Saturday, October 4, 2008

The Written Word

I just returned from a mini conference on religion, where the point was made that the world's great religions have succeeded because of the written word. In studying ancient cultures, one is struck by the exclusivity of early religions. Many were only for males, others only for people from a certain social class; little if anything from them survives in writing. This fact led me to consider how very precious is the written word, whatever the level of content, whether it is the work of a monk in a 8th C scriptorum, the diary of an Italian immigrant from Sicily, or the latest post on a right-wing political blog. As writers we are privileged to take the letters of the alphabet and put them together to create scenes, conversations, tragedy, comedy; to create a few sentences that someone, some day might remember.

5 comments:

  1. It is truly amazing how much can come from just 26 letters! Everything from Shakespeare to People magazine. My only hope is that what I create with my arrangement of 26 letters hangs more towards the Shakespeare end of the spectrum than People magazine.

    (though I do love to read it in the doctor's office).

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  2. Yes, writers have a large responsibility, especially so if you write for children.

    Just thinking about it is enough to give me a case of writers' block!

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  3. I agree, it is a responsibility. But I think it is all those choices that get to me! I like so many different types of writing that I rarely seem to be able to focus on one exclusively (unless I'm up against a deadline... ah how I love deadlines!)

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  4. Adding to my last post here. Your last words really struck me, Linda. "...to create a few sentences that someone, some day might remember". It's the most wonderful feeling in the world when my husband quotes from one of my poems or picture book manuscripts. Wouldn't it be cool if someone outside my household were to do that?

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  5. I've often thought of that, too. The permanency of writing. I think that is part of the desire to have that book -- the one you actually wrote -- in your hands. It leaves a permanent mark on the world, and one hopes, on the mind of the reader.

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