” I Know Not How to Write”
The title was chosen as a means of representing the subject matter of my piece quite literally.
This piece was one inspired by my lack of inspiration, as weird as that may seem. I chose to write about that very writer’s block by drawing comparisons between my writing process and nature (more specifically, the growth of a forest).
As you read the piece, each grammatical and syntax inaccuracy probably had you cringing. As someone who “you’re*”s people all the time, I completely understand how this may have been irritating. I did this intentionally, hoping to draw a connection between my structure and subject matter. To strengthen the point I make in this piece, I decided, stylistically, to adopt a format that is… well… incorrect. PROVING, “I Know Not How To Write”.
The “steps” were meant to depict branching off//building upon the previous idea, mirroring the metaphor that I chose to thread throughout this piece. The forest was meant to depict my written world as a whole, while the trees, branches, and flowers were meant to depict my added details. The soil was chosen to be representative of the foundational aspects of writing (such as research, planning and world building), and the water and sunlight were chosen to symbolise the time and energy that fostering or forgetting ideas can take. Metaphorically representing my ideas is a stylistic choice I have rarely employed in the past; this being a free choice piece, I thought this would be my best chance to give it a shot and receive some meaningful feedback.
I start most of my pieces by creating a sort of flowchart. I choose a starting and endpoint and fill in the ideas I’d like to take up the bulk of the piece. I then go in and add details and transitions. This way, I am able to keep my work organised. For this piece, in particular, I started off by creating categories, ones that I thought were crucial to writing. I then started off by recording all the metaphors and comparisons I really wanted to include in the descriptions. Next, I went on to expand upon the comparisons I had drawn between myself and my writing in relation to a forest and its growth. Lastly, I finished off by briding my categories to create a cohesive piece and establish a deliberate flow.
This piece discusses the struggles of a writer in authoring a piece, ranging from the conceptualization of an idea to its execution. Before I chose to write about this, it was the exact issue I was experiencing. I found myself not having the correct words-or, not enough words- to truly represent what I was thinking. Although this was difficult, it was not my biggest setback in relation to this piece. My largest limitation proved to be my own insecurity. As I had never written a piece like this before, my biggest challenge was feeling confident enough to share it. Previously, I didn’t have much experience in writing creative pieces let alone centred around a singular metaphor. To overcome this, I asked a friend of mine to read and provide feedback on what I had written. Only after her reassurance did I feel confident enough to share this piece.
Ironically, this piece about writer’s block is what ended mine. After writing this piece I was left feeling very inspired. I believe it is quite evident but many of my works following this one follow a majorly similar structure with minute tweaks and difference. This, along with it being my first successful creative piece, has made “I Know Not How to Write” my favourite piece.
This piece is a compilation of three A-Z writing prompts. The main idea that bridges these three separate pieces together is that of sonder, hence becoming the title.
This piece discusses various mysteries and biases associated with our perspectives on life. These ideas are explored in the setting of the sky, the ocean and a city.
As I wrote this piece, it really had no direction, I wrote freely hoping to gain inspiration from just word vomiting. From that word vomiting came this piece. In the previous description, I talk about planning my pieces before I write them, this one was a little different. I knew the general direction of my piece and just wrote and wrote until I ran out of ideas. This piece was brought together mainly through a lot of editing and revision. The piece started as one long rendition of ideas until I separated them into their various stanzas. the analytical writer in me shone through a little in this piece through the descriptions. I felt as though, while the piece still makes sense without the sidenotes, the simple statement of ideas wasn’t enough. To be effective and understandable, in my opinion, they need to be coupled with a description. So, as I continued to edit, I added my reasoning and analysis behind each line in italics underneath it.
The most difficult aspect of writing this piece was establishing flow. With free writing, I risked going off track and taking the piece in a direction completely different than where it had started. Editing out ideas I loved to establish a flow was very difficult for me. I found a way to include many of these ideas somewhere in the piece, whether it be through side notes or some filler transitioning, but many still didn’t make the cut. While writing this piece I experienced the exact opposite challenge than the one while writing “I Know Not How to Write”. Instead of a lack of ideas, I had an influx of them. From this piece, I learned the importance of editing and prioritization. A balanced piece is one in which structure and flow are not sacrificed to fit the maximum amount of ideas. In the end, I believe I did a good job of overcoming this issue by prioritizing my main and most relevant ideas and knowing when to stop writing.
For as long as I can remember, my lack of insight into the lives of those around me has always been hugely apparent. During one particularly aimless internet adventure, I stumbled upon the word “sonder”. Never had I encountered something that encapsulated this exact feeling so perfectly in such few words. Since then, this idea/emotion/realisation …whatever… has become an obsession of mine. Being able to explore this idea that I am so thoroughly intrigued by was so enjoyable for me. From this piece, I learned that even the simplest of our interests can be translated into beautiful ideas and pieces if only we sit down and write.
