I had a bit of an interesting experience just now. I was reading something over on Medium and stumbled across a few paragraphs that shook something in me. I won't share them because that's not the point. They weren't the sort of thing you share. So often, when talking about contemporary writers (joes like you and me scattered across the Internet), we tend to capitalize on the bits that are memorable. The good kind of wisdom that we share to our stories and our walls. A virtual way of nodding our heads sagely at this bit of contemporary sagesse.
Other times, we'll commend someone's use of words. Some of my favorite writers today hold that title 95% for their use of language. And it's no small achievement. Not everyone dares jump-rope with language, largely because in our day-to-day routines, we have rendered language banal. We restrict ourselves to a handful of most common phrases, and expect those to serve us well enough. They do, mostly, which is why writers seem special when they use phrases outside of our limited palates or combine words we wouldn't have thought of.
But to read something that strikes an emotion. Something that makes you go "this here, that's something". Not because it's a clever or gorgeous use of words. In my experience, this usually happens (for me, at least) when the words are simple. When the writer's not trying to be fancy. And not because it's imparting wisdom, or because the author has stumbled on a particular idea that you wouldn't have thought of in a million years, but now realize is inexplicably clever. None of that.
To find a writer, a phrase, a single short sentence that makes you step back and do a double take because it's real. Because it's character. That's rare. In my experience, it's extremely rare. And obviously, extremely subjective. What I consider to be prose with character might not at all fit with how you understand that notion.
Yesterday, I wrote about one of the downsides I perceive in writing environments (like this one, in fact). Now, I guess it's only fair to mention a positive one. I don't know why I'm telling you this. It's not something special, except only for me, and only temporarily. When you read something that makes you feel alive and un-alone, you get a rush of energy through your entire body.
It's extra special with living authors. With every day joes, as I said. Not because someone understands you. Again, this is not that. Writing that makes you feel understood is in a different category. I'm talking about writing that vibrates with its own special gusto, its own unique brand of style. It may not be yours, but it is undeniable. And it forces you to read and say yes, there's someone being alive. Just over there. It's all real. Just for a moment.
That's pretty damn rare. And, in my opinion, worth celebrating. :)
Does that make sense?
