are you a true literate?

[cacian]

If so what does literature mean to you?


This is an essay we are to write before the Christmas holiday and it has so far been quite a challenge. :D

[WolfLarsen]

If so what does literature mean to you?


This is an essay we are to write before the Christmas holiday and it has so far been quite a challenge. LD

I think of writing literature as sort of like bashing ice into pieces with a mallet or baseball bat. Or maybe I'm bashing something into place on a barge with a steel rod. Although when I'm feeling more civilized I sometimes feel like I'm hammering the work of literature into place with nails.

Basically, literature to me is a big construction site that's constantly growing and in a state of change. Just like nothing is really solid – because everything is made of atoms that are bashing into each other and moving around – the words themselves are always bashing into each other and moving around.

And then there's the element of sex. Basically writing is just words procreating on the page. Writing is an act of procreation.

[Steven Hunley]

I think of writing literature as sort of like bashing ice into pieces with a mallet or baseball bat. Or maybe I'm bashing something into place on a barge with a steel rod. Although when I'm feeling more civilized I sometimes feel like I'm hammering the work of literature into place with nails.

Basically, literature to me is a big construction site that's constantly growing and in a state of change. Just like nothing is really solid – because everything is made of atoms that are bashing into each other and moving around – the words themselves are always bashing into each other and moving around.

And then there's the element of sex. Basically writing is just words procreating on the page. Writing is an act of procreation.

But this isn't about states of change, it's about literature. Literature is the writing that is valuable even after many years. Prose and poetry. It's the writing that's become permanent in the world's culture. In life, as is any sort of creation, there is a lot of banging about, a lot of procreation, creativity.

But literature is the refinement of that process. It's the banging about that survives. The creativity that lasts generation after generation. Because it lasts through time, through generations, it's creativity is guaranteed into the future. That shows it's lasting power. Literature endures.

The point we might ask ourselves as authors is: If trapped and surrounded by a totalitarian regime in the future, a person has only time to hide one book. Is your book the one they're going to choose? To maybe risk their lives for? Will a person risk for a good description, or some edgy dialogue, or some interesting plot line?

What does it take in a book to make it of value? And do my stories or books have any of these qualities? If not, what am I writing for? Only to raise a few eyebrows with shock and awe? Just to entertain?

[AuntShecky]

But this isn't about states of change, it's about literature. Literature is the writing that is valuable even after many years. Prose and poetry. It's the writing that's become permanent in the world's culture. In life, as is any sort of creation, there is a lot of banging about, a lot of procreation, creativity.

But literature is the refinement of that process. It's the banging about that survives. The creativity that lasts generation after generation. Because it lasts through time, through generations, it's creativity is guaranteed into the future. That shows it's lasting power. Literature endures.



What an astute comment! It has echoes of Faulkner's Nobel acceptance speech. you never fail to amaze me, Steven. So glad you're a LitNutter.

I'd like to add just one thing, if I may. It would be good to keep in mind is that writers should never begin a project with the idea of producing "literature." Such a self-consciousness approach might result in something that is stilted, over-written, boring as hell. Just sit down and write the damn thing as expressively as you can.