(Image from Cathay Pacific advertising)
- This is a completely random post, inspired by the introduction to a Radio 4 arts program a few minutes ago. The presenter said they would be discussing a book called 33 Meditations on Death and a film in which the characters have to choose one memory to take with them to the afterlife.
A while back I mentioned a book of poetry called (something like) 13 Views of a Blackbird. The challenge there was, how can you write thirteen different takes on such an simple subject. Imagine taking it to the extent of 33 takes on death!
At first it seems like you would soon run out of ideas. And, yeah, you might. But it depends how much you like to challenge yourself and your creativity. You would need to write beyond the discomfort of not knowing what you were going to say next. You need to step into the void...
The ideas that come before that boundary will most likely be ideas that have also occurred to the majority of your readers. They might appreciate your take on them but they won't be surprised by them.
To find the ideas that surprise your readers, you need to surprise yourself. To surprise yourself, you need to rise to the challenge of writing beyond the usual.
The second topic in the program fed right into this concept. Imagine you had to choose one memory - and only one memory - to take with you into the great forever (for whatever reason). I imagine there would be a fair number of births, deaths, and wedding. Given the predominance of such ideas, how do you find one of those and lift it above other people's experience, or how do you find a less obvious idea and have it make the same impact?
Have the confidence to go beyond the ordinary. After the first few "views" or "meditations", in the place where you currently think there is no more, something different is waiting for you!
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