Writing, Blogging and Hope
Every time a writer offers a word up for the public gaze, that writer is reaching out to touch and be touched.
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In this article, the Old Soldier doesn’t want to get zen on you; but there is something mystical about written language. Written words of course are symbols. These symbols represent not only things we can know through our senses but also things that we cannot know through the senses.
We cannot see loneliness. We can see someone who is lonely but that’s not the same thing. We cannot hear loneliness. We cannot smell loneliness. We cannot taste loneliness and we cannot touch it; but we know it does exist. We’ve even given it a name. Now that’s mystical.
I did not randomly select the word “loneliness”. Recently here in Pittsburgh, a man walked into an exercise class in a gym. The class was full of women. The man had several guns in a gym bag. He put the bag down on the floor, opened the bag, pulled out two guns and then he opened fire.
He fired over 50 rounds. Three women were killed and nine were wounded. Then the gunman committed suicide by firing a bullet in his own head.
When the police searched the gunman’s apartment they also searched his computer. The gunman was a blogger. His blog was full of postings about his inability to connect to a woman, any woman. He desperately wanted a relationship with a woman. The police theorized that his loneliness turned into rage at his emotional isolation and he decided on death for himself and others. I believe there is a connection between emotional isolation and the written word.
Of course, the overwhelming majority of bloggers and writers do no feel so isolated that they become murderous; but I do think writing is one of the many things that humans do to combat the feeling of isolation that at one time or another troubles the human heart. It is probably this need to reach out and touch and to be touched that is at the core of the writer’s need to write.
It is this need that the young woman in “Money and the American Writer“ must discover for herself.
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Tags: article, Blog, Blogger, blogging, death, relationship, woman, writer, Writing, written language
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August 9th, 2009 at 2:12 am
Nice point of thinking my friend. Well written.
August 9th, 2009 at 2:56 am
If you notice, many times even the best-made movies don’t leave as much lasting impact as the best-written books they are made out of. Words have mystical power; they touch you like nothing can. They leave more to our mind to imagine. They leave a picture.
August 9th, 2009 at 8:31 am
As you said the ultimate objective of the writer is to reach out and touch and to be touched.In other words, to vent his feelings and get recognition and approbation for what he wrote.Thanks for sharing a thought provoking article.
August 9th, 2009 at 10:45 am
deep blue:
Yesterday, I was determined to come up with new content for Triond. After awhile I came up with the words: Writing, Blogging and Hope. A few hours later the article was done. I felt bad for the victims and their families and friends all over again.
http://www.writinghood.com/writing-business/opportunities/writers-writing-and-good-short-story-ideas/
August 9th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Uma:
Your comment is the perfect summation for this article.
http://www.authspot.com/Short-Stories/True-Love.638929
August 9th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Ramalingam:
I always thought that writing allowed the the writer to be in many places at one time while speaking to many people at the same time.
http://www.authspot.com/Thoughts/Love-Hurts.668183
August 9th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Absolutely fantastic article. Thanks!
August 9th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Jeremy, thank you. When I began the article I had not idea how it was going to end. This is part of the beauty of writing.
http://www.writinghood.com/online-writing/money-and-the-writing-of-sexy-short-stories-on-triond/
August 10th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Beautiful write, tragic story. A definite must-read.
August 10th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Thank you, thestickman:
There seems to be so many lonely and isolated people in the world. No doubt modern life has something to do with it. Extended families use to all live together or near each other. Now, sometimes we don’t even know the name of the person in the next apartment on the same floor.
http://www.writinghood.com/writing-business/opportunities/every-writer-needs-a-vision/
August 15th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Why would someone want to murder people just because they’re lonely? He’s probably not just lonely. There’s probably somethin’ else.
Really enjoyed reading this article but feel bad for the victims.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
BeatsMe, no doubt there’s something else. The something else probably made his loneliness intolerable.
http://www.writinghood.com/online-writing/the-best-article-and-short-story-writing-ideas-are-free/
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