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Unlike other disciplines, however, it is not--and cannot--be the result of hard-and-fast rules, such as the "top ten steps to perfecting the written piece.
" Anything which arises out of such a pattern is not a creation at all: it is a re-creation.
And you, consequently, are not the master, but the student.
Depending upon genre, style, and purpose, writing instruction can provide tips and techniques, not molds, and grammar can equally facilitate its structure.
In certain cases, however, it can also provide obstruction-at which point, it leads to destructive structure.
Content is king, but what you say may ultimately hinge upon how you say it.
My aviation, technical, and textbook writing, for example, has, by necessity, required the use of these confines, employing precise language and standard grammar.
My comedy writing, on the other hand, has given license to relaxed rules-sometimes to the point of discarding them altogether.
These stories are intended to be funny, and anything which hinders the laughter, hinders the creation of that laughter, whether it be in concrete form on paper or expressed verbally.
A creation should reflect what is in the author's heart and soul-and not what is printed in his grammar books.
Writing is a "feeling," an expression, and a "sixth sense," if you will.
The more you "trap it" within rule-erected walls, the less will this "sixth sense" be able to escape.
Every work, whether it be a one-line saying or a set of encyclopedias, begins as a blank slate which, depending upon the writer's creative flow, can sometimes appear daunting-as if it were an opponent or an enemy.
That flow is analogous to the stream from my tap.
Sometimes the water trickles out, yet at other times it cascades into the sink with such force that it splatters everywhere.
Words have similar characteristics.
There are occasions when they will only drip out, while at other times will pelt onto the paper with such speed and force that you cannot even catch them all.
For the writer, the most important thing is that they flow at all, regardless of rate.
Inspiration, defined as "in-spirit," is the equivalent of your internal tap.
It is during these times that the soul, the creative source, is most present, and the least obstructed or tamed by ego.
It is then that the writing force most freely flows.
Do not walk, but run to the nearest pen during these times! A writing idea, like a seed, equally sprouts from, and in the form of, inspiration, before taking sometimes-amorphous form on paper as a first draft; cultivation will nurture it until it reaches maturity as a polished body and is ready, like a grown child, to be released, by means of the publishing process, into the world, where it can interact with others, exerting its effects.
These may be information, inspiration, or emotion.
Like the parental author that you are, you gave birth to it.
Although authors, vis-a-vis their writing media, can potentially exert unlimited influences on their readers, they actually-and, perhaps, paradoxically-only perform two fundamental functions: they either make the known different or the different known.
Because most subjects have been covered to the point of saturation, the former entails their presentation in a new, unique, and "different" perspective, while the latter involves the introduction, reportage, or explanation of something not generally known, such as the discovery of a new planet, in a straightforward, not overly artistic, manner.
The author can sometimes be considered "liaison" between Heaven and earth, using the soul of the former to connect the world of the latter by means of words.
But the path to expression perfection is both long and elusive, navigated by the pen: it is not a destination, but instead an evolution paved with practice, refinement, development, and growth, until you, as parent, have produced a satisfactory offspring.
The sculptor begins with a big boulder and ends up with a polished gem.
The writer may use different tools, but the process can take just as long.
When you control the words, as opposed to the words controlling you, you have arrived.
You can tire of anything in life.
But for the true writer, the process only serves to produce the reverse effect: the more you write, the more it energizes you, because it fosters a continual, recharging connection with your creative source-that is, your soul.
How often is heard the expression, "go with the flow.
" But, in order for this sentiment to be more author-applicable, a simple word should be inserted: go with your flow-no matter how slow, because the journey may prove to be just as enjoyable as the destination.
See you there!
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