-a beautiful mind-
Is “perfect writing” and “perfect composing” the same thing?
I seem to be under the delusion that every written word must be carefully considered and measured. I’ve been taught to do this, to “compose.” I’ve been taught to consider diction, syntax, rhythm, and a slew of other compositional techniques to “beautify,” and give substance to, the words I produce. I’ve been told that this is what the craft of writing is: to consider all these compositional variables, to consider their usage, and to manipulate the variables so as to create the “perfect permutation,” the perfect sentence that will fully communicate the thought you wish to communicate.
But doesn’t it all seem a bit…manufactured?
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But I’m not in the business of perfect composition for the sake of perfect composition.
“It takes a thought to make a word.” - Jason Mraz
So then,
It takes a beautiful thought to make a beautiful word! -afr0
Perhaps I’ve been mistaking refined thought for refined expression of thought. In order to reach the page, a thought must go through several steps, right? From its birth, to its cogitation, to its recording, then finally to its editing. On this chronology of composition, “editing and refining” are usually the last steps.
Usually, this works. But perhaps it is time that I consider that the order is…a bit mixed up.
Perhaps, when dealing with statements of raw honesty, the beauty and the perfection of a written sentence are not things to be created, but things that should exist inherently in a thought since its very genesis, long before anybody ever even thinks about recording it on paper. Perhaps beautiful writing should be born, not created; perhaps it should stem directly from the mind itself, allowing the thoughts to spill out over the paper according to their own will, with no regard to our distortional compositional editing, our critical eye.
I want to think beautifully, not write beautifully.
I want to have beautiful thoughts, not craft beautiful sentences.
I want to record beauty, not hammer it into existence.
Imagine: pure thought recorded on paper.
Raw. Untouched. Unedited. Perfect.
Imagine?
