Death Rattle Writers Festival and the State of Writing

The Death Rattle Writers Festival, based in Nampa, ID, was this weekend. I asked my husband to go to the short story event with me, and he said a writers festival sounds like it's a bunch of people sitting around, reading to each other.

Well, he's right. The event looked like this.

There were other events we didn't go to, though. The festival had a premier screening of the film "Smoke," with one of its creators there to talk about it, and there was also Art of Verse, a hip-hop artist, I believe, who draws inspiration from spoken word poetry. They had a poetry lecture and reading, a flash fiction event and a dramatic reading session of one-act plays, as well as other events.

The main thing I pulled from the short story reading (please note that I wasn't there for all of it) was a reminder of how contemporary literary (not genre) writers seem to strive for a jaded tone.

Remember Mary Robison? She's got the tone down pat.

I'm at Rhythm & Blues and their parents at an eatery called The Half Moon. Have been for every bit of an itchy hour. We're still expecting Petal. Saunders sits across from me, tearing a crescent roll into many parts. Adam's queasy and may be forced to bolt when they bring the food. He has his eyes squeezed shut, his face wrinkled in a look of rejection. I'm in attendance but feeling as if I were sketched into the scene, and maybe with an old pencil. The parents sit across the table. I haven't looked up at them. Nor will I, unless they call on me.

Do you hear it? Not the story, but the tone.

My husband said the writers sounded monotone. I think that is a good way to put it. The life is faded.

Perhaps it's the current -ism. Romanticism, feminism, Orientalism, jadism. If so, count me out. I want to sound like me when I write, or like my characters (who are all reflections of me to some extent): sassy, smart, silly, sarcastic, blunt, poetic, logical, me. That is the most unique and best voice I will ever find, and that voice will lead me to the best stories.

I did a little research into this to see if anyone else has noticed, and found that they have.

This essay, found on an website associated with the College of DuPage, notes that contemporary writers believe we live in a fallen world with no God to save us (note that this is a generalization). They are looking at the world as being without hope.

Read this one, too. It is longer, FYI, and takes in the entire art scene, not just writing. Some of my favorite bits, the parts that rang true to what I've been noticing, include the idea that contemporary art makes fun of sincerity, its tone is a defense against sounding simple and naive, and it gives a disconnected view of the world.

Thoughts? Had you noticed the trend?

The second essay I linked to said sentimentalism is probably next, with its strong convictions. Not sure if I agree with that or not, I don't know enough, but I would like the next movement to be honest.  Let's paint the world as we truly see it, individually. Honesty and truth are always the characteristics of a masterpiece.