Ten Cents on the Nest of Snakes

Weighing in lightly on the nest of snakes debate raging over over Chris Jones's latest posting over at his always worth reading blog, http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com/2011/04/absolute-truth.html all I have to say is this:

As writers, I think most of us are motivated by either being for or against something, and that we write either "because of" or "in spite of." I've usually been an "against" and "in spite of" writer, but have recently trended more toward the "for" and "because of," but . . . whatever. The key for all of us is to find the reason to do this, and to keep down the distractions that prevent that from happening, because any time we're not focusing on the work, we're not focusing on the work.

How we reach that place is very personal, and perhaps unknowable, even to ourselves. That, in and of itself, can at times be a distraction, so tred carefully.

Hold It Right There

Earlier today a friend asked me a question about writing and restraint, which was inspired by a post by Chris Jones on his blog http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com/2011/01/words-that-arent-there.html.

I’ve always thought it important to note that “In the beginning was the word…” not “In the beginning was the words…” Now I know that's not the biblical interpretation but it has always seemed to me that, as far a writing goes, that truth and wisdom are best delivered in brevity, and that sometimes, the more words we use, the farther away we move from wisdom. Thumbnail version: Know when to stop.

That’s one of the reasons I think that writers of any stripe should read poetry – it not only provides tangible lessons like economy, sound and rhythm, but it also teaches that the negative space in writing – what’s not there, and the heartbeat of recognition that takes place over the empty space at the end of a line or a phrase - is as important as what is on the page. The way we connect with a piece of writing is how our brain fills in the blanks.

It’s like backing away from a painting rather than standing too close.