Two Words I Would Like To Change, Please

Hello!

I have been absent for a long time.

I have no explanation for the above, but it's often weird when a person who has been absent for a long time suddenly returns without a single mention of his absence.

That being said,

I have been absent for a long time.


I've got that off my chest now. What was I going to talk about?

Oh, yeah.

There are two words in this beautiful and convoluted language of ours which I believe are both overused and misused. These two (seen below) are:

Nerd

and

Obsessed.

I shall begin with a scrupulous, over-analytical discussion of the word "nerd."

If you watch popular television/movies/etc., it may be easy to discern that the word "nerd" is used often as a derogatory synonym for the word "virgin," and vice versa, where there is nothing (emphasis on "nothing") wrong (emphasis on "wrong") with either.

Here's an example: in the show "Supernatural," Sam Winchester spends an episode snooping through a boy's closet trying to ascertain the character of said boy for his own mysterious reasons. In the aforementioned closet, he is seen observing a Star Wars T-Shirt whereupon he says "Tchah!" and then he says, "Virgin!" in an ill-favored tone.

I don't feel like explaining further, and I am not writing an essay for an English class, so my commentary on the example I have just mentioned consists of the following directions: after you read the example, re-read the preceding thesis and connect the two.

But there is another usage of the word "nerd" which I also find irritating and slightly demeaning. If you spend any time at all on the internet (which you do, otherwise you would not be reading this blog post which is posted, strangely enough, on the internet) you will notice that the word "nerd" is used to separate people who know These 18 Facts About Star Wars from those who don't now These 18 Facts About Star Wars. Even if you know 17 of These 18 Facts About Star Wars, you don't qualify as a nerd, or a "true fan," and therefore your fanship of Star Wars is inadequate, no matter how much you love the story, characters, setting, or theme.

I may be wrong or over-sensitive, but that is the way I feel it is.

If the problem I've perceived does indeed exist, I think I might have a bit of a solution. If we replace the word "nerd" with the word "devotee" we can eliminate the negative/superior connotations attached to it and start with a fresh word which nobody uses, and which therefore doesn't have any negative connotations that I know of. I know what the word "devotee" means, but I forget the precise definition, so I'll provide one for my own amusement below:

dev·o·tee

noun

1. a person who is very interested in and enthusiastic about someone or something.

That about covers the word "nerd" as people mean to use it, without any of the derogatory or superior baggage attached. And that's all I have to say about that. 

The second word I think is misused and overused is the word "obsessed." If you're like me, you will have learned from your therapist that an "obsession" is an intrusive or unwanted thought that replays in your head until you die. Being "obsessed" is not endearing, pleasant, or fulfilling. It is not fun. It is exhausting. The phrase "I am obsessed with" is not, in my book, synonymous with the phrase "I love," but this is how it is used. 

I'd like to suggest, therefore, that people instead use the word "enamored" instead of "obsessed" to describe whatever it is that gives them immense pleasure or passion. For example, instead of saying "I am obsessed with The Lord of the Rings," I like to say, "I am enamored with The Lord of the Rings." Because that is a true statement. Again, I know what the word "enamored" means, but again, I forget the precise definition, so I'll post one below, again, for my own amusement: 

en·am·ored

verb

1. be filled with a feeling of love for.

I think that's the meaning people are aiming at when the use the word "obsessed."


That's all I have to say about that. Beth out.

Goodbye!

Yours etc.

Point Of View

Hello!

I have a situation.

Actually, I have many situations compiled into a single situation which is My Life, but among these is one situation on which I would like some advice from fellow connoisseurs of Fiction.

Here it is, and this is it.

My Protagonist is having a problem with me, i.e. the omniscient, all-knowing Narrator, getting inside her head. I need to get inside her head, because that is where part of the story takes place. One of my characters lives inside her head. Without her head, the rest of the story becomes less interesting. I need to get inside her head. And, as the omniscient, all-knowing Narrator, I ought to be able to get inside her head.

I was thinking about this the other day, and I said to myself, "Self, maybe you don't have to be the omniscient, all-knowing Narrator. Maybe the story would be better told from Gillian's point of view." [My Protagonist's name is Gillian]. Then I thought, "Hey, that's a pretty good idea, Self. Have a banana." So, I tried writing a little in the first person. Just as the view of a wake is best when seen from inside the coffin, I found that for the most part, this bit of story I'm trying to upchuck is about fifty-seven times more palatable when told from my Protagonist's point of view. Her voice is clearer, more idiotic, and more passionate, and she feels like more of a person than a plot-device. I made a mental note of this, and I thought to myself, "Self, write the story in the first person. This is a first person story, and first is the person in which the story shall be written. Write the story in first person, Self. Write the story in first person."

[Side-note: By now, you may understand what an obnoxious being my soul is and I hope you can appreciate the fact that I have to live with it every damn day]

However,

I wrote more of the story in the first person, and I encountered another situation, a little more difficult to solve. I need at least part of the story to be told from my Protagonist's point of view. However, there are parts of the story some of which my Protagonist knows very little and others of which my Protagonist knows nothing. This is deliberate. I want my Protagonist to go through life doing this and that and not realize that the consequences of her actions are being twisted by Something [God] so that even those consequences which result in death and destruction have an overall positive effect on the story as a whole. This is something I want the reader to recognize, but not the Protagonist. The Protagonist has to remain mystified, because like all human beings, she's an utterly confused, lost, restless, and dissatisfied soul [i.e. as in St. Augustine's quote "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee"] but that does not mean nobody's looking out for her.

And I don't want to be preachy about it. The original point of the story was to try to amuse people with the contents of my absurd brain, but I need to put some Seriousness in it as well because it's there and I can't help it.

I forget what I was talking about.

Oh, there it is.

The point is, I need my Protagonist to narrate her part of the story, but there are parts I need her not to know about. This eliminates the possibilities of

(a) having her narrate the story from Purgatory where she can now see her life as a complete picture

and

(b) having her narrate the story after compiling information from all the participants in it.

I suppose I could still do (a). But I don't really want to. Should I? I don't know. That's partly what I wanted to ask.

My current solution is to tell parts of it in first person and parts of it in third person. I think I can do this. I know what parts need to be in first person and which parts need to be in third person, and I think I can separate the two so that the reader does not get confused or throw up his hands as if to call upon God to explain to him what gives writers so great a desire to mystify the readers of this little vast world, so cold in its abandonment, yet so sweet in its endeavor to find joy in pain.

I forget what I was talking about.

There it is.

I think I can have the story told alternately in first and third person without the reader getting confused. My question is, to what extent does the concept make you want to weep and tear out your hair before throwing yourself to the lions to escape the cruel whims of amateur authors? Does it sound like it could be palatable, if executed correctly? In the words of Aragorn and Thorin, what say you?

Please comment, if you have an opinion. If you don't have an opinion, comment anyway so I can say Hi. If you don't want to comment, don't comment [unless you have an opinion].

Thank you!

Beth out.