Organic Writing

I read a fascinating book this week.

It wasn't just the message that appealed to me, although the author's thesis certainly tickled my mind and got me thinking. The book's format intrigued me. Short paragraphs, no indents, and

snappy ideas,

presented separately,

for stronger impact.

And it did impact me.

Recently I attended a writing workshop, and the instructor's favourite buzz word was

organic.

Everything from the setting, to the character's dialogue, to the minutest descriptive detail should be organic to what you're writing, she insisted.

Now for me, the word organic congers up images of weed-infested gardens, where the produce might be "healthy" but its bruised, bug-nibbled hides are far from appealing. So what has that got to do with my writing?

The book I read this week showed me.

By packaging his new

thought-provoking

message

in a new

thought-provoking

package,

the author successfully married his message to its format.

He achieved

organic.

Its taken me years to comprehend the basic rules of fiction writing. The importance of story arc, voice, point of view, and yes, grammar. But I am now being told, in this age of post-modern literature, that I need to explore outside the box of literary rules.

I need to step out

take a chance.

Risk.

So my question is:

if I try this new method of writing,

will it make any sense?

J.E. Self