Re: [xmca] Thinking about writing

[Robert Lake <boblake@georgiasouthern.edu>]

            Hi Greg, Larry and Andy,
            I love the quotes and thoughts that each of have contributed. I
will touch on an aspect that each of you have
            addressed.Language is communication; as such it serves as a:

bridge between individuals who wish to overcome divisions born of the
diversity of human experience.  It is also a bridge between inner thought
and shared understanding: the past and the present, the world of the senses
and the realm of thought. (John-Steiner, 1985, p. 111)


The act of writing is often motivated by a person's own desire for making
meaning and the discovery of personal voice.

Thinking evolves into communication in the process of writing as it passes
over the bridge of inner thought to shared understanding that John-Steiner
mentions.  She goes on to cite the playwright Arthur Miller :


For myself it has never been possible to generate the energy to write and
complete a play if I know in advance everything it signifies and all it
will contain. The very impulse to write, I think, springs from an inner
chaos crying for order, for meaning, and meaning must be discovered in the
process of writing or the work lies dead as it is finished. ( I will refer
you back to the original citation in Miller's work 1960, p. 275)

On Sun, Jan 8, 2012 at 10:57 PM, Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>wrote:

> Just came across a few quotes that felt very CHAT-y and which I found to be
> very helpful in my own thinking about writing. One of my problems in
> writing (or so I gather) has been my assumption that writing is a process
> of mental transcription - I think about something in my head and then
> figure out what to say and then I write out my thoughts. But smarter minds
> (and better writers!) than I have suggested the opposite insight. Here are
> a couple gems I came across:
>
> Edward Albee: "I write to find out what I'm thinking about."
>
> W. H. Auden: "Language is the mother, not the handmaiden, of thought; words
> will tell you things you never thought or felt before."
>
> Alan Dugan: "When I'm successful, I find the poem will come out saying
> something that I didn't previously know, believe, or had intellectually
> agreed with."
>
> As a belated New Year wish, I hope that we all are able to write so that we
> might, through our writing, be taught something new and worthwhile (and
> beautiful?) by our words.
>
> Here's to wishing.
> -greg
>
> p.s., I originally heard the Albee quote (ascribed to Auden) in an
> interview with Jonathan Safran Foer (
> http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/01/06/foer-loud-close), but he appears to
> have improperly ascribed Albee's quote to Auden, who said something
> similar, but different. Here is the website with lots more wonderful quotes
> from great writers, Enjoy:
>
> https://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/0/5a867953419c6ae68525780d0000d7d3?OpenDocument
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-- 
*Robert Lake  Ed.D.
*Assistant Professor
Social Foundations of Education
Dept. of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading
Georgia Southern University
P. O. Box 8144
Phone: (912) 478-5125
Fax: (912) 478-5382
Statesboro, GA  30460

 *Democracy must be born anew in every generation, and education is its
midwife.*
*-*John Dewey.
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