Sunday, January 21, 2007

Taking a Walk with my Pen/About My Writing...

It's not that I haven't been writing; just a sudden change of means: a pen and notepad. So thoughts travelling along get written. They accompany me as I visit the library, before classes and during breaks, at McDonald’s where I study at weekends - all alone, but never lonely. Some too weird for human consumption, some are just plain; it doesn't matter. I was a slow writer - still am. Plus, I do a lot of re-writing. So my notepad, other than scribble, contains more stuff crossed out.

I was reading about creative writing, about how one takes a walk with his pen, letting the imagination takes over. In which case, you can't write about things you know, as writing is also about exploration, discovery. Well, I don't get it - that part about writing what you don't know. The book explains that it is something already in your subconscious. I must say I still have my doubts. And a diary or autobiography is not too different from fiction. In fact, personal experiences often act as catalyst for new writer. That I comprehend, as I have felt my blog fictionalised, but the two ideas seem in conflict. Perhaps, fiction is an extension of life, which comes in the form of imagination. In the process, language is actualised.

Well, you'll know the next time I take a walk with my pen...

I have my fair share of criticism about my writing, my ideas on the language...

I did a PowerPoint presentation on written English for my branch last Friday. In short, it was a flop. But it's alright, at least I tried. Other times, I had felt like a born loser. Not this round. Not that I'm too full of myself; just the way I feel. I am not disheartened, partly as I have gone through worse with the language. And I had not imagined things. It happened with my submission of NS (National Service) story to the now-defunct MIW.com. Some had said all I ever did was just compressed as much stuff as I could in a sentence. Others said it was too innocuous, too feel-good to the extent of unworldly. Maybe the presentation also demonstrated my incomprehension of human nature all too soon, other than the language of course, failing to anticipate how my colleagues would respond and see it. So what do all these mean? That I lack enough life experiences to write?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i feel the need to comment... :P

i was reading the beginning of a drawing book recently. and it was very similar to what you said about creative writing process. drawing (or learning to draw) is an exploration and an evolution. one technique to draw is to draw without erasing. so all the accuracies and mistakes stay on the paper and you watch yourself evolve or more the drawing evolve at each step, seeing where you got it right and where you got it wrong.

be careful not to judge yourself from one situation. everything is relative and also subject to faulty perceptions. are you sure it was a flop? are you sure noone learned anything? was impressing them the goal? or teaching them the goal? or what was the goal?

anyways i don't want to ramble on and on. point is i wanted to mention how what you read about creative writing was similar to my drawing book. mistakes are so important, why do we always strive so hard to get it right... now all i gotta do is take my own advice ;) that's the hardest part.. ;)

Anonymous said...

Totally agreed! Esp that parts about mistakes, and "the hardest part"...haha

mrdes