Final thoughts on writing from What Do I Do On Monday? by John Holt
Good writing, writing that is a true extension and expression of ourselves, helps us to know ourselves, to make ourselves known to others, and to know them. It gives us a way of getting hold of our thoughts and feelings, so that we may think about them, learn from them, build on them. It can help us break out of the closed-in quality of our own experience, and share that experience with others. And it is still, and will be for a long time to come, one of the most powerful ways to reach other men, and so to make and change the reality we live in.
What I find ironic is the people who claim that they can learn absolutely nothing about a person from their writing. Who claim that the personal interpretation given to that writing by the reader makes the work a lie. When you read a person's blog, you get to know them, at least the part they are willing to share through their writing. You can learn their opinions on everything from mundane everyday topics to controversial political issues. You can read about the choices they've made in life and the consequences of them.
Sometimes you can even read between the lines and catch glimpses of the real them that they may not even be aware of having exposed. It's like a treasure hunt and the blog is the map, the person behind the blog, the treasure.
2 comments:
That is a neat way of putting it.
Much is revealed in what we don't say.
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