One of my creative writing students recently asked me a very important question. In this age when fewer and fewer people are reading, when publishing only gets harder, and when writing doesn't get any easier, what's the point?
I often ask myself the same thing.
Recently the poet Patricia Smith came to visit my story writing class at Barnard, and she gave me a few ideas to help answer this question.
First, she said that in an increasingly chaotic and stressful world, the act of writing is the one thing she can trust, a life preserver that helps her to find comfort and guidance.
She also told the story of when she first began performing in poetry slams, when she would channel the voice of various characters from her life. After one of these performances, a member of the audience came up to her to say, "That was me! You got me!"
This made me think of David Foster Wallace, who said that the point of writing was that it helped people to feel a little less alone in the world.
My feeling is that the purpose of writing, if there is a purpose to it which is a debate in itself, is both inward and outward. When you write fiction, you take your innermost thoughts and feeling and try to communicate them to others. And yet the point of this process of clarifying yourself for other people is to get to know yourself. If other people benefit from it, great for them. It's an added bonus. The danger comes, however, when you come to count on others' approval and it becomes the motivation and guiding principle for what you do.
Sort of weird, but the best way I know how to put it.
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3 comments:
Aaron, thanks for saying this. Something I needed to hear right now.
Big Hug to you.
Aaron, I loved seeing this, especially today, when I have spent much of the day reading a long research report on "the benefits of the arts."
One of my favorite quotes from the report is this: "A work of art is a bridge, however tenuous, between one mind and another."
I also like the statement that "artistic creation is one of the most complex and mysterious activities of human consciousness. It is only partly intelligible, even to those who have experienced it directly." Yep, sounds about right.
I think you've put it really well in your last paragraph -- there is something about the attempt to shape a piece of writing into a form that will be meaningful to others that ultimately helps push oneself toward deeper clarity and self-knowledge... regardless of what the reception to the work might turn out to be. It's a weird balance; wanting to write for an audience so as not to be purely "self indulgent," but wanting to express something deeply personal, even if it's not going to be popular.
Incidentally, there's a great Gillian Welch song that comes to mind, called "Everything is Free." It's a response to music downloading and totally feels applicable to the publishing environment we're in, where it's harder and harder to make a living through writing. The first verse:
"Everything is free now
That's what they say
Everything I ever done
Gonna give it away
Someone hit the big score
They figured it out
That we're gonna do it anyway
Even if it doesn't pay."
This turned into quite the rambling blog comment! Miss talking with you -- hope you're doing well.
Aaron, haven't seen you for a while. This semester is about to finish, and I'm working on my third Classroom Observation Report.
I can't help recalling your class and thinking of you. I learned a lot from you.
It was a great time indeed. Your class and the time we were together are so unforgettable.
I will go back to Beijing for one-month vacation, and then come back to NYU again on June 6 for summer sessions.
I'm going to read your website when I am in Beijing, and I believe it gonna be fun.
- Stanton
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