June 2, 2016 in Dag

Why do I write? Because I can’t sing (or play guitar)

Writing is great. I really enjoy it. I love the feeling when I new story idea hits. I love being able to take that idea from out of my mind and see it acquire form on the page. And I especially enjoy it when I hear from readers how much they’ve enjoyed reading the stories. Creating art. Connecting with people. Could there possibly be anything better?

Well yes, I think there could be.

Hard as it is to believe, in an ideal world I wouldn’t be a writer. There’s one thing I truly would prefer to be doing, if I had the ability. I’d rather be singing.

Well, actually it doesn’t have to be singing. It could be playing guitar, or drums, or even violin. It doesn’t really matter. The main thing is I’d love to be able to make music.

I’m not putting writing down. I do think it’s a wonderful thing to be able to do. It’s just that if you were to create some kind of ranking of different forms of art, I would definitely place music right up at the top.

Music is amazing. I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t like some kind of music. There are plenty of people who never pick up a book in their lives, but virtually all of them will listen to music. True, we don’t all like the same kind of music. Some like gentle classical music, while others bang their heads to the loudest heavy metal. But there is still a common denominator. It’s like some sort of universal language that we all know how to speak. There’s something intense about the way we respond to music more powerfully and emotionally than any other form of communication.

I’d love to be able to tap into that power and emotion. I’d love to be a singer or musician. Ok, more likely a musician. Being a singer seems a little bit out there and extraverted for my tastes. But certainly being a musician looks to be rather splendid.

Not that I haven’t tried. I do have a guitar lying over the couch in the loungeroom. It’s been a while since I last picked it up. I can bang out a few chords, but nothing like what any half-decent guitarist could do. Any ambitions in that department have long since evaporated.

So I settle for second best. I’m working hard to produce the best stories I can. Although I don’t think I could ever produce the same kind of emotion someone might get from their favourite song or musical passage, I’m still hoping to get the strongest response from my readers. I’m aiming to put a little touch of literary music into everything I write.

And even though I can’t create it myself, I can always listen to the music I love every day.

 

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