My thoughts on the "Religion of Writing" (ROW)

By JavaMan · Aug 4, 2008 · ·
  1. Naturally, writing is about dealing with conflict. However, it isn't exactly science, even if we are trying to learn in a critical way. I think it was Ernest Hemmingway who said something like, "writers do not judge -their job is to understand." That is a very important thing to remember in a sort of non-spatial way. What I mean is that to think like a wirter, act like a writer, etc. one has to understand that unless you are writing about the details of a high-level experiment in physics, the most important thing is be possessed of is an almost nuetral or mallible frame of mind. Even in scientific papers, however, the *symbols* used to express relations are mearly tools used to express things as a psychological process - and thus the ideas of subject and the absolute.

    Going deeper, in far more dated times, the arts were considerd a gift from some particularr god or immortal - such as the Muses. The arts, writing in particular, was often a tool for (like our own methods of scientific expression) to relate between the devine and mankind. Sexual ideas were a big part of this. To illustrate my point, the word "writer" originally meant a person *who carves letters into stone or wood*. The more modern view of this aligns with what Poe said. He suggested in "How to Write a Blackwood Artical" that a writer should never fix his pen, and that his pen should have a very thick nub. With a little wit, he also says that no great man, of however small genius, ever wrote with a good pen. Read between the lines, here.

    Going a little further, is the idea of a "Word" or such which is capible of - well I'll just say it's the idea that the pen is mighter than the sword.



    Bah - I just lost my train of thought - maybe I'll finish another time.:redface:

Comments

  1. draupnir
    I enjoyed this a lot! Just a few thoughts of my own, not to criticise because this is a blog, just to add to the thought:

    Naturally, writing is about dealing with conflictThat's quite a big statement to make, maybe. I guess it can mean conflict in the writer's life and in the world around the writer also. Are you one of those people who holds that good writing never comes from peaceful times/people?

    Everybody judges, though, surely. I'd say that writers judge first and then try to understand through their writing.

    I agree with that totally. Malleability is important. Although a lot of writers get fixed on one point and that can be their inspiration, I spose.

    Do you think this was ever really upheld though - or do you thinkthe muses were just invented to give an excuse and a tradition/framework for writers?!
  2. JavaMan
    Hello, draupnir:)

    You asked two very good questions. They gave me something to think about. I'll try to give some answers.

    You asked if good writing can ever come from good times/people. My take is that even in wrtiting that is entirely about something good, like some types of poetry, there is an underlining, subtle, uncouscious element of *evil* (or whatever you would want to call it) that *justifies* the overall pleasantness of the writing. Something about the joy of getting married would imply, in some way, the loneliness of solitude, for example.

    You also asked if the beleif in the Muses was really tradition, or was really a popular and respected beleif. I can't speak for everyone, but it seems that I can never really write at will. Sometimes I just get a feeling of inspiration, or a need to write a particular idea would hit me like a brick out of the sky. Being that I'm am a bit religious, naturally I think that this is all because of some devine principle that has been actualized in some way.

    To be honest, maybe the ancient Greeks - the upper classes anyhow - didn't take religion and the various superstitions seriously.:D
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