“For whom does the writer write?
… for … anyone at all …
because the act of reading is just as singular
… as the act of writing.”
Margaret Atwood
Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing
… for … anyone at all …
because the act of reading is just as singular
… as the act of writing.”
Margaret Atwood
Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing
After my previous post about Dante, I wondered if I had been self indulgent in writing about my personal experience with Dante. Then, thanks to Ann Victor, who had suggested Atwood’s book, I found peace. I am the singular writer that I am. You are the singular reader that you are. Sometimes our respective singularities will resonate. Sometimes they won’t. Thank you all the same for being potential readers willing to receive my letters from the cyber postal carrier.
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8 comments:
And never let go of that singularity. Once you do, you either become who you ARE NOT, or worse, someone might still that singularity from you and make it theirs, which is funny somehow, don't ask me how, but it's almost like a Woody Allen movie. An author chasing another author down the street because they made off with their singularity. :-)
Greetings from London.
I used to write for potential readers (be they agent, editor or the buying public). Now I write for my (hopefully) singular self!
The Atwood book was excellent, wasn't it? Glad you got something out of it! :)
I hope you stay as you are always and forever!
Cuban, Ann, and Kathryn, thank you all for saluting our singular selves!
I tried to leave you a comment in your latest post but there's no box to comment. That Lamento Boricano got to my very core. I had not heard that song for many, many years. And it expresses pretty much the sentiment that underlines Latin American identity.
Many thanks for that post.
Greetings from London.
Cuban, I'm going to transfer your comment to the Lamento post. I'm still not sure what is going on. I'm glad it resonated for you.
Recently, author Pat Bertram and I were speculating on one of her blogs about who we're writing for. When a writer and a reader embrace the same thought, it's almost like they're having a conversation even though they don't know each other "in real life." I think that when we embrace exactly who we are--as we write--the honestly shows through and the reader senses and appreciates that. And maybe he says "wow" or "cool," and even though we may never know he said it, there was still a connection made.
Malcolm
Your note on your cyber mailman prompted me to post a true, but painfully humorous, story on Mahlou Musings (http://mahloumusings.blogspot.com/2009/11/cyberspace-roulette.html) about my cyber mailman when I was in Moldova a few years ago. (The story was written by my mentally challenged son, Doah, in a book published in 2003.) I referred to your post since it was the reason I thought to put the story online. I hope you have a chance to read it and tell me what you think about it.
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