/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.13788135]

Are maximalist writers simply just suffering from hypergraphia, where their writing is less a form of artistic expression and more of a manifestation of mania? At university, my english professors did not appreciate my long sentences, even despite that they were (by their own admission) grammatically correct. When I write or speak, I'm either completely vacuous or possessed by an intense desire to articulate intricate ideas, as though I am not myself. I wonder if this sort of thing is common amongst writers, especially those whose writing seems convoluted/unnecessarily complex.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous No.13788144]

You're just manic, yes.

[Anonymous No.13788165]

>>13788135
Yes, they are, and it's a manifestation of epilepsy at best, narcissism or mania at worst but most common. Yet, a natural tendency to ultra brevity can be an even worse trap, indicative of emotional poverty. Edit yourself without mercy.

[Anonymous No.13788191]

>>13788165
What's strange is that, I was prescribed vyvanse as a child, and when I quit in high school, is when this all started. Early symptom of epilepsy? Fantastic!

[Anonymous No.13788211]

>>13788191
It sounds like minor dopamenergic imbalance. Maintain awareness of your train of thought and practice slowing it, directing it.

[Anonymous No.13788313]

>>13788211
Also, I think the romanticization of artists with mental disorders is dangerous, because a lot of people have resorted to drugs to create their own madness for the sake of creating better art, but great art comes from discipline and the taming of the artist's demons. Drugs create the delusion of enlightenment and bad art. Hemingway never actually wrote drunk and edited sober, and Hunter S Thompson's best journalism came from before his extreme experimentation with drugs.

[Anonymous No.13788334]

>>13788135

This is a interesting thought, OP. I was just talking with a friend of mine about this the other day, although she was more concerned with the political message of maximalism then the originals of the style.

For me I was wondering if all these various experimental styles were merely a form of writing that seemed the most natural to these authors instead of being some big literary statement, etc. If anything I would imagine the experimental style would be justified after the fact, despite it not being fully intentional.

Although it’s very likely it could also be a manifestation of the author’s own personality. DFW was manic AF and trying to imitate Pynchon, so that idea makes sense. Maximalism must have felt natural to DFW, or how it naturally came out as he wrote.

But then again DFW’s style does somewhat seem intentional as far as his own literary ideas go, I always though his yuuuge cascading paragraphs, details, foot notes, etc were supposed to simulate the stimulus overload we experience twenty four hours a day in the post modern era.

There is so much snobbery and elitism in fiction I often think authors write in whatever style they can get away with instead of consciously crafting every element.

[Anonymous No.13788360]

>>13788313
Maybe, but many of us here are living with incurable but merely manageable mental disorders. We know there's no romance to it, but it's what we live. Every characteristic is romanticized for the sake of algorithms and categorization, even health or banality can be romanticized now.

[Anonymous No.13788378]

>>13788334
The only author who I think can properly balance his manic writing style and hone in on the craft, is Umberto Eco. Buttttt, I can't read italian so I'm not sure if the translation to english just makes his style seem manic to us.

[Anonymous No.13788389]

>>13788334
nice paraphrasing

[Anonymous No.13788480]

>>13788389

My bad.

[Anonymous No.13788487]

>>13788480
no, my bad
I meant paragraphing
I'm sorry

[Anonymous No.13788558]

>>13788334
It's absolutely true that IJ is written in this style to reflect the reality of American society. The literary run-on sentence is distinctly American in tone and content.

[Anonymous No.13788566]

>>13788558
DFW was incapable of any other style, even when speaking aloud. Probably what drove him to suicide.

[Anonymous No.13788613]

>>13788487

No, I am the one who is sry.