Writer’s Perspective

When searching for an article to comment on, I was immediately drawn to Joyce Carol Oates, To Invigorate Literary Mind, Start Moving Literary Feet. I am a very active girl and love to be one with nature, especially when it comes to running. “Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think what it might be.” (Oates, Para 1,1999).  Feeling my feet pound on the pavement near my home gives me a sense of security and freedom from life’s trials and tribulations. Like myself, Oates finds running helps her write.  “Ideally, the runner who’s a writing is running through the land- and cityscapes of her fiction, like a ghost in a real setting” (Oates, Para 1, 1999).  Anyone who loves to run, or even be involved with some type of sport, can tell you that physical effort inspires the mind, freeing endorphins and creating a high that cannot be unnaturally repeated.  If you just sit, you don’t get it.  Writers are often known for their long walks, or quiet time among nature. I believe that exercise and air help to stimulate the creativity writers have inside them. Concept, themes, and ideas come to life when you have mother earth to reflect on. 

            “Running seems to allow me, ideally, an expanded consciousness in which I can envision what I’m writing as a film or dream” (Oates, Para 24, 1999).  This is definitely how running fits into my lifestyle. My undergraduate degrees are in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing and I always found running to help me convert my writing energies almost instantaneously, leaving room for error. I would hastily write whatever I was feeling, so much so, that I often couldn’t keep up.  Nothing was ever perfect, but I knew that was okay.

            I particularly liked the line Oates wrote when she said, “to write is to invite angry censure from those who don’t write, or who don’t write in quite the way you do…” (Oates, Para 18,1999). Maybe this is because I always write and I know my thoughts aren’t perfect and that people will not always agree. I feel as is if she is saying that there will always be people who are not fond of your written word, but that while there will always be criticism, you need to write for yourself and try to complete a body of work that brings you joy, but is also accurate and factual. This is particularly important in today’s society especial because of all of the new media. People have access to information instantaneously, and can spread something like wildfire. Communities can also create havoc around your words if they feel you are misrepresenting people, theories, or themes. Your writing needs to be ethical and state points that can factually be checked out. There are cruel people, people who are just trying to help, and people who believe and enjoy your work. In order to make it as a writer, or sometimes even just as a person with an opinion, you have to let comments roll of your back that are not necessary constructive, but take into consideration and respond to those people who offer quality criticism.  Writing will forever be a work in progress and people will always be commenting on your work, however, it is necessary that those comments are not because you aren’t doing your best to bring honest and correct information to the table. Keep your own ethics and morals inline when you are writing anything that will be published. It is your time to offer opinion, but do so in a way that will not offend groups and be as precise as possible.

            In the end, the reason I chose this article is because I like Oates philosophy. She states, “my method is one of continuous revision” (Oates, Para. 27, 1999).  I loved reading this because I have often been told that when you revise more than a few times, your work becomes too edited. I think that you can never truly be done with your writing and that there is always room for improvement. I don’t mind revising, it helps me relive my thoughts about what I am writing, and it helps me to improve my words. Revisions can also help you catch mistakes before you publish them, and offer a fresh perspective on the concepts you are writing about. Fresh perspectives are very important in social media because this market is saturated with information and being creative and unique will set you above other writers.

Oates final piece of advice reminds fellow writers that to invigorate your mind, you must keep your body moving. While this doesn’t directly relate to new media, I completely agree and feel that as a society we can’t only be virtual people. While social media enhances my life, it isn’t my only way to feel connected. 

I will never give up my love of the outdoors or my athleticism.  Even when I am older, I will find a way to walk the beaches of Orange County.

Oates, Joyce Carol. (18, July 1999). Writers on Writing. To Invigorate Literary Mind, Start Moving Literary Feet. Retrieved from The New York Times on the Web on August 24, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/library/books/071999oates-writing.html