What’s Your Point?

Posted on December 10, 2012 by dara

What is your point? 

Rude as it sounds, the question “What’s your point?” reminds writers that communication always has a purpose. We don’t write merely to put words on paper. We want to express a thought, an idea, an opinion, a feeling, even an irony, and we want someone else to understand what we’re saying. For example, the point that an image makes (whether visual or textual) must be clearly constructed. The potential irony of the two signs to the left is clear from their juxtaposition. Most handicapped persons are not going to be riding skateboards.

Reflective Writing:

Even reflective writing, which is more internal or inner-directed and often wandering, comes down to a point or maybe even several points. The mind prefers order, so even in free-write mode, a writer is brought around to the point that is driving the reflection.

The Reader:

When we bring the reader into the picture (and the reader is always hovering over our shoulder), then we must hone our point to be sure that our readers gets it and does not mistake it for some other. Ultimately, interpretation always belongs to the reader, so the writer’s job is to shape the interpretation of the text in the direction that he or she wants it to go.

Clarity:

Clarity here is the key. Churchill’s message is hard to mistake. We can offer varying interpretations. We can talk about whether we agree with his statement or not, but ultimately, the point that he is making is clear: Stand up for what you believe.

Get to the Point:

So, use your free-writing to get the ideas flowing and then analyze what you have written to be certain your main idea or point is clear. Move the clutter from around it. Make the point early on. Don’t confuse  your reader about what you’re trying to say. Get to the point.

Image courtesy of Bill Graeser at https://plus.google.com/photos/107550539024161977376/albums?banner=pwa

 

 

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Voice and Vantage Point

Posted on November 8, 2012 by dara

Voice. Developing one’s voice is critical for writers if each of us wishes to standout as unique in a galaxy of other writers. But voice is an aspect of writing that is formed from many different elements—tone, style, and vantage point, to name a few. Vantage point is, arguably, the most impactful as it also helps shape tone and style.

Vantage Point: What do we mean by vantage point? Vantage point is the position from which a writer is observing, noticing, and commenting on something outside of him- or herself (or on something from within). For example, in the photograph of the blue jay sitting on the fence in front of the blue post, we recognize a number of vantage points. The photographer has one vantage point, the bluejay another. The bird flying into the scene has yet another. The viewer of the photograph has still  another vantage point, similar to the photographer’s, yet uniquely the viewer’s own. The voice that would emerge from each vantage point could produce a decidedly different expression of  perspective on the scene.

Locus of Consciousness: Several words are often used interchangeably for what we are discussing—vantage point, perspective, and approach—yet each implies a certain locus of consciousness from which the observation is being made, and should expression emerge, that particular locus of consciousness would be reflected in whatever was expressed.

Grammatical Voice: We categorize voice grammatically as first person, second person, or third person, and learn the appropriate pronouns in school. Each of those pronouns reflects the perspective or vantage point from which the expression or comment is emerging. Pronouns being vague can cause us to forget that each one is reflecting a locus of consciousness.

Rishi, Devata, and Chhandas: In the Science of Consciousness SM, we define that locus of consciousness in terms of  the Rishi—the knower or observer. What we are observing is the Chhandas value—in this case, the blue jay, perhaps the fence post, the known. What is connecting the observer and the observed or the Rishi and the Chhandas is the Devata value—the process of knowing or observing. The three taken together create the wholeness that emerges—the Samhita of Rishi, Devata, and Chhandas.

Consciousness: These terms remind us that consciousness is underlying and generating everything we express and write. Voice is an expression of consciousness. Our voice is our own individual mode of expression, shaped by our nervous system and the position we take in relation to what we are observing.

Developing our own personal voice in our writing is a way of celebrating our own unique connection with the consciousness underlying and generating all of creation. So, go for it. Find you voice. Celebrate who you are.

Image Credit:

Photograph of blue jay (cardinal) courtesy of Bill Graeser

https://plus.google.com/photos/107550539024161977376/albums/5802297713208787777?banner=pwa

Correction from

Mary Ellen Araas-Wright 8:13pm Nov 8
Dear Dara: I enjoyed your recent blog article … so very beautifully connected to the Vedic knowledge of MMY. Just wanted to let you know that the bird, although very blue in the picture, is actually a female cardinal … we see a lot of them up here in MN at our bird feeder and bath. I think she’s looks so blue due to either the blue of the fence post or perhaps the picture tones were adjusted for more blue to come out. The red bird in the background is most likely her male mate … they are never very far apart when flying about together. Love, Mary Ellen

 

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Tightening Your Prose

Posted on October 15, 2012 by dara

Hemingway’s Influence

Writing tight prose need not make our writing dry and strangulated. Ernest Hemingway, known for his tight, concise prose style,  influenced most twentieth century writers. The crispness of Hemingway’s style demonstrated that the overly elaborated style of the nineteenth century was simply unnecessary and often obscured the underlying richness of thought.

Learning to tighten our prose style can seem problematic, however, for developing writers. Where do we start? What is it we are tightening? The simplest answer is that often we are tightening the sentence itself. Five simple techniques can help us look at our sentences in a new way and recognize how to tighten our style.

Rules for Tightening Our Prose Style

1. Always omit unnecessary words, a journalistic revision tool that says: Never use two words where one will do. A simple exercise is to take any page you’ve written and omit 100 words from the page without changing meaning or context.

2. Learn to avoid empty or space-filler language, what I call empty place-holders in a sentence. A common example of this problem are all those sentences that begin with “There is . . .” or “There are . . . ,,” sentence openers common to academic writing where assertions and definitions are regular elements of writing. Grammatically correct, the this construction delays the subject or topic of the sentence. The reader is halfway into the sentence before stumbling over what it is about. Instead, get to the point right away.

3. Replace vague and empty language. Start by replacing weak verbs with strong verbs, but also watch out for unnecessary qualifiers like “very,” “really,” “absolutely,” and other empty or unnecessary qualifiers.

4. The ability to recast a sentence, allows a writer to use the above skills and even or to unpack a sentence with too many ideas in it. Some times adding words, i.e., another sentence, can actually tighten up the prose by clarifying the expression of the ideas.

5. Making more specific word choices often tightens the prose. Many indefinite words, such as pronouns like it or this create a feeling of density or vagueness. Again, choices, such as pronouns are not grammatically incorrect but such words don’t offer concrete information. A good exercise is to replace all vague, nonspecific words or phrases with concrete, specific word choices.

So, the old rule still stands: If in doubt, leave it, but also learn to avoid, replace, recast, and specify wherever you can, so your prose is clear and tight.

Images:

Hemingway Stamp. (HTML Code):© Konstantin32 | Dreamstime.com

 

 

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The Hidden Structure of Writing

Posted on August 23, 2012 by dara

The word structure can evoke images of a linear arrangement of ideas, even a certain logical rigidity. Structure, however, can also be flowing and organic. The mind creates its own connections and provides its own logic if we allow our thoughts to flow and are sensitive to the relationships that emerge. Reflective writing allows us time to recognize, explore, and play with structure inour writing.

Images of doors and windows depict commonplace structures in our daily experience. They frame openings that allow entrance and egress.  We open doors and enter or leave our homes. We open other doors and enter or leave our classrooms Sunlight and breezes enter our windows (and maybe rain if we left the window open!), all within a framed structure. What our minds choose to do with such structural images, however, can follow different paths. As an image, a window frame or a door frame is linear and rigid. Such frames enclose. They serve a clear function. They appear as an expected orderly arrangement.

Door frames and window frames also have their own organic logic as well. They can be openings to the unknown, to the hidden. While providing entrance and egress, they lure us both in and out. Symbolically, they can offer us passageways to other dimensions, other avenues of being. Our reflections on an image or a concept create their own connections, and the structure of those connections allows meaning to emerge for the reader.

In a symposium in April 2012 on Maharishi Vedic Science: Illuminating the Cutting Edge of Modern Science, Maharaja emphasized the connection between logic, structure, and the human physiology. He said, We express our words. We express our thinking, our feelings. We see our world. We see our society through the microscope of our instrument [the human physiology], which has a certain quality and has a certain shape.” He went on to say, “The self is structured according to the structure of the body.”1  Structure is innate. We come by it naturally–truly, a gift from Mother Nature.

So, play with structure. Don’t always see it outlined with roman numerals and letters. Let shape emerge in your writing, recognize it, benefit from it, and explore further.

References:

1 Nader, Tony. “Comment on Dr. Terrance Fairchild’s address on “Transcendental Consciousness and Literary Theory.” Consciousness is Primary: Illuminating the Leading Edge of Knowledge. Fairfield, IA: MUM Press (In press).

Images:

“Molecular Thoughts.” Thinkstock Item # 137062187 @ http://www.thinkstockphotos.com/

“Turquoise Door.” Bill Graeser. Retreived from https://plus.google.com/photos/107550539024161977376/albums/5764086496454335073?banner=pwa

 

 

 

 

 

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Writing Great Visual Description

Posted on July 30, 2012 by dara

Writing great visual description is similar to taking an artful photograph. The focus of the description must be clear and present to the eye. In a photograph, we perceive the relationship between foreground and background. Our eye is guided by the structure of the image. Our senses respond to rich, vivid, colorful details. When we write, we pay attention to these same elements and fabricate them in our descriptions with carefully chosen language.

A tractor may be old and rusted but the palette of reds and blues and golds against a white farm building create a harmony of shades that entices the eye even as the structure of the tractor draws the eye forward to the grill in front. The white farm building is a simple, eloquent background creating a contrast that at once compares old to new and rich hues to simple white.

The relationship between the tractor and the farm building calls to mind William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheel Barrow.” His poem begins “So much depends upon the red wheel barrow . . . ” speaking to that interdependence between man and machine on a farm so evident along the Iowa roads. The relationship is a stark reality, but how we perceive it is influenced by the details. The wheel barrow is “sparkling with rain water” even as the tractor glimmers its muted, rich hues in the sun.

Description is in the details, whether they be drops of water or flakes of colorful rust. Let your eyes choose your words and bring that mental picture to life for your reader. An entire world can unfold from a single image.

Photographs courtesy of Bill Graeser. To see more of his photography go to https://plus.google.com/photos/107550539024161977376/albums/5764086496454335073?banner=pwa

 

 

 

 

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Explore Your Senses and Write

Posted on July 6, 2012 by dara

Want to write and don’t know what to write about? Explore your senses and write about the experience as fully as you can. Put a strawberry in your mouth. Let your mouth feel it before you bite into it. Take a bite. Relish the flavor. Is there more than one taste? Does it taste sweet? Wild? Slightly sour? Refreshing? Healthy? How many ways can you describe the flavor?

Now swallow that bite of strawberry. Does it taste different as you swallow it? How does your mouth feel after you’ve swallowed? Is there still a sweet and juicy taste?  Do you want another bite? Why? What does the taste remind you of in your past?

With that last question, we move from description to reflection. Now we’re thinking about what the taste of strawberries means to us. What memores do we associate with strawberries? Great desserts? Eating that first strawberry of the year? Do we remember finding wild strawberries in the yard? How small and sweet they were? What feelings do these memories evoke? Choosing a single sense to explore can explode into a nostalgic bonanza.

We begin with simple description. We could even start with a simple visual description. The luscious red of the berry. The sprinkling of tiny seeds on the berry. The rich contrast of the green leaves. All of these elements of descriptions go back to our five sennes, and when we bring them together in a piece of writing, a new wholeness begins to emerge–a wholeness that we may not even have imagined when we began. So, choose a sense. Explore it. See where it leads. And enjoy.

Image:

“Strawberries.” # 104880701 from www.thinkstockphotos.com item

Posted in Dara's Own Reflections, Journaling, Reflective Writing, Uncategorized, Writing Prompts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Writing about Place

Posted on June 21, 2012 by dara

We can write about place as a way of exploring and tracing our inner landscape. Feelings and memories resound like chords of music as we envision a particular place we have lived or visited. The memory unfolds and we are there with our senses enlivening the lyrical experience.

I often recall the mountain hollow in Kentucky where my grandfather farmed his small piece of bottom land, and I am, in that moment of memory, transported to the sense of wonder I felt following my grandfather into a coal mine he had dug in the back of a cave. I remember seeing the facets of coal sparkle as water dripped down the walls and reflected back the light from the small kerosene lamp on my grandfather’s billed cap.

My senses build that experience again some fifty years later–the sight of light sparkling from the coal, the sound of trickling water finding its way down the sloping walls of the cave, the damp flow of air in the mine, and the secure touch of my father’s hand on my shoulder, guiding me along behind his father. I am once again in that place, feeling everything I felt then. My storehouse of memories opens up for me and I am caught in a moment of time evoked from the sights and sounds and touch of the past.

Today, the mine is no longer there, bulldozed down when those mountains were stripped-mined a couple of decades after my first visit. My grandfather is also long gone, dying in the 1950s from cancer of the stomach, often blamed on his having been kicked by a mule. My father too is gone, dying in the late 1980s, always there to make me laugh and then suddenly gone. Now, I am here in the 2010s, living on the prairie, far west of those Kentucky mountains, yet that land, that cave, those moments remain vivid and compelling in my mind–a manifestation of my memories, woven from the fabric of my experience.

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Top Ten Reasons Why Writing is Transformative

Posted on June 6, 2012 by dara

Writing changes us. When we create text, the self-reflexive process of writing allows us to interact with ourselves, our minds, our feelings. The inward and outward direction of our awareness during the writing process transforms our experience our understanding, our knowledge, and our skill.

Writing is transformative because it–

1. Let’s us discover what we know.
2. Let’s us discover what we don’t know.
3. Helps us recognize and trust the natural organizing power of our own minds.
4. Spurs our thinking further.
5. Moves us into a reflective mode that lets us consider larger, more complex relationships.
6. Moves us into an analytical mode that allows us to examine the parts to get to the whole.
7. Moves us to examine and explore our language.
8. Stirs our creativity as we play with figurative language.
9. Establishes our own voices.
10. Reminds us that writing is itself a simple, natural process of self-expression that everyone can enjoy no matter the task or intention.

 

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More Than Just a Comparison

Posted on May 17, 2012 by dara

Over the years, I have observed students’ struggles with writing comparison papers in composition classes. Invariably, a student’s thesis will end up being that two things are alike or two things are not alike. Getting students to make the leap from this structural statement to a more focused point about what the similarities or differences reveal, suggest, or imply takes a round of repeated discussion.

Recognizing how a thesis develops the understanding of a topic beyond mere points of comparison is fundamental to realizing that discussion in a paper should extend the understanding of a topic in some way that is uniquely the writer’s. College writers are joining the academic dialogue, participating in what it means to become college educated.

Comparison papers are requisite in composition classes, but that requirement is a little like algebra. Most college graduates won’t be called upon to write comparison papers later in life anymore than they will be called upon to use algebra as such. Using comparisons to come to a larger understanding of an issue, however, is a skill they will need throughout life and certainly in most learning situations.

Creating comparisons has been a teaching and learning tool for millennia. One of the six systems of Indian philosophy, first taught by Gautama and known as Nyaya, outlines the sixteen principles for testing the gaining of knowledge. The first principle, Pramana, cites four means for determining valid knowledge: perception, inference, comparison, and verbal testimony. With comparison, one gains “knowledge of something by comparing it with another well-known object.”1 Here is metaphor; we “gain knowledge” of something by comparing it to something else. So students have been using this means of gaining knowledge from about 400 BCE and continue today. The struggle to compose a thesis presenting knowledge gained from comparisons remains a valid and necessary part of the learning process.

Go forth, compare, and extend your understanding.

Reference:

1. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Bhagavad-Gita: A New Translation and Commentary, Chapters 1-6. Fairfield, IA: MIU Press, 1967, p. 353.

 

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Storytelling for Writers

Posted on May 8, 2012 by dara

Listening to some great stories today during a storytelling performance session reminded me that the art of storytelling can be an excellent exercise for writers. To tell a story artfully, capturing the listener’s attention, a storyteller must know all the component parts of the narrative but then be able to stand apart and enliven the narrative with gestures, voice, and timing. It is not enough to just tell the story, the storyteller must be able to create the significance of the story in a manner that is dramatic enough to stay with the listener.

Writers follow the same path. They have to establish the components of their essay or article, but they also must consider the most effective way to get their readers to be receptive to their points. They must shape the significance of their thoughts so their readers cannot miss it, and at the same time they must create a tone in their writing that encourages receptivity in their reader.

As brainstorming or even an editing technique, a writer can gain from telling someone what he or she is trying to say. An additional step could be then to see if the reader finds that meaning in the writer’s words. We are always trying to find ways to make our writing better, a conversational (storytelling approach) could be a useful aid. After all, who doesn’t love a good story?

Of course, the old adage “Show, don’t tell” has to be kept in mind. Creating that sense of immediate experience is still of primary importance in any kind of writing. What I’m suggesting here with the conversational technique is more for the brainstorming or editing phase.

 

 

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