Friday 24 July 2009

Are you a pragmatic visionary with your writing

I was re-reading a book by Arthur Joseph(The Sound of the Soul) about discovering your singing voice.

It's some time since I looked at it and I'd forgotten what great material he includes.

Since voice is the expression of our selves and soul, then anything that is wrong with us emotionally shows itself with the voice and how we use it. There are a lot of effective exercises in there to help release your voice and to nurture your soul.

He talks about the 'pragmatic visionary' which I think is a wonderful phrase. I've been having a conversation this week with a friend about people who are very spiritual but don't have a practical thought in their head.

It strikes me that there are a lot of would be writers out there with the same challenge. Recently I read an article about a writer who destroyed himself and to a lesser extent his family with his conviction that he would only be a 'real' writer if he could complete the novel of the century.

In the past I've put off doing things because I thought they wouldn't be perfect when I tried. Well of course they wouldn't and never could be. Perfection is subjective. The perfect novel, or poem or piece of music for one person is sadly lacking in some aspect for another person.

Having a vision for what you want to do and taking steps, even if they're tiny ones at first will create the conditions to help you achieve.

I can only offer my own experience to you. Have a go. Until you try you don't know what you can achieve. Your writing may take off in a different direction from the one you first imagine.

And much of the fun is in the doing.

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