So let's talk about NerdCon!
I'm Adele, the director and co-writer for the Ling Space. I just got back from this
amazing event in Minneapolis called NerdCon Stories. I got to talk to a lot of incredible
creators, storytellers, and authors, and I interviewed some of them about their relationship
with stories and with language. It was super fun, and I want to thank everybody
who took the time to talk with me. Let's see what they have to say!
I mean, I like the mess of language. I feel that I imbue monologue or comedy with as much
poetry as I can find in the language, because there are words that do evoke multiple images,
and sometimes, not necessarily ones that congeal. So I like that, I don't know, I like the mess
of it, I like the mess of humanity. I think that there are, there is a beauty of certain things
finding a union out of the morass of language. And so I try to conjure that as much as possible.
And, you know, sometimes, I just like to go plowing through like a bull in a china shop,
because that's more my personality. But I don't know, I've always loved language, it's
a great sort of pigpen. Is that the right... not pigpen. Whatever, you know, it's a big
pile of mud you get to play in.
I think that, like, when I write something, I feel like I always use the mess the first
time, like, I write really quickly, so I'll write whatever I'm writing, and not care about
how messy it is. And then I'll just do constant revision to make it pretty. Sometimes, like,
the mess is part of the prettiness, sometimes it's like, oh, you know, the way this
came out as being really sort of natural and spontaneous is good, but otherwise, I just
try to clean it up as much as possible with constant revision.
I guess, just, like, I try to find a way to sort of find commonality in language. Like,
people are... the purpose of language is to like express messages, right? So like, if
no one gets the message, then you failed. So I can write things like really sort of,
like, intelligently and I can sound really pretentious, but no one's going to understand
what I'm saying. So I try to make sure I use language in a way that people can understand,
and I guess in a way that people can be empathetic towards and, like, laugh at. Like, I like
humour for that.
So my background is more in the world of academia. And so I'm really used to jargon, and also
how do you, how do you translate jargon to actual, like, normal people speak. And also,
how do you translate jargon across genres, right? So there are fields that study this
particular thing and call it one thing, but in another field, you might call it something
different. And so, when I approach writing something, or talking about a topic, I want
to make sure that I'm using the words that resonate most with the audience that I'm presenting it to.
So, in my line of work, I write a lot about brain development, and about child psychology,
for early professionals, people who work with kids. And when I do that, I have to think
about, I can't go into the nitty gritty about, like, this particular part of the brain does
this thing! It's more about the overall messaging of, you know, it's really important to support
young kids early, and build relationships with little kids, because it helps build their
brains for a better future. So figuring out ways to phrase those kinds of things has been
a really interesting challenge, but one that I really enjoy doing.
Honestly, when I'm trying to get a message across, like, especially for video purposes,
I try wording things in many different ways before I actually use that as the way I'm
going to say it. You know, I'll do multiple takes, and just try different things, twist
words around, because if it makes sense in my head, it might not necessarily make sense
to other people. So, you know, you film it, and then sometimes I'll have a person there
listening, and they'll give feedback, or even if I go back and watch it later, and realizing
it doesn't make sense, you know, going back and editing what works and what doesn't.
I consider myself a pretty good communicator, and that said, I try to take responsibility
for all of the words that I use. I write a lot of jokes, and I tweet a lot of sarcastic
things, and sometimes if people challenge me with those things, I have to really respond
and figure out what I meant. And so, what I... there's a book called the Four Agreements.
One of the agreements is be impeccable with your words, and I take that very literally,
very seriously, especially if I'm writing something that's more poetic, less straightforward.
And I don't want it to be, I want it to be clear in terms of story, but I don't want
it to be clear in terms of the words that I'm using. I want to make sure I do my best
to craft it in such a way that it makes sense. And then, I trust my collaborators to tell
me that what I've said makes sense and what I haven't said makes sense. Especially because
I love the way words change and morph and sometimes they mean something, and sometimes
they mean a different thing that they didn't mean before.
I think that the way I use language is definitely influenced by the stories that I interact with.
I think that most... I don't know, I think most people are sponges, especially
the younger or the more vulnerable or the more listening that they are. And I definitely
have found particularly navigating the world of solo performance, or live stage, story
telling, otherwise performance, and even standup comedy, I think that all of that has completely
influenced the way that I tell stories and the way that I phrase things. I mean, it's
particularly difficult in comedy, because at times, you have to go, like, did that
idea come from me, or did it come from someone else? But then all of the ideas come from someone
else, and you know, there's nothing new under the sun, so it came from somewhere else. In
a general wider context, it's more important about how you're using it. But I definitely
feel because of the specific spoken word format in which I put my writing out, that it's definitely
an amalgam of things, you know? But I think that's like modernism, you know what I mean?
It's like whatever, that pastiche, that mosaic of so many different things, I think that's
kind of where we are in history. It's like being a DJ for language. It's about how you
spin it, not if you made it.
Absolutely! I mean, like, I think that the way that I have learned to write and speak
is heavily influenced by stories, more so than probably anything else. I feel like actually,
now, a lot of times, the way that other people in general, their language is influenced a
lot by their reading online, like Tumblr and stuff like that. But definitely, stories help
a lot, and like, stories aren't confined to just, like, 300 page novels. So like, stories
they read from people on social media, I imagine also impacts the way that they speak and write.
It certainly has me.
Yes, a million times yes. Yeah, I think one of the things that's been interesting for
me, because I write non-fiction and I write research for practice audiences, and for the
public, one of the interesting things for me has been pulling in some stories and some
fiction stuff into non-fiction. So when I was writing this book that I just put out,
I actually referenced some young adult work in it, because I felt like it conveyed the
emotion and the intent that I wanted to get across about the underlying research that
I was trying to talk about. But it makes it more impactful and allows people to connect
with it differently if you're able to pull in a personal story or some sort of story
that really can resonate with your audience, even though you're going to talk about brain
development two pages later. So I think that's a really important connection that is hard,
but is really worthwhile.
Yes, the way that I use language definitely has been influenced, just because when you're
exposed to a certain, you know, whether you're watching the same person do multiple videos,
or you're reading the same authors doing multiple books, you begin to become used to
their linguistic tendencies, and you almost adapt them to yourself. Even hanging out with
certain people, you know, you notice that you begin to start saying things similar to
what they're saying, or you notice they're starting to say things that you personally
say. And things sort of, you just learn from other people, and all that I, all of my language
that I use is built upon all the people that I've read from, listened to, talked with,
and it's had a large impact on my personal way of communication.
Yes, I do feel the stories that I interact with, the stories with which I interact and the
ones that I read, I think they do influence my language. To me, language is also about
our filters, it's about our mores, it's about the customs, it's about the zeitgeist, it's
about pop culture. And so, I often feel as though I have to keep up, so that I can communicate
with young people. I do love teaching young people, and I want to be able to communicate
with them, and I want to be able to say, hey, I saw this, I was watching So You Think You
Can Dance, and whatever. And I can talk about that. And the things that I learn from watching
things that I don't know about. Dancing with the Stars, I don't really watch that anymore, but.
I love network TV. Anyways, there are languages that I have learned just because
I'm interacting with these stories that are being told, and so yes, language evolves,
and mine has, yes.