I Did It My Way
I’ve never made
it a point to hide or shun the fact that I grew up in a little town near the
Hudson River in New Jersey. You may even have heard of it from time to time on
the TV or at the theater. Yes, I was born in Newark.
I’m not as world renowned as
many others from my state, (but have DJ
around the world during my U.S. Air Force days) However, I did learn how to get my face
slapped in several different languages and UK English is included. I’d learn
the word “Fag” had a different meaning and “Look at the pretty birdy” isn’t a
way to break the ice with a young lady at a pub. So you might ask where this
boat sailing off to? Well, with no further a due, I had another good one sent
into me that has too many directions to answer simply with only a few sentences
and all of the answers I could think from off the top of my head work nicely.When questions come to me for an Ask SD Tracy Harper response asking about what influence writers most, “Knowledge, Experience, or Imagination,” I grabbed a cup of tea, sit back in my chair, and cut off my laptop. There was no way in hell anyone would instantly come up with a short answer for that question particular question. I know some would take the nearest exit or window (if you aren’t on the first floor) and just respond by saying all three. You would be right, but the question is which one plays the larger part. Well now that I have my tea, my sanity has returned (matter of opinion and mine is the only one that counts), and given much thought to how much I’m about to screw this one up. Well, I’m going to look at all three and add a fourth. As you can guess by the title, the fourth one is you.
Now I don’t mean any disrespect for bringing out the Frank Sinatra big guns, but by doing so add to answering the question with very few comments. Sure there are other from the Garden State like the musical group Parliament with George Clinton, Cissy and her daughter (RIP) Whitney Huston, Jon Bon Jovi, Queen Latifah, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jason Alexander, Rick Barry, Count Basie, Jason Biggs, Roscoe Lee Browne, Lou Costello, Joanna Cassidy, Rosalind Cash, Danny DeVito, Michael Douglas, Connie Francis, Donald Fagen, and Steve Forbes. I can fill several pages, but I hope my point about choosing Sir Frances Sinatra (American term not to belittle those of royal lineage or ascend through accomplishments) as a person who has been for many years a singular point to bring one own self to the forefront as a decisive conclusion. Knowledge gives you a way to start, Experience gives you the wisdom to choose, Imagination can give you wonders unrealized, but only you can give it life. And, that is only if you blaze your own trail by doing it your way. For me, this starts with knowledge.
Knowledge
There is an old saying that goes; What you know you know and what you don’t you can learn. Knowledge is an important attribute for a writer, but sometimes it can get in the way of creativity and innovation. This is easily shown with names and descriptions of people, places, and things that don’t exist in everyday life. Knowledge had given us wonders like radio communication, but early interpretations of the cell phone were put on displayed in comic books, novels, TV, and in the movies long before they had ever existed. Because of this and other common understanding through education, we can look at progression of many things and aspects of life and speculate with some reliability what would grow from what we have gained through what we are taught by others and ourselves. Knowledge is the base or foundation where all things are built but never perfected.
There is an old saying that goes; What you know you know and what you don’t you can learn. Knowledge is an important attribute for a writer, but sometimes it can get in the way of creativity and innovation. This is easily shown with names and descriptions of people, places, and things that don’t exist in everyday life. Knowledge had given us wonders like radio communication, but early interpretations of the cell phone were put on displayed in comic books, novels, TV, and in the movies long before they had ever existed. Because of this and other common understanding through education, we can look at progression of many things and aspects of life and speculate with some reliability what would grow from what we have gained through what we are taught by others and ourselves. Knowledge is the base or foundation where all things are built but never perfected.
Experience
You can’t buy it. You can’t even give it away. However, once you get it, you can never truly get rid of it. Although, experience can give credibility to any given writing task, it is also the main cause of a severe lack of additional growth. Take the sport of Track and Field as an example. At one time the world had experienced a person run a mile in four minutes, High Jump six feet, throw the Javelin Throw is one-hundred eighty feet, and the world knew these records would last the test of time. Records were meant to be broken, and experience can bring realism to your story. But, in both cases a writer with experience has insight beyond the superficial. Seven people can witness the same thing and all seven will recant seven different views. I may be able to write about seeing the first eight foot High Jump, but the person who actually preformed the High Jump would be better able to describe this feat in greater detail than I could ever imagine. Experience is learned behavior of what is, but it falls far short of what could be. However, to bring life to any given work through characters, environments, and events, being about to imagine is not only a good attribute for an author to have, it’s their best friend.
You can’t buy it. You can’t even give it away. However, once you get it, you can never truly get rid of it. Although, experience can give credibility to any given writing task, it is also the main cause of a severe lack of additional growth. Take the sport of Track and Field as an example. At one time the world had experienced a person run a mile in four minutes, High Jump six feet, throw the Javelin Throw is one-hundred eighty feet, and the world knew these records would last the test of time. Records were meant to be broken, and experience can bring realism to your story. But, in both cases a writer with experience has insight beyond the superficial. Seven people can witness the same thing and all seven will recant seven different views. I may be able to write about seeing the first eight foot High Jump, but the person who actually preformed the High Jump would be better able to describe this feat in greater detail than I could ever imagine. Experience is learned behavior of what is, but it falls far short of what could be. However, to bring life to any given work through characters, environments, and events, being about to imagine is not only a good attribute for an author to have, it’s their best friend.
Imagination
This is where it all comes together. Imagination is the mother of all inventions, dreams, and possibilities. But, without the person (you) to put it in motion, bring it all together, or make it happen, it is just an unfulfilled dream. This attribute at times closely resembles a leap of faith, except when there is no base for an event that has the possibility to exist in the present or will exist in the future. Imagination can not only bring a story to life, it can also draw the reader into the world the author had created. Unlike knowledge or experience, imagination cannot be taught or learn. These two attributes are influenced from the outside in, where imagination is from the inside out. Describing feeling is a perfect example of the differences. You can learn what feelings are through knowledge. You can only describe feelings you had personally felt through your own experience. Only in your imagination can feelings that never exits can and so much more. When it comes to possibilities, knowledge goes as far as what others give, experience goes as far as what was given to you, but only through the imagination does it becomes infinite. Dream on dreamer because reality can never become a dream, but dreams can become a reality. It is all up to the last factor and that is you.
This is where it all comes together. Imagination is the mother of all inventions, dreams, and possibilities. But, without the person (you) to put it in motion, bring it all together, or make it happen, it is just an unfulfilled dream. This attribute at times closely resembles a leap of faith, except when there is no base for an event that has the possibility to exist in the present or will exist in the future. Imagination can not only bring a story to life, it can also draw the reader into the world the author had created. Unlike knowledge or experience, imagination cannot be taught or learn. These two attributes are influenced from the outside in, where imagination is from the inside out. Describing feeling is a perfect example of the differences. You can learn what feelings are through knowledge. You can only describe feelings you had personally felt through your own experience. Only in your imagination can feelings that never exits can and so much more. When it comes to possibilities, knowledge goes as far as what others give, experience goes as far as what was given to you, but only through the imagination does it becomes infinite. Dream on dreamer because reality can never become a dream, but dreams can become a reality. It is all up to the last factor and that is you.
You
To me this is the one, the only, and the greatest attribute needed by any writer. Knowledge, experience, and imagination are necessary tools, but without you placing each of these attributes to work for you to entertain the reader with new and existing worlds, people, events, and emotions they are just words on paper (or on a computer screen). Now comes the reason why I had listed some many special people who were born in New Jersey and their relevance to this topic of what attribute is most important to a writer. Each person listed had written something from within them and had given it to the world. These works consisted of all four important attributes and the fourth one most of all or how would you not recognize their name (some names are Professional Names). The greater use of one or more of these tools more so than the others is according to the audience the work was written for. This also brings up another aspect that should be considered.
Knowledge and experiences are non-flexible. They can grow, but the information already present is all black and white. It is true or it is not. Even when some knowledge you had learned or something you had experienced is recognized to have been a mistake, it is still unmoving. It still falls into the category of yes or no. imagination and you are products of flexibility. Because what is conceived through your imagination doesn’t exist (at least for now) it is and will never be considered real. If it doesn’t exist, then any idea can take its place. There are very little consequences when changes are made to people, places, and things that live in the world of fantasy because what is being written is nothing but a fantasy. As with each person listed, their outer influences that were given to them through knowledge and experience, but what they gave to the world were from their own imagination that lived within each of them. I hope this answered your question of my list of attributes every author should have. And please, a sense of humor falls under the category of imagination. If not, then it’s plagiarism and that’s not cool. SD
To me this is the one, the only, and the greatest attribute needed by any writer. Knowledge, experience, and imagination are necessary tools, but without you placing each of these attributes to work for you to entertain the reader with new and existing worlds, people, events, and emotions they are just words on paper (or on a computer screen). Now comes the reason why I had listed some many special people who were born in New Jersey and their relevance to this topic of what attribute is most important to a writer. Each person listed had written something from within them and had given it to the world. These works consisted of all four important attributes and the fourth one most of all or how would you not recognize their name (some names are Professional Names). The greater use of one or more of these tools more so than the others is according to the audience the work was written for. This also brings up another aspect that should be considered.
Knowledge and experiences are non-flexible. They can grow, but the information already present is all black and white. It is true or it is not. Even when some knowledge you had learned or something you had experienced is recognized to have been a mistake, it is still unmoving. It still falls into the category of yes or no. imagination and you are products of flexibility. Because what is conceived through your imagination doesn’t exist (at least for now) it is and will never be considered real. If it doesn’t exist, then any idea can take its place. There are very little consequences when changes are made to people, places, and things that live in the world of fantasy because what is being written is nothing but a fantasy. As with each person listed, their outer influences that were given to them through knowledge and experience, but what they gave to the world were from their own imagination that lived within each of them. I hope this answered your question of my list of attributes every author should have. And please, a sense of humor falls under the category of imagination. If not, then it’s plagiarism and that’s not cool. SD
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