A Particular Arrangement of Shapes

In this short essay, I attempt to strip down the true purpose and soul of writing.

A Particular Arrangement of Shapes

William Whitmire

            

Upon the wooden desk the ink spilled; shimmering and black as asphalt, flowing out from the fallen ink well, creating a tiny pool of letters and sentences that had not yet made it on paper. The droplets trickled to the ground, developing a twin pool. Deep inside the darkness was an image of a man, who stared down at the puddle bewildered. A wooden chair was pulled out from the corner, the ink blot dabbed up, and the chair was pushed closer to the desk. The man tapped his feather pen on the desk, dressed it in black silk, and began to write his life away.

            

There is something wonderful about the effect of writing; nothing else can quite describe things in such an elegant, beautiful way as writing does. Unless you are extremely theatrical and completely devoted to Shakespeare, you probably do not describe things in such a detailed and creative way through speech. We seem to live in a world where there must be labeled “good” and “bad” forms of everything; writing is no exception. It seems to me what makes up good writing is rather simple: It must effectively communicate a proposed idea, and it should be in a form that is unique to the writer. Unique, in a sense, where the way of writing is not completely obscured by others and the writing canon. In fact, there is no “right” way to write. We were not born in a world where rules of writing were picked in stone by the almighty. Different people prefer different forms of things. Who’s to say writing in broken sentences is “bad”? We see this form of writing a lot in music lyrics, and it can be extremely effective. It’s the same with essay writing, or creative writing; every individual is going to be connected to a certain form. It all depends on the individual’s taste. It’s as simple as that. The same goes with structure; whatever is the most effective for the writer is the “correct” form. Honestly, the rules of grammar should be the least of our worries. It is what we’re trying to convey that is truly important.

            

All in all, writing can express our ideas and feelings, entertain, move mountains, and change the direction the wind is blowing. In other words, it can be influential. Without writing, the world is a much duller, quieter place. And who truly wants to live in a world where nothing’s going on or being said?