Post #13 - Dynamics of Words and Notes

I have been wanting to blog but I've been incredibly busy these last two weeks. My writing portfolio was due yesterday and it contains all the work I did this year in my 2nd year of my MFA in creative writing. It doesn't just contain my first draft, it contains all my rewrites and my final edits. Writing is so much like playing the piano. You have to do it over and over again. By that, I don't mean to copy something over but to refine it. You make it smoother, infuse emotion, reiterate those themes or symbols in a subtle way. You do it enough and eventually the written word will flow effortlessly, the way it does when one starts getting good at a second language. The more you use it the more natural it becomes. Learning how to write well is like learning a second language. When we read, our eyes subconsciously pick up certain words and phrases more easily than others.

There are many other parallels between the two arts. When new writers start writing fiction, there is the tendency to over dramatize. We think that in order to demonstrate sadness, the character needs to break into tears and moans, or faint breathlessly on the ground. When we read melodramatic writing it doesn't seem real. If you want your fiction to be believable, you have to reach the reader on a deeper level. Sometimes it's more powerful if the character walks down the path with his head down low. Subtle strokes in music also make it come alive.


Kale has a tendency to press his fingers down hard on the keys. I think he does it because he thinks loud is good and because he's naturally confident. At our last lesson the teacher asked him to play more softly. I liked that she said this: Anyone can play it loud but can you play it soft? She implied something about control which really parallels writing. Good writing carefully controls the readers journey. Both require good ears and plenty of practice.