the word is dead
I have always struggled with writing mainly because I never understood its purpose.
No one ever sat down and taught writing, the various types, purposes, language, structure, etc. (My) teachers have always told me that in order to be a better writer you just have to write. Yes, I agree. But no one never gave me guidance on the process of writing, no one ever talked about its purpose.
So my fear of writing perpetuated, as I became the “creative” kid with great ideas but with poor written communications skills.
I understood the process of writing by reading of Socrates and his feelings against the written word.
His main complaint is that it disrupts traditional social relationships, destroying memory and the existence of an oral society.
By King Thamus in Socrates’s story of writing’s introduction in Egypt:
“The fact is that this invention will produce forgetfulness in the souls of those who have learned it. They will not need to exercise their memories, being able to rely on what is written, calling things to mind no longer from within themselves by their own unaided powers, but under the stimulus of external marks that are alien to themselves. So it’s not a recipe for memory, but for reminding, that you have discovered. (68)”
Furthermore he proclaimed that the written word is dead. You cannot dispute the written word; there is no engagement, no back and forth between individuals. It is about one person and the text.
And that is what I needed to hear. Yes. The purpose of writing — or really, a purpose I can agree with — is not dialogic. The written word is to archive information and to extend oneself . (thanks mass communication technology)
For example, this blog is not for me to have a conversation with the reader. (assuming someone is actually reading this)
This digital space (which is also dead) is to archive thoughts and resources in an organized fashion so that I can go back and sort through, to then build more thoughts. I am not interested in a back and forth in this space — we do not have enough tools here.
