THE SYMPHONY OF THE STORY

The symphony of the story may be about love or glory, a sad day, or one that exceeds expectations, a grand reunion, or the dashing of relations, a theme, a promise, a dream, an emotion, all painted in the mind by the symphony of words.

Many words are called to mind, but few are chosen, some are close but not precise, some are soft and some are nice, but parsing must be done, even if you do not find it to be fun.

Like musical notes, words have definitions that may be general, but nuances are the notes that bring out the emotions, the love, the devotion, or the gathering of the dark clouds in an ominous or portentous, and foreboding way.

Or moving quickly to the soothing summer night, where the bouquet of the night blooming jasmine envelopes your mind and you reflect on the smell and the picture of flowers it represents.

Words are the music of the writer, always ready to go on stage to direct the reader to the obvious, to the subtle, to the Sub-Rosa, and to the sublime.

Words carry the emotions that make a person, laugh, or cry, or be happy, or want to die, or run away, words do that every day.

As the writer starts a story it must be written to be understood, with descriptions, characters, spirit, no wood. Not following a formula, or trying to impress, but creating a communication of shared experience for the writer and the reader; avoiding the obfuscating words that break the message and the mood.

Poetry has an essence more powerful than many flowers when the writer takes the time to weave a sentiment into a mental substance that contains, in very strong form, the special qualities (such as the taste and smell) of the thing from which it is taken.

We writers, at whatever level of experience and skill, seek to connect with the reader on an intimate level, where the reader is sitting next to the writer, vicariously, where a cornucopia of emotions is released and absorbed in the memory banks of the mind, and the music, the smells, the tastes, and the emotions can take you to a temporary personal nirvana.

Often I go into my mind, where my library of life is stored. There I can review my experiences, and my stories and poems.

We must reacquaint our young people with the beauty of language and how it has developed through history.

Texting is taking the essence of words and making communication an impersonal wasteland of acronyms and wooden content.

I have always believed in substance over form, yet, punctuation is critical, for they are the signs that guide us as we write, and I am diligent in seeking out the emotion for the reader, and I feel elated when I find it.

I will continue to write poems and stories, not following a mechanical pro-forma story outline. I will tell my story to my mirror before I write it down, and it will flow, because when I am the writer and the reader, l understand.