In The Eyes of a Writer
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I never gave much thought to why a writer publishes a piece of their work. Simply to entertain readers with their fascinating tales and wild imaginations. Perhaps To release the emotions they endure that others may not understand. It may even be to live vicariously through their characters in an alternate universe. Whatever the case may be, they equally have the same opportunity to allow other readers to understand the message they depict through their work. These authors, through technique, style, organization, and dedication to their work have given us their messages to the best of their ability, so that we are capable of understanding. That being said, you must ask yourself, do you read to read, or do you read to understand?
Once you are capable of understanding why an author has published this piece and for who, you are introduced to different components of writing such as style and technique. This then allows you to develop not only your own style and technique but better your work through the style and techniques of others. Adopting writing habits is a common thing. This is what we call “reading like a writer”.
Soon after I was able to grasp this concept I read multiple pieces of work by Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote this piece known as, Silence – a fable and another one also named Silence the sonnet. Before I read this I asked myself, what genre this is written in, what point the author tries to get across, and who his audience is. i also ask what correlation these pieces have. Poe writes this fable and sonnet, in a gothic mystery type of style, for a more hostile audience possibly old enough to comprehend the idea of death. In his sonnet, Poe speaks of two faces of silence, the one of body, and the one of soul. “There is a two-fold silence- sea and shore- Body and soul(Poe).” He speaks of fear that humanity has of death and how he is no longer afraid. he has come to terms with it.
In his fable, Poe’s narrator is a man who is being told a story by a demon. At the end of the story the narrator explains that it is a most noble story but he can not join in on the laughter that the demon displays. After a full analysis of this fable, I realize that Edgar Allan Poe explains through his story that sometimes we are left alone with our thoughts and that frightens us, therefore we use the chaos as a distraction. Our inability to cope with ourselves and chaos is regarded by humanity’s affinity for chaos. Thesilence within our soul is destructive. “And the man turned his attention from the heaven, and looked out upon the dreary river Zaire, and upon the yellow ghastly waters, and upon the pale legions of the water-lilies. And the man listened to the sighs of the water-lilies, and of the murmur that came up from among them. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude –but the night waned and he sat upon the rock(Poe).”
While I read both these works, i had to ask myself questions in between. These questions include the style and technique the author uses in his stories, which techniques I would like to adopt myself, and how the style of writing complimented the author and the story itself. Once I have identified which techniques I would like to assign to myself, I must determine whether or not they would compliment me as a writer and the pieces that I work on. As an author, Edgar Allan Poe writes using senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, voice). Using these senses in writing allows the reader to better visualize the setting and so on. “The waters of the river have a saffron and sickly hue –and they flow not onwards to the sea, but palpitate forever and forever beneath the red eye of the sun with a tumultuous and convulsive motion. For many miles on either side of the river’s oozy bed is a pale desert of gigantic water-lilies(Poe).” Being able to better visualize the scene and the setting allows the reader to connect to the story more. They get a sense of placement in this story. This is a technique I would like to adopt in my own writing.
To read like a writer is to analyze a piece of writing with the intent to understand and adopt techniques and writing styles made by the author. It also to further understand why, and for who the author has written this piece. Reading like a writer will further develop your own skills and techniques in your own pieces of work.
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Works Cited
Bunn, Mike.”How to Read Like a Writer.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Vol. 1. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor P, 2010. 71-86. Writing Spaces. Web. 2 Feb. 2016.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “Silence – A Fable by Edgar Allan Poe – Poestories.com.” Poestories. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, “Sonnet — Silence” (Text-03), Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, April 1840, 6:166.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
