In my experience I've noticed the best writers are succeedingly able to make the fantastic seem real, and the real seem truly fantastic. You'll believe what you read because you want to believe it's true... we all do. Like horses wearing blinders, we conveniently ignore the awkward man standing behind the curtain. Why? Because there is no way he could be behind this spectacle we see before us. There is no way the insultingly simple system of pulleys and levers splayed out before him could be controlling this wondrous machine. The man behind the screen is just too boring, too generic... too bland.
We, as readers, are given a set of clues, roadside markers. We then fill in the miles and miles of lonely highway. We connect the dots. Not necessarily in the same order or as skillfully as the next person, but in the end we are presented with a unique picture, a fictitious painting. A distorted reflection of reality in a shimmering pond. Or perhaps a shadow on the wall of a cave of an ideal image we think we know, but have never actually seen.
A marvelous piece of writing is like a constellation. Is it really there? Are we seeing what our neighbor sees or what we are meant to see? Half the time we simply agree and claim we can distinguish Orion's belt. Or a crab. Or a scorpion. We dumbly nod, ooh and awe, and marvel at how wondrous and beautiful and utterly complete this abstract, ridiculous, pitiful "thing" is supposed to be. And then you begin to question yourself, as you sit there all alone in the dark - eyes fixed skyward, tripping on mushrooms. Perhaps you just aren't creative or imaginative enough to "see" what everyone else is claiming to see... but really don't.
21 comments:
"words like violence, break the silence"... as soon as you open your mouth to "marvel" or explain the way an object, piece of writing seems wonderful to your eyes, it is immediately destroyed, evaporated, strangely, i think. But we are all Glaucos (is that the way you write it?) afterall, unless we chose to shut up.
Sometimes a marvelous piece of writing really is like a constellation - the starlight, the work's meaning, can take lightyears to reach us.
You know what I love the most about blogging? The fact that I can write one thing, play it out, make it what it is, create some beautifully sick masterpiece or bullshit paragraph . . . The story or idea is there in my mind. Stagnant and stubborn. . . however when others read it, the meaning has suddenly changed. The piece has essentially created itself after I write it out and post it. Still mine - but no longer mine at the same time.
That is what I love the most, and that's why I will continue to write. I am hopelessly addicted to the different thoughts and kaleidoscopic views of my audience.
Orion's belt consists of three balls of hot gas that aren't even all that close together but appear that way from an Earth-centric perspective. It's a lot like good writing: an intelligent reader knows he or she is being manipulated but doesn't care...
I like the pretty lights.
you use the term "we" but i can't help but feel your commentary is on us as readers of you...
those blind silly readers...
How does one determine 'good' writing? Does it entertain? Does it sell? Does someone option the movie rights? Does one compare it to all those listed under 'Roots' and other classic writers?
Should it have a moral? Should it be subversive? Neither?
Should the effect on the reader be more in the heart or the mind? Should it be musical, or percusive?
Should it be written for the writer, or for the audience? Does the author even like it? Does the author's Mom like it?
Can the reader interpret it himself, or should the author be the one? Or academia?
If all the pretty language is stripped away, does it still stand? If all the meaning is stripped away, does it still stand?
If a thousand people look at the same thing, do they see the same thing? And if one person looks with a thousand eyes?
most "things" are up for interpretation, and all writing is.
ive always found it interesting, the herd mentality when it comes to the interpretation of a piece of writing. how everyone will suddenly agree that a certain book or story or passage has a ceratin meaning.
sometimes even the author doesnt know. its the nature of the relationship between reader and writer.
interesting post.
LeeLoreya. I've often found my interpretation of writing is usually so off the mark it's not even funny. Movies too.
Trite. Lightyears. Now is that a measure of distance or time?
Colonialave. That's why I leave comments on... I delight in seeing readers different interpretations of pieces that usually make absolutely zero sense to me.
Extraspecial. Like in the olden days when travelling salesmen would sell vials of water claiming they cured cataracts, baldness, and impotency.
Aydreeyin. And see how they shine for you.
Jasmine. Or perhaps you interpreted this particular piece as applying to you? Anyhow, you're right...
I AM the boring man standing behind the curtain dumbly pulling on random levers excited to see what happens next.
Eric. What makes something beautiful? Define it. I've always thought it was symmetry, precision, and skill... but then I think to myself genocide, back in WWII, was incredibly precise and symmetrical.
JKG. We are all wonderful, unique snowflakes.
I think you are a brilliant writer...So this must mean that you are a geek sitting in a cube with a Spanish/English dictionary at hand.
You brilliant dweeb, you.
Great post! Very thought-provoking and very true!
A well-put description as ever, so tell us, which writers compel you to describe them as such?
I'd just like to know what you read.
Herm - I can't help but notice the title, "The Cave" - any reference to Plato's Cave?
I can see it.
How do you decide what to write about every day Hermes? My problem latley is lack of inspiration, where does yours come from?
"In my experience I've noticed the best writers are succeedingly able to make the fantastic seem real, and the real seem truly fantastic."
----------------------------------
this really makes sense to me. we want to grasp anything our mind wants us to believe. it doesn't matter how out-of-the-beyond it is, if readers want to believe it then they will. simple as that. it really amaze me how a simple word can drive us.
lava>>>
"Or perhaps a shadow on the wall of a cave of an ideal image we think we know, but have never actually seen."
direct reference here, what do ye reckon?
Leelo -
Damn I'm brilliant.
Oh wait . . . Hermes wrote this.
Hmmm.
Nope. I'm still brilliant.
Colonialave
G.D. Close. I'm the guy who serves you fries and a shake at noon when you take your hurried lunchbreak.
Puzzy. You see, there ya go... everyone has their own interpretation of a piece of writing.
Wordwhiz. Thanks. Did you get that bill I sent you for the dental work?
Ruksak. All around. The blogs, the writers and filmmakers I've linked - they all make me think, learn, and grow.
I'm always searching for more.
Colonialave. Hmmm, Plato? Never heard of him. ;)
Vex. Reminds me of that line from "Breakfast Club."
"When do you drink Vodka?"
"Whenever."
Kirsi-Jane. Well, all around. Usually I'll hear a song that will trigger a memory or emotional response I have to jot down... or I'll see a thought provoking television show... or read an incredible book... or sometimes just sit back and observe the people around me... you know, REALLY study them closely.
Lyza. I think it's human nature to try and make sense of everything - the non-sensical even. Good writers can use this to their advantage.
Tacit. Before and AFTER I read a novel I'll read the liner notes. You notice how different they seem after you've completed the book?
Tattooed Brain. Well It's working man, you're finding your stride in a big fucking way and I'm loving it.
You know what I'm talking about.
Hermes, you are definitely creative and imaginative enough. Much more than most.
Everyone looks through different eyes, everything is filtered through our minds, moulded by our convictions - chinese whispers.
Nice post!
Dental work, huh? Yeah...I got it, I got it.
Post a Comment