for thinking people
October 25, 2021
Translating texts into other forms of art is something that fascinates me. Especially when some sort of semi-random, computer-mediated process is involved. There’s something idealistic about it, having to do with aesthetics, beauty, and the meaning behind art which, remember, is holistic. And so, Text to Art is a little program I put together to explore this very thing: How turning a text – a poem, a novel, or a simple sentence – into a visual design would look like.
September 20, 2021
The quotation marks around the title question, why is writing hard, should reveal that it’s a question many authors ask. Well, if we believe Google, at least. In any case, this is something I have also seen in private conversations.
To be fair, in such contexts the question is more implicit. That is, people don’t generally ask directly why writing is hard. Still, I have definitely detected such a mindset.
For instance, when I met an acquaintance after two or three years, he remembered I’d told him I was writing a book – that was Apognosis. “I can’t believe it,” he congratulated me, “you’ve written a book!”
I realized he’d thought I was writing my first book. Since I generally don’t advertise about my traditionally published past, people aren’t aware of it. I couldn’t resist teasing him a bit, so I said (which was the truth): “Actually, I’ve written another three since we last spoke”. You should’ve seen his face. The poor guy was looking at me as if I’d just told him I’d squared the circle.
So, why do people think writing is hard? More crucially, is writing hard? The answer is yes, but probably not for the reasons you suspect.
In this post I’ll try to answer why, in my opinion, indeed writing is hard, and why you should care as a writer (and perhaps reader). If our goal is to produce better literature, we need to know why it’s difficult.
August 16, 2021
Chances are, if you’re a Home for Fiction friend you’re likely interested in literature and writing. Perhaps you are a writer yourself. In any case, you have perhaps realized the effect of holistic creativity, that is, a creative force that spans across art forms.
If you write, you likely also like music or perhaps painting. Maybe you play guitar or piano, or perhaps you like coming up with creative DIY solutions for your home. Bottom line, you are creative in several areas in your life.
Think of famous actors who were also photographers and singers, or of musicians who were also painters and designers. Creativity is very, very rarely limited in one field alone.
This is something you, as a writer, must exploit.
In this post I’ll share some of my own experiences in holistic creativity, showing you how you can help your writing using your other artistic interests. The bonus, of course, is that this is a two-way street: Your other artistic paths can also be helped by your writing!
