Friday, October 30, 2009

The Philosophy of Writing

This isn't what I was going to write about for my first real blog post on The Scribblerati blog. You can blame Lisa for the sudden shift in direction. It's her fault that you're seeing a muggle like me trying to write about philosophy.

Now, let's get something straight at the outset: While it is true that I do have philosophical training (one class in college that I passed with a C) I ain't no philosopher.  Lisa is The Scrribblerati’s resident philosopher and at this point I'm sure she's shaking her head in horror, hoping that none of her fellow philosophers in crime see this blog post. But don't worry, Lisa, this isn’t what you think.

Or maybe it is?

Let's get on with it, shall we? But first, readers, before you read the rest of this post, go back and take a look at Lisa's previous post.

Go ahead, I'll wait.

(Fingers drumming…)

Okay.  Good. Now, did you see this part?

“…I think all of the writing I do starts from the same place.  I want to figure something out. And I want to figure it out badly.  I want to figure something out so badly, that I’m going to write and write and write until I’ve got it figured out…”

You may disagree, but in my opinion that is the very heart of what writing is about.

I think that in order to be a good writer, you have to be a good thinker. Maybe not a philosopher, at least not a trained sense, but you need to be the kind of person who thinks about stuff and puzzles it out.

My own experience certainly fits with that -- dare I say it? -- philosophy. My current work in process, To Kill the Goddess, was born out of my own need to understand the male centric focus of the world's major monotheistic religions. Women do factor into all of those religions, but the focus of these religions is predominantly male.

What’s up with that, anyway?

So, very long story short, all that thinking and pondering has led me to write a book set on a world where the Goddess is the predominant divine force and the male God has little influence.  To Kill the Godddess, is just the first chapter in a much larger attempt to understand the dichotomy between the male and female divinity that exists here in our world.

And I’m going to write and write and write until I’ve got it figured out.

4 comments:

Jon said...

I can't wait to read the new draft!

Lisa said...

Heh, heh. My diabolic plot to turn all of humanity into philosophers is working! IT'S WORKING!! Waaaa Haaaa Haaaa!

Douglas Hulick said...

Test post. Nothing to see here. :)

Jon said...

IT... WORKS!