What are words for?
Words are for communication.
What am I trying to communicate when I make a statement, write an essay, sing a song, write a poem? Can anyone else fully understand what the motivation is behind what I am saying, singing, writing? I've heard that a good song or poem speaks to different people in different ways. A good persuasive essay can get people to change their views. A beautifully written book can take people to far away places, can let people live lifes they never imagined, can help someone have empathy for someone different from them. Maybe we all want to feel that we are included by the writer, maybe the writer does want to include us. But, maybe the writer is so filled with the novelty, the genius, or even the self-perceived wisdom of what she is saying that it doesn't matter who the audience is. Maybe, for the author, the audience only exists in her own head, shaped by her own perceptions. But, then how can she make a descent arguement if the goal is to pursuade the other person to her point of view?
What drives someone to write for a particular purpose, to feel the need to spread her wisdom, to "help" someone else through her words? What convinces the author of that their mission is a valid and valient one?
I write because I feel something and want to try to figure out where the feelings are coming from, how much of them are shaped by my socialization, fears, hopes, etc. I write because I hope maybe other people have felt something similar. I write because I want to belong somewhere and hope that by communicating, I'll find a haven of accepting and loving souls. I don't write to pull anyone around to my way of thinking (I'd never wish this mess on anyone else.) Maybe I write to try to draw emotion from other people? It's possible, but if I do, I doubt I am doing a good job of inspiring anything but pity.
I write so that I will be reminded how I felt even after I forget about the particular incident. I write just to write, to see the black letters taking up space on the white screen. If I take off my glasses, the lines begin to blur, black and white are no longer distinct, it all ends up looking grey and fuzzy and then maybe I can argue that it is art. :)
What am I trying to communicate when I make a statement, write an essay, sing a song, write a poem? Can anyone else fully understand what the motivation is behind what I am saying, singing, writing? I've heard that a good song or poem speaks to different people in different ways. A good persuasive essay can get people to change their views. A beautifully written book can take people to far away places, can let people live lifes they never imagined, can help someone have empathy for someone different from them. Maybe we all want to feel that we are included by the writer, maybe the writer does want to include us. But, maybe the writer is so filled with the novelty, the genius, or even the self-perceived wisdom of what she is saying that it doesn't matter who the audience is. Maybe, for the author, the audience only exists in her own head, shaped by her own perceptions. But, then how can she make a descent arguement if the goal is to pursuade the other person to her point of view?
What drives someone to write for a particular purpose, to feel the need to spread her wisdom, to "help" someone else through her words? What convinces the author of that their mission is a valid and valient one?
I write because I feel something and want to try to figure out where the feelings are coming from, how much of them are shaped by my socialization, fears, hopes, etc. I write because I hope maybe other people have felt something similar. I write because I want to belong somewhere and hope that by communicating, I'll find a haven of accepting and loving souls. I don't write to pull anyone around to my way of thinking (I'd never wish this mess on anyone else.) Maybe I write to try to draw emotion from other people? It's possible, but if I do, I doubt I am doing a good job of inspiring anything but pity.
I write so that I will be reminded how I felt even after I forget about the particular incident. I write just to write, to see the black letters taking up space on the white screen. If I take off my glasses, the lines begin to blur, black and white are no longer distinct, it all ends up looking grey and fuzzy and then maybe I can argue that it is art. :)