Subversive Storywriting

 I've been something of a writer since I was a kid. I remember opening up a Word document and trying to start a whole book from scratch. I didn't realize at the time that that is not how writing works. Well, not writing a long-form narrative at least.

I bring this up because since I've been trying to write stories for such a long time, by the time I was really starting to take my work seriously, I was doing my best to write subversive stories. Stories that defy expectations and conventions completely just on the principle of it. Also because we all love it when a story can surprise us. What I didn't realize until I started trying is how difficult it can be to write something "different".

The problem with subversiveness is that it flies in the face of the tried and true formulas that most stories rely on. And while that can be refreshing at times, it can also be very alienating to a viewer who isn't primed for that kind of thing. It's not as simple as breaking the rules, it's about knowing which rules to break and why you're breaking them in the first place. After all, if you're missing pieces in important places, your story is going to fall apart no matter how much effort you put into it or how purposefully you made that decision.

I think that's something that's really impressive about what I've seen of the French New Wave: the fact that they rebel against so much of the "established" while still creating these cohesive, structurally-sound films speaks to how masterful these creators really were.