"It's none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way."
-Ernest Hemingway
I am a wordsmith.
I didn't coin the phrase, but I do love it.
And so today I found myself playing with the imagery the word evokes.
A Blacksmith works with iron
I work with words,
We both use the tools of our trade to CREATE
I take a sentence, a plain ordinary sentence
I thrust into the fire until it burns RED-HOT
Before it cools , I begin
hammering
bending
coaxing
smoothing
until the once plain nondescript string of words
becomes something new
designed to fit perfectly
(hopefully not just on the back end of a horse.)
Continue to do this over and over, stringing all your lovely creations together until you reach :
THE END
A blacksmith! That's a pretty good metaphor! Any given sentence has to be taken almost word-for-word and bent and shaped to get as much impact from as little material as possible. Sometimes material has to be replaced. Sometimes it just has to be shifted to another position to work. The most magical part of the whole process is taking an initially dry, clinical sentence and transforming it into art. So satisfying....
ReplyDeleteNeat idea! I think of writing like gardening. You plant the seed, water it, remove the weeds, and prune it. After a lot of attention and care it is ready for harvest.
ReplyDeleteYes. I love the metaphor of a gsrden. Digging. Planting. Nurturing. Then reaping. :)
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