice. What a writer sees and how the writer relates it.

Thus these questions to help you focus on your vision:

Who are you?

How do you see the world?

Is your world a safe place? Safer than the world of reality?

If you were writing fantasy, what element would you bring in from the world of reality?

What is the biggest prize in your stories?

If you had to divide humanity into two opposing approaches, which pair would you choose? (Winners/Losers? Givers/Takers? Old/Young? Inner directed/Other directed? etc)

In you world are there happy endings or morose ones?

What is the biggest fear held by your characters?