When I was in school, we studied a multitude of writing styles. I was enamored with the modernists, with their take on reality in Literature. I loved reading Virginia Woolf’s “Miss Dalloway,” and would spend hours taking in the ominous glow of Eliot’s “Wasteland.” I think above all I enjoyed the works of Hemmingway during this time. His gritty to the point writing style wasted no time on detail. Here was wordplay in action, without grandiose descriptions.
I also studied the transcendentalists, such as Thoreau and Emerson. I loved Hawthorne above all others of this time period, and became lost in his works, such as “Blithedale Romance” and “House of Seven Gables.” His characterizations of both character and setting could ramble on for pages and give a setting so rich in texture that the reader would be engulfed in the scene placed before him.
I feel today as if I have traded in my Hawthorne for a Hemmingway. I’m uncertain if this is a bad thing, because getting to the point is what most people desire to do in today’s society. Facebook is a never ending stream of three lined updates; Twitter is even shorter and faster than Facebook, and no one seems to take the time to really read or write for form and function. I have to admit that I rather enjoy coming up with short little quips that might make the “friends” laugh or think each day… But I feel as if I have given up on true in-depth writing. On really taking some time and allowing my brain to produce coherent sentences that flow together and make paragraphs. Even now this is tough for me. What used to take a few moments feels like eternity. If I may be so crass, It feels as if I have “composition constipation.”
Perhaps that is why I am going to try starting a blog yet again. Perhaps I will get over this notion that it is impossible for me to truly compose my thoughts in an organized form; yet more likely than not I will fail at this new endeavor. It stands to reason that there will be very little feedback from this blog, as there are very few who actually take time to read blogs anymore. Perhaps I should just send a tweet/post/whatever google + calls them about my topic and conclusion. Whatever the case, it will be interesting to see If I can track down my inner Hawthorne and give my Hemmingway a break.
ragamuffinorr 