The writing process: ANIMALS OF CHRISTMAS

The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

 

--Aristotle. (anticipating modern art by a coupla millennia!)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

     Being neither Aristotle nor a modern artist...hmm, why do I like this quote? Because...oh, before I go there--if you have a thought or a response to this quote, why not pause for a moment and phrase it in terms of a comment at the bottom of this posting?

     Okay, I like this quote because it indeed applies to art, but also poetry and prose, where significance is the goal. Not for my writing to be significant (although that'd be nice!) but for my ability to enhance or clarify the significance of the underlying truth. Great poetry explores truth from unique angles, offering the reader a different way of looking at, or through, reality. Story-telling is expected to be entertaining, of course, but if the characters don't bump up against some profound truths now and again, well, what kinda story is it that doesn't involve love or death or heroism or the clash of ideals and reality?

     I wrote THE ANIMALS OF CHRISTMAS to be, primarily, entertaining. Along the way, as should have been no surprise to me...the characters started to take on life of their own. The animals revealed their unique insights into events around the time of Jesus' birth. Was this intentional, like writing an allegory or a moralistic tale? Not at all, I just set out to have a whopping good time writing stories for my grandkids' enjoyment. But as I mentioned--encounters with truth will occur--and that's what happened in these stories.

     In the next few posts, I'll talk about my writing process. Inspiration and perspiration, Spirit and serendipity--big themes for me.

=======================

 

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.

 

Winston Churchill