benjamin interrupted

K. So, I'm only on the fifth page of Benjamin's "The Story Teller," but I've reached one of his points--perhaps his thesis, but I'll only find out when I'm done--and I had to start posting because I had a thought. Benjamin says in section VIII that a story "precludes psychological analysis" and that it uses "psychological shading" (not bolded in original essay, I added that) to engrain itself into the memory of the listener.

When I read this I immediately thought of Todorov's essay on how reading and properly analyzing (because everyone has an opinion of what is improper analysis) literature helps us to understand its "abstract structure" (p. 2100).

And then, I thought about how I write.

You can learn about craft, which is especially helpful in the editing process, and helpful in the process of recording what you need to tell. And you will fail without this discipline, hands down. But to tell what you need to tell, there is a step that comes before the discipline of recording. And please...excuse my romanticism. As much as I heckle romantic criticism for what it lacks, I do have some very romantic ideas that I would not be complete without.

As a writer you need to get in the moment. You need to close your eyes and feel the spirits around you. When the characters talk, it's not you talking; you need to listen to the voices inside yourself; you need to reach a place in your head. I only know this because I have to ask myself, "what would this character say?" Or when I'm writing a poem and I'm stuck, I need to close my eyes again, and revisit, and see what else is in the scene, or if there is nothing else and I need to end it.

"Herodotus offers no explanations" (part VII). Benjamin is talking about how the story teller, having to tap into this world of a layered story that s/he knows little why and more what and how, brings the listener also into this world. Story telling, like literature (though Benjamin contrasts it with literature but I tend to disagree with the differences he mentions), is not about explaining why, but explaining what and making YOU (you the reader, not you the writer) think about the why. But only if you want to.

Onward to the rest of his essay.