Amy Ward
Reflection #2
Writing
Peter Carver & Charles Gershon
(pages 2.75)
This was a really helpful discussion
for me. I love writing, and have been told
that I have a gift
for words. Of course it’s an incredibly painful thing to do and really
splits my brain.
But that’s what makes me a genius, right? Every genius has head
splitting experiences
in their very best craft. Last semester I was perusing the library
and found some books
on poetry writing and just writing in general. They inspired me
to buy books to
improve my creative writing and even got one on publishing companies
with their addresses
and tips on how to get published without an agent. I was really
excited to hear
what Charles Gershon was going to say about getting his book published.
Then I got the happy
surprise of hearing my most beloved professor speak.
You said that writers are immersed in their work; it’s
something they have to do.
I’m not sure I agree
with that. I totally avoid it for the most part because it’s so painful.
It’s reeeeeally
hard work. Trying to find the exact words to use in the right combination
so as the musical rhythm of the
words themselves create the exact image in the mind of
the reader that
you’re trying to communicate. Forget trying to use proper structure.
Grammar, at times,
also gets thrown out the window. I think though, that writing hinges
on reading.
I think that the more you read, the more you can write. Writing doesn’t
just
come from thin air.
What Charles said about writing what you know about, (because you
can only make up
so much of it), makes a lot of sense to me, but that’s also why authors
spend so much time
researching for the books they write, so they can get to know about
what they’re writing.
And that incorporates the reading that I find so necessary for writing.
My art teacher once
said that nothing you draw, etc is completely original, you’re always
drawing from something
else you’ve seen (no pun intended). I think the same thing applies
to writing; you’re always drawing
from other works. That comes in to what you mentioned
about the beauty
of Shakespeare; it wasn’t the plots, but the words he used to tell the stories.
That takes us back
to what I was saying about finding the right words to create the image.
It’s the art of
word-smithing; the beauty of imagery.
To write about love, or not to write about love… that
is the question. I certainly don’t
see why you can’t
write about love. While it is true that there are so many endless ways
to
experience, and
express, love – why should that keep us from writing about it? Just
because
the love we write
about may not be what the reader has experienced doesn’t make it invalid.
If anything it opens
up a new part of the world to them. It makes their understanding more
comprehensive, imparting
a new power of knowledge. So this person was worried that you
wouldn’t be able to make a connection
with the reader. Isn’t that what art is all about?
Connecting to things
you may have never had reason to come in contact with before? It’s
just like a play
about rape. The audience may have never been raped, but that harsh
reality
has now been communicated to
them, helping them become more familiar with something they
may need to understand
better for the future. It’s about plays in Togo teaching truths the
people
may be lying to
themselves about. It’s something that has to be communicated.
I think true art also includes doing
it for someone other than you. It’s not just to exorcise
your own demons,
but to perhaps open a door for whomever chooses to participate with you.
There will always
be criticism, as with anything – you do have to learn how to deal with it
and
push past it.
There is no such thing as being too normal. There is no normal, so
how could
there be too much
of it? Everyone is weird and unique and that’s why there will always
be
people who don’t understand.
The key to this peace is in accepting others and valuing their
work, hoping that
they will do the same for you even when you don’t agree.
I was really rather surprised with
Mr. Gershon’s delivery of his material. I wasn’t
expecting him to
be reading from his book, I had thought he’d be talking about his experience
as a writer and
giving us pointers and tips on how to “do it” ourselves. Still, I did
take notes,
and did learn some about writing
style. He had some really crisp phrases that I took down,
“moved his hands
about as if conducting the very words from his mouth” Oh, I really liked
that
one. What
a fascinating perspective!
I’m sure that a lot of the quality
of the piece has to do with the maturity of the writer.
Hopefully it gets
better with age; like wine or cold pizza. But it takes practice and
exercise.
It takes insight and purpose.
I can’t wait to dive into my next exploration. I think that my
journal for class
will probably have a lot of experiments with writing.