It is the first thing I learned when I took a writing course at CityLit with Malika Booker. "Write what you know." But this can also be interpreted in a way by: one can write about a subject unknown to her/him but the observations in the story can be from a personal point of view. Just like if you photograph a strange object or location, one uses their passed experiences to discover it thoroughly. I think that goes with writing too. Fictional characters can also have familiar traits of yourself or people whom you know well.
thank you for this fragment. You always make me think.....:o)
A great post, as always, Matt! It’s a good reminder that we’ve all got something to say - and when we take the time to shape those thoughts with care, even a simple thread of consciousness can connect more deeply than we expect.
That said, I’m definitely guilty of the occasional ‘brain dump’ post!
These lines especially spoke to me this morning, Matt, "...we should know what we are trying to do when we write. What is it that we wish to communicate?" Do you ever begin writing NOT knowing the answers to these questions, and then find the answers as you near the end of the piece? I ask, because I often start with a compelling photo and write one or two sentences just to see where it wants to go. Sometimes I have no idea what wants to be communicated until I nearly finish. It is the old adage, "I don't know what I think until I see what I say." I wonder if others work this way.
I would guess that at least half of the time that I write — here, at least — I don’t quite know the exact thing that I want to say. This piece began with that two-sentence opening and a desire to expand on them. The last Fragment began with observing someone drinking from a ridiculously large drinking bottle. I’d been meaning to write about a beautiful mug I’d been given for almost a year. And it occurred to me the difference between one and the other could be centred around ideas about convenience and pleasure. So I think when I write that we should know what it is we want to write, and what we wish to communicate, that is something that absolutely evolves and can be refined and changed as we go, but that we should stay connected to what we are doing in that process. Thanks so much for reading, as ever. x
Hi Matt.
It is the first thing I learned when I took a writing course at CityLit with Malika Booker. "Write what you know." But this can also be interpreted in a way by: one can write about a subject unknown to her/him but the observations in the story can be from a personal point of view. Just like if you photograph a strange object or location, one uses their passed experiences to discover it thoroughly. I think that goes with writing too. Fictional characters can also have familiar traits of yourself or people whom you know well.
thank you for this fragment. You always make me think.....:o)
A great post, as always, Matt! It’s a good reminder that we’ve all got something to say - and when we take the time to shape those thoughts with care, even a simple thread of consciousness can connect more deeply than we expect.
That said, I’m definitely guilty of the occasional ‘brain dump’ post!
And cooking what you would want to eat. Kinda similar Matt.
Absolutely!
These lines especially spoke to me this morning, Matt, "...we should know what we are trying to do when we write. What is it that we wish to communicate?" Do you ever begin writing NOT knowing the answers to these questions, and then find the answers as you near the end of the piece? I ask, because I often start with a compelling photo and write one or two sentences just to see where it wants to go. Sometimes I have no idea what wants to be communicated until I nearly finish. It is the old adage, "I don't know what I think until I see what I say." I wonder if others work this way.
I would guess that at least half of the time that I write — here, at least — I don’t quite know the exact thing that I want to say. This piece began with that two-sentence opening and a desire to expand on them. The last Fragment began with observing someone drinking from a ridiculously large drinking bottle. I’d been meaning to write about a beautiful mug I’d been given for almost a year. And it occurred to me the difference between one and the other could be centred around ideas about convenience and pleasure. So I think when I write that we should know what it is we want to write, and what we wish to communicate, that is something that absolutely evolves and can be refined and changed as we go, but that we should stay connected to what we are doing in that process. Thanks so much for reading, as ever. x
Thank you, Matt.
Words have the potential to be magic
Such potential. I love that each of us uses them so uniquely.