What did I learn in this class?
I think I surprised myself. While nature will likely always be a part of what I write, I don't know if I'll be considered (or consider myself) a nature writer. Part of this has to do with my relationship with nature. I've been a camper since I was eight months old (my parents brought the crib/playpen to the campsite). Some of my earliest memories concern lizard hunting or teaching the dog to work for birds. Nearly all of my early nature memories are really about my father. The middle memories seem to contain my brother in some way, whether or not he was present on the camping trip. The later ones are more about group dynamics and risk management than appreciating natural beauty.
I can't deny, either, that my time studying biology has shaped my view of nature, perhaps irrevocably. I'm not blind to sunsets and spiderwebs, but I find myself primarily in awe of why light refracts the way it does, or what behavioral mechanism causes the spider to build a web the way it does. Sure, there's an emotional aspect to my view on these things, but I think it gets lost in the particulars. My pervading fascination lies with the particulars more often than not - so how do I find a way to communicate that fascination?
And sure, I could write about backpacking, and environmentally friendly ways to tread the earth. That's stuff that I've actively studied, though. One can't actively study Moonlight Appreciation 101. Or, one can, but not from a book and not, arguably, by listening to what anyone else says on the topic.
When I was little, I was always climbing trees or exploring the marshes or woods around my town. That was about escape, though. The woods made me feel peaceful, or alive, and that was always the best way I could say it. Then I discovered the tenets of ecological harmony, and the tree's methods of transporting vital nutrients; I learned a language that conveyed my fascination with natural things. As such, I'm no less fascinated by my cat than by sea turtles laying eggs at midnight. Or bioluminescence. Or yeast. The mundane and exotic are all encompassed by a force called nature. Whether or not it's alive, whether or not it has a plan, I'm excited to see where it's going, and how it got here.
So, will I be a nature writer? Probably not. Not in the way we mean it when we talk about Thoreau and Abbey. An environmental writer? Perhaps. But there are so many other considerations in environmental writing - political, social, personal - it feels strange to try and pin it down. It feels strange to pin myself down. I love nature, I love the wild, I love its specifics and its generalizations. I know now that nature will always have a part in what I write. And I know where to go in the library if I need inspiration.
Anyway, I like a good laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc Spiders on Drugs.
I hate spiders.
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Always good to hear your thoughts, Cat. I don't know if most of us want to be known as nature writers. I think it's more important to figure out how nature and/or place affects you and how you see the world--and it seems like you have thought a bit about that--than worry about what to call your writing.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider myself a die-hard nature writer--I'm too interested in human failings for that, but I never pick up the pen to write without thinking about the non-human world and how it lives in my heart and imagination.