Friday 21 January 2011

Writing - an art form close to my heart



Writing is a fine art.  Eloquent writing is as sublime an art form as any other. It is, in my opinion, a much more powerful expression than painting or sculpturing, music or acting.

An image on canvas crafted by the finest artist can evoke emotions and a multitude of sentiments in the observer. It may even tell a short story or  record a snippet of time in history, but it can never create the vast pool of information that a couple of pages of well written text can do. A sculpture by Rodin or Michelangelo also has its limitations. There are no limits to what good prose can create in just a few paragraphs.

As a child I loved both reading and playing guitar, and I guess music is a talent I have and should be grateful for. But if I had a choice... I know I would have picked writing.

I admire fine prose and am always fascinated by the talent of some writers in describing the intricacies of the world around them; describing the many human emotions with such detail that it leaves the reader in no doubt as to its meaning. Fine writing creates the most complex images and sounds in the readers mind.

I love writing despite the fact that I don't have the command and skills of  fine writers. I try to be grammatically accurate and as descriptive as possible, but am seldom impressed by my own efforts. I learnt English at the age of twelve, at a  time when my command of Portuguese was slightly ahead of my other class mates, but maybe, just maybe, twelve years too late to acquire the necessary skills that can develop into writing talent.

Fine writing is readily accessible for all to enjoy; it can be found in magazines, newspapers, books and even blogosphere! Two fine examples of skillful blog writers I recommend are "Baglady" and "Mr Londonstreet",  the couple from Reading who regularly and selflessly entertain thousands of readers with their witty and refreshingly clear narratives of everyday life. For the more adventurous and inhibition-free readers, I  recommend the x-rated exploits of  "Annah" and "Dan",  two prolific bloggers from across the 'pond' that 'tell it as it is'.

Here is an example of how difficult it can be to convey the right message to the reader:

" I didn't say he stole the money"

By highlighting different words it can have 4 different meanings, such as;

" I didn't say he stole the money" - (someone else did)
" I didn't say he stole the money" - (I wrote it down)
" I didn't say he stole the money" - (I said he took it)
" I didn't say he stole the money"- (I just said he stole something)

No wonder fine writers are hard to find!

I'm sure I will find more good writers in the future, the blog world has copious amounts of talent yet to be discovered. And its all FREE!

Happy reading
:)

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