Wednesday, October 31, 2001
In order for writing to achieve that wow-moment, lift the hair off your scalp--it has to have two things: it must come from deep inside and be real AND it has to be well written and have the right word choices.
I'm currently reading three books: Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook; Anais Nin, Incest; and the Guide to Psilocybin Mushrooms (although well written, we can ignore that last one for now). And I'm reading through MadebyMark, which I currently put in the same category with Lessing and Nin. Doris Lessing is verbose--thick, lots of words in there, but she conveys so clearly what is going on in Anna's thought process. She conveys what it is to be that woman, living a particular experience so clearly that I can imagine being Anna. Anais Nin is verbose as well, but more scattered. Of course, it is a journal and doesn't have the clarity of her fiction pieces. But she has a beautiful use of language in sections. Mark on the other hand distills days and thoughts into concise, tanku-like passages. It is like a literary japanese garden. His best entries do not spell everything out for you, but simply set the scene and describe what is.
Good writing has to give the reader the gift of truth. Not in the sense that a good book can not be fiction, but good writing must touch the essence of experience. It can not shy away from living. I read so much poetry on my email groups that is such crap. I know that these writers though are trying to convey what they are experiencing--and they are laying it out there. So why do these poems seem trite and cliched?
This combination of truth and quality. That is what I would love to achieve. ¶ 8:20 AM
I'm currently reading three books: Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook; Anais Nin, Incest; and the Guide to Psilocybin Mushrooms (although well written, we can ignore that last one for now). And I'm reading through MadebyMark, which I currently put in the same category with Lessing and Nin. Doris Lessing is verbose--thick, lots of words in there, but she conveys so clearly what is going on in Anna's thought process. She conveys what it is to be that woman, living a particular experience so clearly that I can imagine being Anna. Anais Nin is verbose as well, but more scattered. Of course, it is a journal and doesn't have the clarity of her fiction pieces. But she has a beautiful use of language in sections. Mark on the other hand distills days and thoughts into concise, tanku-like passages. It is like a literary japanese garden. His best entries do not spell everything out for you, but simply set the scene and describe what is.
Good writing has to give the reader the gift of truth. Not in the sense that a good book can not be fiction, but good writing must touch the essence of experience. It can not shy away from living. I read so much poetry on my email groups that is such crap. I know that these writers though are trying to convey what they are experiencing--and they are laying it out there. So why do these poems seem trite and cliched?
This combination of truth and quality. That is what I would love to achieve. ¶ 8:20 AM
