Notes From Internground

Posted by Guest Writer in WBN News & Events      1 comment

Jun
6

Hey, everyone, this is my final blog post as an intern for WriteByNight. As such, I’d like to underscore a very important aspect of writing for me: philosophy. I’ve always felt, to be a truly capable and enduring writer, you must have some philosophy going that informs you about your work, your relation to it, and the point of it all. It’s not always some prosaic, I-am-god-and-everything-I-do-is-divine philosophy, nor is it the philosophy of the starving artist (though that one is something I find romantic and appealing (call me a bohemian)), but it has to be something, some drive that convinces you to continue, to pursue the dream of something just slightly intangible.

Writing is hard to quantify, after all, especially in the face of the 1+1=2 world we live in. There are so many great speeches by great writers claiming the paramount status of the writing endeavor, of its necessity to the human soul, of its viability as a ladder and portal connecting all of the best parts of humanity and how it salvages what good remains with us. Find these speeches, read them, read the letters claiming writing is the form of humanity that aspires to keep us simple and profound, find those arguments put forth that nearly shout the ever-powerful ability of writing to clear minds, to explain minds, to put forth thoughts and share them and make the world the world. All such things, I hope, can inform your philosophy of writing as it has mine.

(More from this author: “Edit Yourself“)

Coming back to WriteByNight, and perhaps what I enjoyed most as an intern here, is the ever-present reality of writers striving to put forth their philosophies. There is not one codifying, unifying philosophy, however, but many at play all at once. Whether it is a Meetup group using the WriteByNight sanctuary to congregate over their tidbits of short fiction, or an event promoting awareness of the dangers and responsibilities in journalism, a party celebrating the accomplishments of moving forward on the written page or else, a seminar dispensing valuable tips about better understanding the deceptively complex craft of sentence construction, or a multitude of other functions and events and episodes, many writers of many stripes come together around the nexus of WBN and come away better connected, better informed, and better-suited to the task of acting according to their philosophies.

Also, these myriad types are able to put their different takes on writing and interests out into a public forum, allowing not only people to mix, but ideas. Isn’t that what the pursuit of writing is all about? If you think so, then check out WriteByNight if you haven’t already. I interned there for a semester and brought my philosophy of writing more into focus. It’s a perfect place for that.

Oh, by the way, my philosophy on writing is that it can inspire everyone. Come be inspired now.

Christopher Savage is a writer living in Austin. He writes poetry, short stories, non-fiction, film scripts, comic books, and one long novel, among other things. He is the founder of the Boho Coco literary zine and blog and is currently attending UT Austin as a Sociology major, English minor. He is survived by his cat Cashew.