At the same time as it seems impossible for a writer today to draft a line without the help of a computer, that is, without this wonderful tool that makes it possible to have a mountain of data organized, accessible and, above all, in which anything can be researched in seconds, there is the fact that neither this nor any automation is put to good use when one does not know how to carry out the process without it. In other words: one must take advantage of it, but not depend on it to get the job done; which means, in short, understanding its possibilities and limitations.
Tag: literature
There Are Many Examples of Beautiful Works…
Many are the examples of beautiful works that were only started late, but it is rare to find a great writer who did not venture into writing long before he was able to produce something worthwhile. In fact, to be able to do this is precisely to practice until mastery is acquired, to experiment, make mistakes and learn. What is not acquired through this is the baggage of study and experience; but through this, and only through this, is acquired the ability to write well.
The Commitment Not to Give Up…
The commitment not to give up is the beginning and the harbinger of literary work. Without it, what is done does not become a work, but merely something fleeting and equally disposable. It is only this commitment that will sustain the effort when circumstances sabotage it, when the will to write itself fails. It is this that motivates habit, and it is only this that restores normality when habit, violated, transmutes a state of productive inertia into absolute torpor.
It Is Really Impressive to Contrast…
It is really impressive to contrast the harmless appearance of letters with their marvelous power of evocation. In fact, their ability to describe precisely and in detail is unparalleled, allowing the mind to produce vivid images that can always be recalled. It is enough to think back to Dostoevsky’s Petersburg, dark and snow-covered, with open taverns and coachmen passing to and fro; the Brazilian hinterland, the suburbs of London, Lisbon and the Alto Minho… all of this appears with impressive vividness, accompanied by the emotional charge coming from the setting evoked. The numerous characters, their choices and their mishaps, the ever particular atmosphere that emanates from each work… It is, in fact, thanks to letters, a life created, mentally lived and assimilated, whose impressions are remembered forever. And all of this is unsuspected by anyone who does not read.