"Ghosts and Documents"

Looking around, waiting for the lecture to start, I wondered what possessed all these people to come here tonight? What were their reasons? Were they also aspiring writers like me wanting to hear words of wisdom, or just experiences from a great author? Were they forced to come; to get credit for their class? Or were they locals who just love to read and want something to do for the night? We all came there for different reasons, probably got different messages and revelations about writing, reading, ourselves and the world. Past. Present. Future.

I just came from a lecture in our auditorium; British author A.S. Byatt came to speak to the town of Bexley. Her lecture titled, “Ghosts and Documents” was basically about different authors and their left behind letter’s and words. That then got me thinking about how words and the stories and poems writers create are literally the ghosts of them. Then that got me thinking about any art form and how the art is left behind when the person dies; so a part of the creator is still there like a ghost. That to me is a wonderful feeling, that the words that I write will live on and hopefully touch someone for future generations to come. I had so many thoughts running through my head, so many questions, so much information to soak up in so little time that I spaced out a couple times.

I was about to leave when she finished speaking but they had a question and answer forum that was open for the audience. I didn’t get up to ask her a question but I stayed trying to soak up every little thing that she said. Fortunately, every question were the one’s I wanted answers to.

The first person asked her about her thought process and what happens during then. She talked about how she has a notebook and she puts her ideas in there…and at first it’s very slow going. She said when she first started she wrote about 20 drafts for her first novel. Now she doesn’t fully sit down and write until she’s confident in herself and the idea. Until then she puts pieces of her thoughts in this notebook and when she sees something and gets the urge to write she’ll spend about 2-3 hours writing on it every morning. She also said that even when she wasn’t up to writing, she always made sure she was reading something that related to what she was writing about. This little tip I’m taking and applying to my own writing. I’m always so interested in other people’s thought processes while creating.

The second question was one that I was thinking about during the lecture as well; they asked what will she thought about technology and how it’s basically killing the written word. Emails and texts are faster than letters that can take days to travel. People argue and send love notes through Facebook and text messages. There’s basically no need to write them anymore. I agree; what will happen to written words? She answered by saying that there is a trail with emails as well. Even if you delete it from your inbox or computer, it’s still there. It lingers. But there’s just something about reading words that were handwritten. It seems more heartfelt, you can feel the emotion just seeping from the page.

I could go on and on about my experience tonight and what I’ve learned from her but this post is pretty long.

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Remember “Art is long, life is short.”