Naturally this is a ponderous question coming from a blog... yet it's something I find myself wondering these past few days.
As I've alluded to several times, I do a bit of writing elsewhere on a semi-regular basis. This has truly become something I enjoy doing, especially when the topic greatly interests me. It's even more interesting considering I've only had two true writing classes in the last ten years of my schooling.
One of the things that I have noticed of late is that I don't write like the typical person today. Granted, this place does not see much of my formal writing as a lot of the time the posts here are quick thoughts on a particular topic.
What further drove this point home is that in the past week I have been reading several older articles (I'm talking 40+ years ago) partially for curiosity and partially for something I may write. During these readings I was taken aback by the differences between what the author wrote then and what an author would write today.
Once upon a time, the written word was elegant, almost beautiful at times. For some articles, namely sporting events which is where my focus has been on, the writing gives that specific event a sense of grandeur not found today.
There is a pacing to the writing, a rise and swell if you will, that allows the reader to become emotionally involved in the piece.
Now go look at a recent article online or in your paper. Be it a headline story, a sports story, and entertainment story or what have you. Notice any of the points I just mentioned?
Writing today is very stale and, for lack of a better word, boring. It doesn't fire you up, it just presents cold, hard facts. Even 'opinion' pieces are often devoid of any real written beauty.
It's sad.
When I write I generally attempt to make each piece it's own artwork. Never do I simply spit out a collection of words and colloquialisms in the articles I write. One of the reasons I admire Drug Monkey is that, when he chooses, he can be one helluva Wordsworth, something you do not often seen in a blogging format.
Granted I'm sure a lot of this can be attributed to the rise of the internet and the 'satisfaction now generation', but that doesn't explain why it's lacking in the majority of published works. Perhaps some do not like to read articles like that anymore, maybe they no longer wish to be emotionally vested in something they are reading.
And maybe that's the most sad part of this whole situation. The fact that the allurement that was once the written word has been stripped to nothing more than the text on the back of a shampoo bottle.
Then again, I could simply be off the mark and it could be I that is the one who is unusual.
Wouldn't be the first time.
3 comments:
I think you're spot-on, Phat!
<3 ya!
Good post Phathead and I agree. I myself am a self proclaimed hack at writing. I freely admit I am not the writer I want to be. But I enjoy the challenge of writing and I strive to improve my skills. It does definately seem to be a lost art. Like a musician that can weave words together into a seemingly harmonic balance to formulate that perfect song I long to compose mental thoughts and ideas seemlessly into written words. But more often than not I fall far short of my goal.
You are correct, Phat, and I think it has much to do with the era of electronic media (video, audio, and the Internet). At one time, communication depended upon the written word. Just think---before Morse, Bell, Jobs, and Gates, there was only a pen dipped in ink and a piece of paper. One had no choice but to concentrate on the quality of one's writing, and also the intensity of one's reading. so people had to read, and as result, they wrote better because they were constantly dealing with words.
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