The climate of writing

[nyggus]

Hi all,

I just want to share one of my views on writing with you. When I write in Polish, the language I know pretty well, after some time I can see whether the writing has a good "climate", as I'd call it. Every single sentence being correct from the grammar and even style points of view, the writing still may lack something: this is what I would call the climate. It's something deeper than just style of writing; it's something that cannot be in fact explained - it just can be felt. Without this climate the piece of writing may be just piece of rubbish and still I can't say why - I just feel it. And it has nothing to do with the topic of writing - one may write a great passage about nothing really interesting, and this might have the climate; but the passage may also be concerned with some extremely interesting topic, be written very correctly, but still lack the climate and as such would not be valuable.

Unfortunately I don't feel the same in English. I just write something and see whether or not it reads well. But I don't have this feeling of climate, or I have it just partially. What to do to start feeling it?

First, is there any term to call what I've called the climate? And do you know this feeling? I'd be happy to learn your views on the topic, which might help me collect my own thoughts.

Thanks,
Nyggus

[RonBee]

I don't think I have a word for that. Zing? Zip?

~R

[mesil]

The same happens to me when I try to write in english, being my native language spanish. En english, even if it's grammatically correct, I have the feeling the text does not have the same "climate" as in spanish. Peccato!

Is it possible to improve or is not worth even trying? I don't know.

[RonBee]

What does Peccato mean?

[mesil]

Originally Posted by RonBee

What does Peccato mean?

It means "what a pity" in italian...

[bianca]

Originally Posted by nyggus

Hi all,

I just want to share one of my views on writing with you. When I write in Polish, the language I know pretty well, after some time I can see whether the writing has a good "climate", as I'd call it. Every single sentence being correct from the grammar and even style points of view, the writing still may lack something: this is what I would call the climate. It's something deeper than just style of writing; it's something that cannot be in fact explained - it just can be felt. Without this climate the piece of writing may be just piece of rubbish and still I can't say why - I just feel it. And it has nothing to do with the topic of writing - one may write a great passage about nothing really interesting, and this might have the climate; but the passage may also be concerned with some extremely interesting topic, be written very correctly, but still lack the climate and as such would not be valuable.

Unfortunately I don't feel the same in English. I just write something and see whether or not it reads well. But I don't have this feeling of climate, or I have it just partially. What to do to start feeling it?

First, is there any term to call what I've called the climate? And do you know this feeling? I'd be happy to learn your views on the topic, which might help me collect my own thoughts.

Thanks,
Nyggus

Allow me to tell you what I think about the climate of writing.

Do you think in Polish when you write in English? Are you overly conscious about the linguistic aspect of what you're writing? Then your writing muse - the inspiration or the creative spark that ignites your imagination - just won't show up. Muses inspire not only poets, but all artists. And you need to be creative, an artist, if you are to create a sense of climate around your writing.

Years ago, when writing in English, I would search my subconscious for a word or phrase that just had to fit in. I also minded the grammar and the flow of ideas, it just had to be coherent and neat. The writing process seemed artificial, I didn't bond with it. I was an outsider to it. Nowadays, when writing for myself, I often simply begin jotting down anything that comes to mind, unanalyzed, from my stream of consciousness. I don't censor the language, but let it do the work for me. Language is the dress of thought - by giving free reign to langauge, my thoughts come out untarnished and uninhibited. That creates a special climate around the writing process, where writing becomes art.

But what works for me might not work for others. Find out what works for you to bond with your writing.

[mesil]

It's very interesting all that you said, Bianca. I'm curious: what is your primary language?
By my part, I write first in spanish and then translate the text into english. The writing muse -and bonding- comes when I'm writing in spanish...I just hope the translation will capture some of its original climate.

[nyggus]

Originally Posted by bianca

Allow me to tell you what I think about the climate of writing.

Do you think in Polish when you write in English? Are you overly conscious about the linguistic aspect of what you're writing? Then your writing muse - the inspiration or the creative spark that ignites your imagination - just won't show up. Muses inspire not only poets, but all artists. And you need to be creative, an artist, if you are to create a sense of climate around your writing.

Years ago, when writing in English, I would search my subconscious for a word or phrase that just had to fit in. I also minded the grammar and the flow of ideas, it just had to be coherent and neat. The writing process seemed artificial, I didn't bond with it. I was an outsider to it. Nowadays, when writing for myself, I often simply begin jotting down anything that comes to mind, unanalyzed, from my stream of consciousness. I don't censor the language, but let it do the work for me. Language is the dress of thought - by giving free reign to langauge, my thoughts come out untarnished and uninhibited. That creates a special climate around the writing process, where writing becomes art.

But what works for me might not work for others. Find out what works for you to bond with your writing.

Thanks, Bianca. First, I do try to think in English when trying to write in this language. But this is not my native language and it will never be, so my thinking is always kind of poor when it's to be done in English.

Nowadays, when writing for myself, I often simply begin jotting down anything that comes to mind, unanalyzed, from my stream of consciousness. I don't censor the language, but let it do the work for me. Language is the dress of thought - by giving free reign to langauge, my thoughts come out untarnished and uninhibited. That creates a special climate around the writing process, where writing becomes art.

Everything is fine when your language is proficient. If you don't care about the language you don't know too well, there will be no chance to obtain the climate we talk about - you will write a piece that is worth nothing. Can you imagine writing in, say, Polish or Slovak without censoring the language? My point is, you must be really proficient (by really I mean really) to not really care about grammar and such stuff when writing.

Thanks a lot for all of you guys,
Nyggus