Discussion, Exercises, Freewriting
Note: much of the student work here appears as "comments" added to instructor postings. To read this student work, you'll want to click on "comments" under any given post.
"Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language." (Aldo Leopold)
I thought this quotation was not only good, but it holds a lot of truth in its meaning. When you expand and become more connected with the art of writing, it also grows to become something much more.
"Paint not the thing, but the effect it produces." -Mallarme
I like this quote because it explains everything you need to know about creative writing, and actually the arts in general. Artists should make art from their perspective and not attempt to grasp the entire concept. Audiences find opinions the most invigorating and trying to write about a topic too broad or too obvious can't produce strong opinions. If an artist tries to paint the effect instead of the object, other artists may also use the object as as subject. But if the artist paints the object itself, it closes the subject off for other artists. So my case and point is: get some opinions and make it your own.
Short but profound. We all have to make some innvovations in our lives. For me, gov school definitely was one of them. Similarly, when I write, when we write, words flow out of our pencils, and each stroke speaks a new rythm, and with each novel idea, a new concept is born and fostered to a masterpiece.
"A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language." (Auden)
I chose this quotation for a couple of personal reasons, one being that the poem "If I Could Tell You" by W.H. Auden is one of my many favorites. Perhpas that isn't the best basis for chosing, but still...=) The other main reason is that I can really relate to what Auden was saying. I am not necessarily convinced of the quotation's absolute truth, but as someone who writes in part due to a passion an deep interest in language, I was drawn to Auden's words, and I do feel that a love of language is important to writing well.
"I speak because I am shattered". I like this quote because I think it explains why many people choose to do art. It is an escape. To make your feelings known through a poem or a painting is an escape for many. Maybe most of the people who choose to write a story are completely shattered, but many had a time in their life where they just needed to get away and so they turned to the arts as an escape.
"…that words are no good; that words dont ever fit even what they are trying to say at" (Addie Bundren in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying)
I found this quote to be my favorite for the plain fact that it withoulds the simple truth that our art, our words, our thoughts, they are all flawed because of the fact that words were created, and havent always been, which means that everthing born of words will never be able to explain the wordless boundries withheld in our souls.
". . .the most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof shit detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it." (Ernest Hemingway)
First of all, I am a huge fan of Hemingway, I love the Hemingway code hero characteristics. But most importantly, Hemingway is trying to tell us that all writers have something in common, that is, they are all able to examine their own or other people's works. They are able to detect even the most minor mistake that doesn't belong in the work. This gift is what made them so successful and magnificent.
"You'd be amazed at how expensive it is to make a wig look this cheap." (Dolly Parton)
Sometimes, it is harder to make something terrible than to make something wonderful. Something can also be so terrible that it's good. "Terrible" art is still art, and it's necessary for it to be present. Otherwise, there would be no variety.
"Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language." (Aldo Leopold)
ReplyDeleteI thought this quotation was not only good, but it holds a lot of truth in its meaning. When you expand and become more connected with the art of writing, it also grows to become something much more.
"Paint not the thing, but the effect it produces." -Mallarme
ReplyDeleteI like this quote because it explains everything you need to know about creative writing, and actually the arts in general. Artists should make art from their perspective and not attempt to grasp the entire concept. Audiences find opinions the most invigorating and trying to write about a topic too broad or too obvious can't produce strong opinions. If an artist tries to paint the effect instead of the object, other artists may also use the object as as subject. But if the artist paints the object itself, it closes the subject off for other artists. So my case and point is: get some opinions and make it your own.
"Make it new." (Ezra Pound)
ReplyDeleteShort but profound. We all have to make some innvovations in our lives. For me, gov school definitely was one of them. Similarly, when I write, when we write, words flow out of our pencils, and each stroke speaks a new rythm, and with each novel idea, a new concept is born and fostered to a masterpiece.
"The secret of poetry is cruelty." (Jon Anderson)
ReplyDeleteI selected this quote, because I find it most relatable. To me, poetry is truth. Sometimes, the truth hurts.
"A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language." (Auden)
ReplyDeleteI chose this quotation for a couple of personal reasons, one being that the poem "If I Could Tell You" by W.H. Auden is one of my many favorites. Perhpas that isn't the best basis for chosing, but still...=) The other main reason is that I can really relate to what Auden was saying. I am not necessarily convinced of the quotation's absolute truth, but as someone who writes in part due to a passion an deep interest in language, I was drawn to Auden's words, and I do feel that a love of language is important to writing well.
"I speak because I am shattered".
ReplyDeleteI like this quote because I think it explains why many people choose to do art. It is an escape. To make your feelings known through a poem or a painting is an escape for many. Maybe most of the people who choose to write a story are completely shattered, but many had a time in their life where they just needed to get away and so they turned to the arts as an escape.
"…that words are no good; that words dont ever fit even what they are trying to say at" (Addie Bundren in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying)
ReplyDeleteI found this quote to be my favorite for the plain fact that it withoulds the simple truth that our art, our words, our thoughts, they are all flawed because of the fact that words were created, and havent always been, which means that everthing born of words will never be able to explain the wordless boundries withheld in our souls.
". . .the most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof shit detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it." (Ernest Hemingway)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I am a huge fan of Hemingway, I love the Hemingway code hero characteristics. But most importantly, Hemingway is trying to tell us that all writers have something in common, that is, they are all able to examine their own or other people's works. They are able to detect even the most minor mistake that doesn't belong in the work. This gift is what made them so successful and magnificent.
"You'd be amazed at how expensive it is to make a wig look this cheap." (Dolly Parton)
ReplyDeleteSometimes, it is harder to make something terrible than to make something wonderful. Something can also be so terrible that it's good. "Terrible" art is still art, and it's necessary for it to be present. Otherwise, there would be no variety.