I have always wanted to be a writer, that much is certain: whether it was small, rough notes about a story in the back of a school book or random characters drawn up in an instant in an worn old notebook, writing has always been “my thing”.
As of recent, I have taken to writing a lot more than I ever have done in the past; I am not sure why I didn’t write, but I suppose it was because I lacked the motivation to do so. Also, I was seemingly fixated on writing a fantasy novel, as the majority of the scrawled notes I find are based on some epic battle or description of tall, winding castle spires, but fantasy novels take a considerable amount of consideration and work – something which my young mind simply couldn’t handle, or provide.
It was actually a piece of school work that inspired me to start writing again, about a moment of your childhood, dramatised and turned into a short story. I thought great – I’ll really go for it. You can read that very same piece of homework here.
But as of recent, taking a more professional – and I use the word professional very lightly here – stance towards writing has made me consider what it really means to be a writer: for me, and it has always been like this, being a writer is predominately because I enjoy exercising my imagination – in a similar way, I presume, to how a Mathematician might enjoy solving a few equations.
However, it seems to be common opinion that to create great works of art, both written and drawn, it is necessary that the artist observes, rather than partakes.
Rubbish.
I feel the best stories come from experience; the best descriptions come from something you are engaged with and the best plots come from an accumulation of a series of different events you have lived through. Writers make sense of others around them, and the way people act in certain situations: they capture their psyche and their emotions to help progress a story line, using their personalities to create drama and tension. It is an art form in itself to be able to so accurately capture the emotions of another.
Writers understand. That’s just what they do.
Hi Harry
I want to go so far as to say that if you cannot write or talk from experience, it is best to put your pen down and keep you mouth shut!!! Thanks, nice post!
Blessings
Mia
Thanks Mia, good point!
Reblogged this on Pan Dulce.
Hmmm, I agree that writer must draw on his/hers experience, but we also make stuff up. I’ve always liked more escapist literature, though not those completely divorced from the world; I guess I prefer to stay outside the experience while commenting on it. Or just to have fun.
Though I guess that is impossible without having enough real life experience.
Cheers,
Johnny.
Escapist literature is a favourite of mine too, I LOVE the idea of fantasy, but I often take to writing gritty and moving short stories.
Always nice to see you’ve commented, as you always have some good to say.
I am a big fan of Romantic literature, but their main flaw is that they were typically very isolated, meaning their writing takes on quite a fantastical level. Still, thanks for your comment Johnny
I believe there are certain aspects of the human condition that can only be written about through experience, but a good observer with empathy can still write about things they have not experienced themselves. Otherwise all of us would just be writing memoires and that would get tedious.
~Minkee
Aha, very good point: I suppose we learn to empathise with others as we get older anyway – maybe writers just do it more so?
Cheers Minkee.
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Could not agree more. We’re all mini psychologists in disguise!
Aha, thank you! We definitely are, and I love it
Writing can start from the experience, be it physical or emotional, but whatever ends up on that page is not the experience or anything close to it. It’s just a version and a version that your mind will see fit to embellish, cut and expand whenever it pleases to suit a story – even if you try hard not to.
No one can completely capture their own human experience with a pen and capturing other people’s psyches that’s all just a guesswork with a helping of imagination and research but one can never truly know. You can only really hope to create the small truths, in the little details. Where do those little details come from? Observation and experience, they go together for me because in the end, it’s all just a warped reflection and to convince yourself you can see that reflection clearly by touching, experiencing it’s textures – it only heightens the illusion.
But that’s what it’s all about I suppose.
Excellent comment, you are very right. Thanks for stopping by
I agree with you wholeheartedly it is rubbish to imagine an author as a non-participant observer. But I wouldn’t denigrate observation or the ability to put yourself in another’s place. I think it really is a combination of both features that works. If it were all experience then the writer and ther reader both could only relate to experience they personally had.
I dont know anything about the mathematician’s mind, but it seems like a great reason to be a writer! x
The best writing comes from the heart: an insight taken from observation and experience; a thought that has nagged for a time and now forms in clearer words. I like your work, Harry, and enjoyed reading.