Word Waterfall

Ilara Bonaparte

From Milton’s “Non Serviam” to Einstein’s “To be great is to be misunderstood”, my views have changed just as much as the material I read have.  Stuart Mill’s beliefs were changed by reading, thus creating his own philosophy of utilitarianism, and I consider myself alike to him.

Thanks to my devotion to literature I have contracted an unquenchable desire to write it, read it, and edit it.  The whisperings of Shelley and the satire of Saki have allowed me to see into my own writing and improve it.

Fiction, alike to music, centralizes on manipulation of measures, volume, and pause.  A sentence is a measure, subtlety (or vice versa) is volume, and the period is an efficient rest.  This melody of writing must be maintained in order to achieve true expertise.  Writing is a melody in itself whose harmony can only be heard by the trained ear.  The hidden notes- the hidden meaning- can only be found by one who loves the music, be it the music of literature or the music of notes.  Words can flow with a thunderous rush or a gentle lapping.  The expertise of pauses and tone make the great authors stand out from the rest.

Everyone from Malory to Asimov, from Shakespeare to Orwell, from Swift to Shaw, all speak with a rhythm that boasts the darkness and wonder of life.  It is they, and their connection to the waterfall of words, that I admire and wish to duplicate.