On Writing

A friend of mine posted a cool blog entry on the subject of writing. Her mother once commented that the poems she wrote was full of Ego. From the memory of that painful yet pertinent (according to her) critique, my friend explored the nature of creative writing. She quoted a famous Japanese poet, Syuntaro Tanigawa:

“It’s only by my guts I can tell if words in a poem are established as a piece of artwork. One thing is that those words must stand independently apart from their writer. No matter how chattery the words are, such independent words set themselves apart from the writer’s noise, settling quietly on their own.

There are poems with only three lines that are too noisy. The poem does not work well without artistry, so the independent words crafted with artistry can convey themselves more effectively to their readers. Merely saying, “I’m suffering so!” does not communicate the essence of suffering to the audience as much as you’d think. The main source of noise today is that everyone is trying to express themselves, crying out loud, ‘I this, I that!’

In contrast, noiseless words or words with silence within are born from anonymity, a kind of collective unconsciousness, instead of belonging to a particular individual, I think.”

I don’t know enough about poems to have an opinion on Tanigawa’s view of how they ought to be formed. But the idea that “quiet” words are more effective in communication was intriguing. It got me thinking about how I write. Do the words in my writing stand quietly? Or are they noisily displaying my ego?

When the purpose of my writing is to vent, the contents of my writing don't need to be understood by others, or even by myself. The nature of vent-writing is more physical/mechanical, rather than intellectual or emotional, though it certainly serves to release the emotional tension; like punching a sandbag to let out the steam. But if I intend to share my writing with others, transporting the unprocessed contents of my head onto a Word document wouldn't be good.

I interpreted Tanigawa’s comment about "words that stand independently apart from their writer" as objectivity in writing. By “artisanry”, could he mean the ability to look at one’s own writing from a reader’s point of view? Without the objectivity, we can’t skillfully deconstruct the raw materials within ourselves and reconstruct them into a refined work art. It seems to be the case not just in writing, but in other forms of art as well.

In her blog, my friend wrote; "Words are not only produced to convey our ideas and emotions for ourselves, but also to create space where others’ ideas and emotions can be brought out and be wrapped up"...

I really liked her idea of writings that create rooms where others can explore their own thoughts and feelings. Ego-filled writing does not provide that space and can be suffocating.

Breathe, my writing, breathe, breathe…