The desire to be read is only the lowest of the possible motivations for writing, and is often absent when one of the higher ones manifests itself. There is little room for it when one feels the invincible urge to preserve oneself by engraving one’s spirit in letters, transcending time and dignifying experience with a lasting record. The awareness of uniqueness gives rise to the desire to express it, to perhaps elevate oneself to it through the right expression, which denotes its understanding. When one thinks about these things, one realizes how far they are from the trivial desire to be heard or the need for attention.
Tag: writing
Perhaps the Most Difficult Thing About…
Perhaps the most difficult thing about building a character is getting a glimpse, beforehand, of the inner consistency that will have to be manifested in action. Often, this glimpse only comes when the character starts to move. Even so, practice shows that it is neither a simple nor a safe task when one intends to represent a convincing model, since to do so is to conceive unity through contradictions. In this sense, the work is similar to that of a biographer, although most of the time the latter can rely on concrete material to get started.
When One Knows One’s Own Weaknesses…
When one knows one’s own weaknesses, it is sometimes impressive to look back and see how much could have been done in spite of them. It is impressive to realize that what seemed like little, very little on a daily scale, adds up and grows in value over time. But there is certainly something more. And those who have only experienced it once can understand the astonished artist who, after years of work, looks at them and concludes: “It cannot have been just me who did it”.
All Artistic Motivations Are Fleeting…
All artistic motivations are fleeting, except those that stem from the true recognition of the value of experience and the nobility of striving to represent it in a work that will remain when time consumes them. To be an artist, in short, is to have art as something that justifies a lifetime’s effort. This, it is true, usually only happens to those who, deeply affected, strip away their vanity to recognize in someone else the model of what they want to be: in a burst of humility, they turn gratitude into motivation.