When Water Falls from the Sky
What if we had no word for rain?
What if, generation after generation, we simply called it water-falling-from-the-sky?
“Words. I’m surrounded by thousands of words. Maybe millions. Words have swirled around me like snowflakes – each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands. Deep within me, words pile up in huge drifts… by the time I was two, all my memories had words, and all my words had meanings. But only in my head. I have never spoken one single word. I am almost eleven years old.”
– Sharon M. Draper, Out of My Mind
Water-falling-from-the-eye. We need a word for that, too. Sharon Draper’s book is the story of a girl named Melody. I will tell you no more about it.
“I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words
as they tangle with human emotions.”
– James Michener,
from the introduction he wrote for The Dangerous Summer,
Ernest Hemingway’s final book.
“At its most basic, we are talking about a learned skill, but do we not agree that sometimes the most basic skills can create things far beyond our expectations? We are talking about tools and carpentry, about words and style . . . but as we move along, you’d do well to remember that we’re also talking about magic.”
– Stephen King, On Writing, p. 137
The Idea of Writing will likely become the first session of The Ad Writers Masters Class™ at the American Small Business Institute. Daniel Whittington will likely announce the beginning of this class within the next several weeks. There is much testing to be done regarding the platform, the video hosting, the downloadable reading assignments, and the system for the uploading of homework. When all is tested and reliable, we’ll be off on our adventure together!
Think of the first session, The Idea of Writing, as an opportunity to see whether you really want to be a writer after all. When you have completed your writing assignment, you will have a much better idea of whether you want to go on this lengthy journey with me.
I hope you do.
Roy H. Williams