Imagine the Imagination
by Shadha
Imagine a three hundred page book was in the author’s mind before it
was poured out onto the pages of the book.
Imagine all those words are words we all know and use but one person
takes those words and arranges them in a certain way in the mind; the
person fuses these words to form a story. Amazing isn’t it?
Writers have a different way of seeing the world. They can see poetry
in someone’s hair and use it as metaphor for life or as an image to
communicate a thought about something else that has nothing to do with
hair.
But how is the writer able to use words in a fascinating new way?
It is natural in the way they are, the way they think.
The same way language is an innate mechanism to us the same way writers
have the ability to use language in a different sort of way to
communicate feelings we all feel.
Although they use language in a different way what they write is about
what we all feel; that is why we can relate. The reason why what is
written sounds true to life is because it is poured out naturally because
it expresses what the writer is feeling on the inside at the moment.
To see beauty in the growth of grass is the expression of the soft and
aesthetic side.
But does that mean when stuck in a traffic jam the writer will not get
impatient, when faced with dishonest persons the writer is not
repulsed; when faced with the sight of a hunk flexing his muscles the writer
does not think dirty little thoughts?
Absolutely not.
Just because the experience of grass growing does not embrace these
experiences does not mean these aspects of the author are not present.
within the author.
Words are simply used to express the self and are not a substitute for
the entire self.
Ever heard of being dramatic?
In the moment of writing of the growth of grass the writer exists in
that world and the self that writes the story is different from the other
selves of the writer.
Do not think of many selves as being schizophrenic. You are open with
close friends, distant with persons you do not like, professional with
business associates and intimate with a loved one.
Of course the writer’s self is in consonance with the other selves- in
the mode of thinking and being.
It is natural to be one self as naturally as the other selves, and
writing means being imbued with the value and ideology system of the total
self (that is the sum of all the other selves).
BUT
Does the writing of a piece during a depressed period make the person
emotional who sentimentalizes everything?
The author in real life may prefer comedies to dramas.
Thoughts or portions of thoughts are focused upon that the other
portions of the thought or other thoughts are not dealt with.
Think of standing before a forest and wanting to take a picture of all
you see before you but all you have is a 35mm camera which is unable to
photograph all of the trees many of which will have to be cut off from
the photograph.
The writer then builds up portions of the thought or the thought into a
literary piece for the audience.
We don’t want to eat chips (fries) alone. We want a piece of meat or a
slice of fish to go with it. And pour some ketchup and mustard on those
chips.
This requires being dramatic.
Think of movies and soundtracks. At a certain point there is a certain
feeling, a certain idea, a certain vibe and a song is played during the
action to build up this aura.
The audience has to relate to what you have to say yet at the same time
it has to be put forward in a different way so the audience will be
compelled to read about something they already know about.
Think of the night when sounds are heard. They may be sounds of the day
but under the cover of the night when the other sounds are smothered
you never heard those other sounds until now. The sounds harmless during
the day suddenly become eerie in the quietness of the night.
This process converts the original thoughts into lies for they are
built up for the purpose of being read by an audience and the original
thought although present does not exist in its original setting of the mind
but in a new setting on the page.
Don’t you always think every time you see yourself in a picture you
look much better when you look at yourself in a mirror than in the picture
taken (by someone else [so too the writer writes as if beside the
self]) of yourself for it does not look anything as fabulous as you really
look in reality?
So just imagine that.
Imagine the Imagination© Copyright 2004 Shadha, printed with permission.
