bell - a verbalization of consciousness

What is the Nature of Writing?

“Straight ahead and strive for tone.” - Paul Desmond

The task of the writer is to bring forth a voice, to convey a sound. On the outside it is simply another form of expression —like painting a picture, carving a sculpture, performing theatre or playing an instrument. The artist in this case plays on meter, on cacophony, on euphany, on analogy. On another level, it is a discipline, demanding patience if one is to be satisfied with the outcome; and yet, maybe satisfaction is not the point. The discipline though is in funneling the richness and vastness of one’s experience through the intellectual center and to strike accord in the reader. Our challenge at the innermost level is to produce in language an echo of what is indescribable. This is a confrontation of what one “knows.”