True Talent is Born From Pain
Why one must have pain and life experience to acquire literary talent. How the word painter in me emerged.
Through the years and this is a sad fact, but true…the poet in you will emerge. Human tragedy coaxes this raw talent to the surface. At your age, I hadn’t yet developed into a writer. The Irish Word Painter emerged sometime in my mid-twenties. It was a portion of something I had written one broken day…one of those days that live in you…a carbon copy of everything not shown. We all have one great passion and words are mine…I unleash them…nurture them and carve out their existence. It is my way of stirring up the sediment to sift out lost images of red…or blue.
English, on its own merit, isn’t equipped to deal with human suffering; there isn’t enough music to it. That is when the heart plays a hauntingly familiar melody and suddenly you bleed invisible ink in a language that has no translation. You’ll find what emerges on paper astonishing; this is when the Word Painter gives voice to everything you’ve wanted to say…but couldn’t. You’ll know in an instant when this happens; you’ll be so amazed with this new talent that you wish you could show the world, but you won’t. There are regions of human dignity that do not come in common grammar, and some words much too private for literature.
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November 5th, 2008 at 9:24 am
I don’t think it’s true that all of us will emerge into wordpainters but it is apparent that Abbey has. Any other of her works I might read? I enjoy her voice, what a unique style she owns. Talk about singing one’s own tune; Abbey owns the patent.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:03 am
It’s such an old myth that it takes pain to develop talent, and it’s just so much BS. Sorry to be so blunt, but plenty of people develop their talent without going through suffering. And even more suffer without developing the slightest hint of any talent. I don’t know anything about your writing, but I suspect it would be just as good (or bad, if that’s the case) without any suffering at all. I also suspect that the myth is most popular with people who love to bask in their emotions.
November 9th, 2008 at 2:17 am
I have to disagree somewhat with the above comment, as it generalizes everyone too much into one category. Some of us find our talents during periods of our lives when we are reaching for a life line…there are more sad songs in this world, more passion runs through the melody…..Sounds like Abbey may have been explaining to another that passion, without song. Go Girl……
November 17th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I disagree with Ancient Aspie, I don’t think Abbey and he are on the same page, or even planet for that matter. She doesn’t imply her pain has been overly burdensome, nor does Abbey appear to bask in her emotions from what I’ve read of her. But what kind of writer would she be if she didn’t own her emotions, isn’t emotion the driving force behind anything we endeavor in our lives? I love what she has to write and the clarity she brings to her readers. I haven’t read your works Ancient, but I’m confident you don’t come close to touching Abbey’s talent; if I’m wrong I apologize in advance. Keep writing Abbey, shout what you have to say to the world, you are a natural born teacher.
November 28th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
It almost feels as if Abbey is writing these words to me. I long to become a wordsmith and Abbey’s letter has inspired me to embark on this journey. Thanks Abbey.
October 19th, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Well Ancient Aspie is by far everyone, the sharpest tool in this shed!!!!!! I know Irishworpainter personally and want to say that Aspie’s interpretation is true to the core…..this wordpainter is by far the master of basking in her own emotions and loves to also bask in vengence. She can write beautifully, but she is a hard, callous person, ready to spew vengence and poison to those she does not connect with, in or outside of the heart.