“Writing is only reading turned inside-out.”
John Updike
Lately I’m more of a consumer than a creator.
I’m stuck in a loop of reading books and watching shows, rather than living an authentic life of my own.
So when I do turn my insides out and try to write, there’s not much original I can say. I draw on memory. I write about sense input. I make mash-ups from others’ work.
My writing has become very short. Aphoristic. Yet it limps on.
What are your thoughts on the quote?
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How about “Writing is only reading re-written”?
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As long as ‘reading’ can have a wide connotation, including direct observation
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Writing gives reader/writer a chance to think about what you’ve read, to disagree with it without completely trashing the author’s work, and to hope that the author’s fans don’t come after you with Harold Bloom’s The Anxiety of Influence. It’s funny how original content works; even if you’re talking about your own experiences, if a couple of words overlap with a classic piece, someone will accuse you of idea theft.
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I feel like ‘making references’ to others’ work is smiled upon in erudite circles…it allows the reader to feel clever for picking up on them
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It seems like ever since World War II, that circle (if it even exists) has been getting smaller, replaced by expert groups that operate on an all-or-nothing basis. You really have to do a thorough background check on anyone you want to reference, but even that can backfire. I remember back in the mid-2000s, I quoted an Icelandic playwright, Guðmundur Kamban, from a play I discovered while shelving books in the library as a teenager. But then I was told he was a Nazi collaborator, so I ended up deleting the post. A few years later, I saw Wikipedia citing a book that claimed he wasn’t a Nazi collaborator; he just got funding from Germany but never actually wrote anything for the Nazis. And not too long ago, there was a push to remove his plaque, with accusations that he reported someone to the Gestapo as a spy. With all the digitization happening and AI pulling up old info, I’m not sure which skeletons are going to come out of which closets. If that circle is still around, I bet there’ll be more frowns and regrets than smiles.
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That’s so true…sadly
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This is an interesting article on the topic: https://soliloquies.org/2024/07/26/my-favourite-author-is-problematic/
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Thank you, Catherine. I received yet another WordPress Achievement award for replying to your post. I just wish these awards came with at least a virtual gift bag. This “Secret” award was for “Got Carried Away,” which is handed when you “leave a comment that is longer than the original post.” I’m not sure whether I should smile or feel insulted and cry… Thanks for the link, I will read it.
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They’re going overboard with the encouragement awards right now
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I definitely go through times when I don’t have an original thought in my head. That’s when it’s time to do a collaboration.
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Same here. It comes in waves. But often, for me at least, when Catherin is up and going, I am too. I feel I have strong mirror neurons; they tend to fire when others around me fire.
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That makes total sense to me.
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