Part of Week Two: For No One

What is style? by Mavis Gallant was a great little read. It's true, I finally have something positive to say on here. This piece was short, sweet and pretty inspiring. On someone's blog from class, that I can't find now, they wrote that this piece made them want to write a book. I agree, Mavis Gallant made some points about reading one's own work and differenciating types of style that are right on. Using a "true voice" is what writing is all about. I think Thompson Highway said to only write from what you know. MF DOOM, a rap artist, said "[b]y candle light/my hand will write/ these rhymes 'til I'm burnt out/ mostly from experience/ shit that I learned about/ topics or views, generally concerned about". It's all saying the same message. Keep it real. Gallant stated that you can't be a prolific writer unless you have read widely(21), and I agree with that, but I find it easy to bite someone else's idiosyncrasies unknowingly. reading different authors is a great way to learn new styles but one can get too caught up in reading that they never write anything substantial. On the other hand, what would our lives be like without Tom Robbins or Albert Camus. That is just to name a few. Without pocket books we would have nothing to do while we wait for the laundry or lie on the beach. I'll wrap it up with the imagery of a beach and a book.