Thanks for a great piece. I would say that I also write because there is something I can’t understand and am troubled by, but that that something itself emerges in and through the writing rather than from the everyday world.
I don't know my why yet, or at least I cannot express it clearly (I have never been good at organising my thoughts succinctly). But I think it is partly because I feel that if I keep all these words/ideas/thoughts inside me, they inevitably turn into inner voices that only serve to bring me down. So putting them on paper helps to cleanse myself of some of the million stories that I seems to have absorbed as I walk through life. Oh, and I do love Lydia Davis.
Yes! Uncovering the “why?” of the piece is so critical. Not only does it open possibilities in form, tone, and structure, but it leads us as writers to then consider the reader. The piece has a why, a particular intention, that then meets the reader and has a particular impact. The clearer we are on the intent, the more deliberate and nuanced we can be in creating that desired impact—and connecting deeply with the reader in the process.
I experience writing as the release from an internal build up of thoughts, feelings, images that feels organic but reaches a point where it needs to be externalised which I guess is the first stage in identifying form. I write to capture ‘it’ before it dissipates/dissolves, and to work out what I think and feel about ‘it’, and to find the words to communicate it as clearly as I can at that stage in my understanding. Once externalised it’s an evolving process until it feels done. The form appears out of this process and takes shape through a process that seems like sculpting as I edit. I can’t think about it at this stage, or I lose what feels like the essence, and once shared, what it means is a completely different process, that can start a new cycle again if others offer their thoughts, feelings and interpretation.
There’s a scene in the film ‘Close Encounters of a Third Kind’ where the main character sculpts mashed potato to try to capture what he is ‘seeing’ that I really relate to, as writing has that same compulsive energy for me once I’m really aligned. The ‘why’ is to communicate and connect, but how that happens and what is communicated doesn’t feel intentional to me, or something I want to influence in a reader.
Oh, I love that scene! Thanks for reminding me of it. And this seems so true:
"The form appears out of this process and takes shape through a process that seems like sculpting as I edit. I can’t think about it at this stage, or I lose what feels like the essence..."
I think they forgot to tell you -- you're not supposed to post something this good your first time out!
Totally agree! Loved everything about this piece. Have been pondering on it ever since.
Aww, thanks both.
Thanks for a great piece. I would say that I also write because there is something I can’t understand and am troubled by, but that that something itself emerges in and through the writing rather than from the everyday world.
This is a great point - that the writing itself can also be the source of confusion and understanding.
I don't know my why yet, or at least I cannot express it clearly (I have never been good at organising my thoughts succinctly). But I think it is partly because I feel that if I keep all these words/ideas/thoughts inside me, they inevitably turn into inner voices that only serve to bring me down. So putting them on paper helps to cleanse myself of some of the million stories that I seems to have absorbed as I walk through life. Oh, and I do love Lydia Davis.
Someone just described this to me similiarly: if she doesn't write she feels she is carrying all this extra pyschic weight that only writing releases.
Yes! Uncovering the “why?” of the piece is so critical. Not only does it open possibilities in form, tone, and structure, but it leads us as writers to then consider the reader. The piece has a why, a particular intention, that then meets the reader and has a particular impact. The clearer we are on the intent, the more deliberate and nuanced we can be in creating that desired impact—and connecting deeply with the reader in the process.
I experience writing as the release from an internal build up of thoughts, feelings, images that feels organic but reaches a point where it needs to be externalised which I guess is the first stage in identifying form. I write to capture ‘it’ before it dissipates/dissolves, and to work out what I think and feel about ‘it’, and to find the words to communicate it as clearly as I can at that stage in my understanding. Once externalised it’s an evolving process until it feels done. The form appears out of this process and takes shape through a process that seems like sculpting as I edit. I can’t think about it at this stage, or I lose what feels like the essence, and once shared, what it means is a completely different process, that can start a new cycle again if others offer their thoughts, feelings and interpretation.
There’s a scene in the film ‘Close Encounters of a Third Kind’ where the main character sculpts mashed potato to try to capture what he is ‘seeing’ that I really relate to, as writing has that same compulsive energy for me once I’m really aligned. The ‘why’ is to communicate and connect, but how that happens and what is communicated doesn’t feel intentional to me, or something I want to influence in a reader.
Oh, I love that scene! Thanks for reminding me of it. And this seems so true:
"The form appears out of this process and takes shape through a process that seems like sculpting as I edit. I can’t think about it at this stage, or I lose what feels like the essence..."
Just wanted to thank you for a great piece and for alerting me to the existence of this lecture which I've since found and watched on YouTube (twice).
Fantastic! Wasn't it great?