Wednesday, May 30, 2012

A Writer's Special Skin

by Marilyn Brant
I almost titled this post "Writers: It's Like We're Amphibians, Only Not." But, you know, I didn't want to freak anybody out. *g*

My brother had a fire-bellied newt that lived for over 20 years, so I had a lot of opportunities to admire the little creatures. Thing is, amphibians have a number of very interesting qualities that have grown more intriguing to me as I've aged. They're small, relatively helpless beings who've developed certain survival mechanisms: some have the ability to camouflage themselves, others to puff themselves up to look fiercer than they are, and most can move freely from land to sea (or vice versa) as needed. Many go through an involved process of metamorphosis, which never ceases to fascinate me. And their sensitivity to their environment typically makes them good indicators of the health of their habitat. If the amphibians aren't doing well, there may be big problems afoot in the ecosystem.

But of all the parallels I could draw between these small, soft-bodied creatures and all of us writers, it's an amphibian's skin, which is permeable to water, that compels me the most. This odd similarity has haunted me for years because, of course, we humans do not really have that kind of skin but, metaphorically, the humans who choose to become artists of some kind do need to have something like it.

You know how novelists, poets, musicians, painters and actors are always told that we need to have a "thick skin"? Your work is going to get criticized -- hell, you are going to get criticized -- so you'd better learn to deal with it and get over it, right?

Well, that true, but it's not the whole truth. The rest of it is that, as writers, we also need to be exceptionally receptive to emotion, highly sensitive to our environment and, to some extent, knowingly vulnerable to the people we encounter. In other words, we need to develop a very special skin -- one that is thick enough to handle all of the inevitable rejection and keep out as much unnecessary toxicity as possible, but one that's still thin enough to let in the experiences we need in order to genuinely live and see and feel life...to allow the range of thoughts and sensations that come with this awareness to fully permeate so we can write with honesty.

The longer I'm involved in this amazing, frustrating, incredible and ever-changing profession, the more I'm convinced that any sense of satisfaction we have from doing it at all comes down to our willingness to be more vulnerable, more permeable somehow than the rest of the population needs to be. To everyone else, writers may look like we're fully human, but I'm fairly certain that our skin belongs to another phylum, and I don't think we should be so quick to forget this about ourselves...

On this subject, I have a video clip that a good friend shared with me last week: Brené Brown, Ph.D., a researcher who studies vulnerability, courage, shame, worthiness and authenticity, did a TED talk on "The Power of Vulnerability" that has now been seen by almost 5 million people. Maybe you were one of them. If so, you know how good it is! If not, please check it out:



Did you like it? And do you think writers/musicians/artists need to have any particular adaptive traits to both survive in this world and, also, create? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Marilyn's latest novel, A Summer in Europe, was the B&N General Fiction Book Club read for May (check out week one!) and much virtual gelato was consumed during the month-long discussion. There were also many mentions of fabulous travel locations, weird family dynamics, hot foreign men and an S&M Club. (That would be "Sudoku & Mah-jongg" -- what did you think I was talking about?!) Not surprisingly, the subject of amphibians never came up...

20 comments:

  1. Marilyn, I love this post and loved the video. I thought to only listen for a few minutes but was completely captivated. It's like she was speaking directly to me.

    Thank you so much for sharing!

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    1. Maria, thank you, and I had that same reaction!! When I originally saw that Brene's talk was 20 minutes, I thought, oh, I don't have that kind of time...but I got completely pulled in ;). She has another one on "Listening to Shame," which was also excellent.

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  2. This really nails it, Marilyn. We have to be emotional, yet also thick-skinned. Thanks for posting!

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    1. Thanks, Brenda ;). I always found it a fascinating dichotomy, too!

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  3. What a great post, Marilyn!! Like Maria, I found myself absolutely captivated! Fabulous, fabulous post!

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    1. Thanks so much, Laura! I'm so glad you enjoyed both my post and Brene's talk. I was just so compelled by her humor and honesty that I wanted to share it with my friends :).

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  4. Thanks for this post and the video. The pictures are beautiful, too!

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    1. Christa, thank you! I can take no credit for the photos, but I think those little amphibians are adorable ;). A good friend of mine is actually afraid of frogs, but I don't think even she would mind this guy with the goofy red eyes too, too much, LOL.

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  5. Great post. I have to watch the video. And those photos are magnificent.

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    1. Thanks, Sheila!! I'm delighted you liked it, and I really hope you'll enjoy the video, too. I can't speak highly enough of Brene's talk.

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  6. Marilyn, what a great blog post and wow what a great correlation between lizards and writers :)
    As a reader/reviewer I personally don't know how you authors do it, heck when someone criticizes one of my reviews I'm almost in tears and that's just an opinion, but to have someone rip out the heart of something near and dear, well it's beyond my imaginings and I therefore NEVER give a bad review, even if I hated the novel after all it's just my opinion, even if the novel read like it was written by a 2yr old I can still say something good about it, in fact because of the way I review lesser starred novels for RT they've actually changed the policy to include something positive about the read as well. Because my mom always told me if you can't say something nice keep your big trap shut.
    Oh and what a fun month we had didn't we, sharing pictures, gelato, getting fed by hunky geeks :) and feeding them back.
    Your novel was and is wonderful and I loved it and didn't have to make myself look for good things to say they just flowed out.
    Deb

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    1. Deb, you are an absolute sweetheart! The B&N General Fiction board is such a beloved place because of you... I'm thrilled to hear that RT now requires something positive to be said about all books, not just the highly starred ones. I've always felt it was possible to find good aspects of a story, even when there were other narrative elements that may not have worked as well. An evenhanded review will mention both and be fair to the writer as well as the reader. Sending more gelato your way and wishes for a happy start to summer :).

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  7. I will have to give this video a watch. Yes, we writers definitely need thick skin and the ability to adapt in this ever changing, often frustrating, industry. Great comparison to amphibians! And that pic of the frog is the cutest frog ever! I don't even like frogs but I wouldn't mind having that one around. Too fun!

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    1. Beth, I think and hope you'll find Brene's words to be very meaningful, particularly for creative people... And, yes! I love the frog, too!! I've never felt the urge to kiss a frog but, I'll admit, that cutie tempts me a little, LOL.

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  8. So awesome. Thank you for giving me this video to watch. I'm really going to think about this throughout my day. Truly cool, Marilyn.
    I'd say you're right on with the need to develop a tough skin that other people who are not in the "artistic" world don't need to have to such an extent as we do. I've learned to embrace the rejection and I let it empower me to push on toward my goal. It's inevitable, as you say, so we better darn well develop an "attitude" so that when it occurs we look at it as a positive thing.
    Patti

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    1. Patti, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Isn't she awesome?! I've heard her other TED talk on "Listening to Shame," which was also very well done -- she really gives her audience something to ponder.

      And on the subject of rejection, I watched a terrific interview with the cast of the Vampire Diaries just last week that still has me thinking. I'd never seen the show up until then, but I was really curious about it after listening to one of the leads (Ian Somerhalder) talk about how he'd been rejected prior to getting the role. His attitude about how to look at rejection and deal with it was, I thought, really wonderful, too :). Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4BByasOPWc

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  9. Another terrific post, Marilyn! I've been so remiss in getting to the GBC lately, so I'm glad I checked in today to see this! You're so right: we have to be thick-skinned yet sensitive. Kind of a weird combination. I don't know any author who's really good at handling criticism (avoidance, yes--bad reviews, no). We just have to muddle through as best we can and keep plugging away. If we let too much hoo-ha get into our heads, we're screwed. So maybe avoidance is the way to go after all? Hmmm. ;-) Hugs!

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    1. Hugs back to you, Ms. Susan!!
      I'm so glad you popped in today...I know how incredibly busy you must be, my friend. And, yes, creative types are the oddest combination, LOL. Such a mass of contradictions and dreams and fears. But you're right -- we can only just keep on slogging through it and have faith our projects will turn out all right in the end. (Which is what I've been trying to tell myself as I've avoided my WIP all day today. :)

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  10. I'm so late on this but I really LOVED this post and the lecture. Thanks for giving me so much stuff to chew on, Marilyn.

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    1. Karin, you're welcome! At this busy time of year, I'm just glad you had a chance to read it and watch the clip ;). Thanks so much for taking time to comment, too!

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