I recently watched Dead Poets Society and was struck by the way poetry and writing are often neatly constructed into some type of analytical formula to determine its worth. I shook my head and cringed watching the classroom scene, where one of the students was asked to read step by step procedures for completing this assessment. I wanted to scream.
What about the passion? Doesn’t the passion of the writer or the writing count?
But before my blood pressure could explode, the teacher, played by Robins Williams, asked the students to rip the pages from their books. He didn’t believe in such methods. And neither do I.
Writing, just like music or art, should not be judged simply by its mechanics, but by the ability to move the human soul and challenge our perceptions of life. All the structure and style in the world cannot replace what is not already burning deep within the heart of a writer. So why are we not placing a higher importance on passion to achieve such excellence, rather than a list of technical rules that often inhibit the process?
The web is overflowing with resources on how to improve your writing with various standards and techniques. So many do’s and don’ts it’s hard to keep track. It’s easy to become confused and paranoid about making a mistake. Writing shouldn’t be about that. It should be about the writer pouring out his soul onto the paper by expressing his or her thoughts through the beautiful flow and expression of language. In my opinion, that’s all that matters.
Methods may strengthen skills, but they don’t guarantee quality or lasting impressions on the reader. Give me the writer who creates with passion and let editing take care of the flaws. Such writers forever change my outlook of the world and myself.
And let mechanics be damned.
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