Looking for Literature
lit - er - a - ture: written works with artistic value: written works, e.g. fiction, poetry, drama, and criticism, that are recognized as having permanent artistic value.
Being around my husband, Michael, as he daily works on his lovely impressionistic paintings, I am constantly reminded that art is a creation. It is not a set of rules to fulfill that magically make the painter's creation art. Michael does not have a degree in fine art, and yet, he is represented by a well-established art gallery. He has friends who do have their M.F.A. - and have been painting for years - and still are not represented by a gallery. The director of Michael's art gallery told him that his paintings are fresh, and different, and that he just likes working with Michael. My husband maintains his own blog with this quote in the header: Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art. Leonardo da Vinci.
As I have been looking to improve the quality of my manuscript with colorful characters, better tension, and so on - I have remembered why I began writing in the first place: the love of a story.
I read books almost everyday that I love and enjoy; many of them contain a few adverbs, an occasional rambling, or other minor written misdemeanors. Sometimes those usually forbidden items actually add to my enjoyment. Why is that? I believe it's because I am seeing a bit of what the writer wanted to say, rather than what they thought they were supposed to say. It's just another reminder that as writer, I'm not only looking for a technically perfect text...I am looking, and hoping, for literature.
