Comments on: How Intention Adds Fuel To The Writing Fire http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/ Kindness, clarity, confidence, compassion. Watchwords for writing on the web. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:25:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: An ABC of Confident Writing | Confident Writing http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-21326 An ABC of Confident Writing | Confident Writing Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-21326 [...] I is for intention: the fuel of the fire [...] [...] I is for intention: the fuel of the fire [...]

]]> By: Joanna Young http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-1884 Joanna Young Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:46:11 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-1884 Vaidy, I agree absolutely it's good to have the discussion! "I intend to capture the beauty of the sunlight" and "I intend to wake up someone up to the beauty of the sunlight" are different kinds of writing intentions but both very positive, powerful and inspirational (in my book). And both equally valid. Different times and moments demand different kinds of writing. But both are different from the narrow intention of setting out to write the poem :-) Thanks Vaidy for keeping me on my toes! Joanna Vaidy, I agree absolutely it’s good to have the discussion!

“I intend to capture the beauty of the sunlight” and “I intend to wake up someone up to the beauty of the sunlight” are different kinds of writing intentions but both very positive, powerful and inspirational (in my book). And both equally valid. Different times and moments demand different kinds of writing.

But both are different from the narrow intention of setting out to write the poem :-)

Thanks Vaidy for keeping me on my toes!

Joanna

]]> By: Vaidy http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-1883 Vaidy Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:32:36 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-1883 Thanks Joanna for your response. Like you, I am also with Zinsser. He so beautifully shows how intention is inseparable from the individual – “Call it the writer's soul… Nobody can make us write what we don't want to write… We get to keep intention… Writing is related to character…” I would imagine that he believes that writing is an egoistic act – more egoistic than altruistic. I believe so. That’s why I would rather say "I intend to capture the beauty of the sunlight ..." instead of, as you put it, "I intend to wake someone up to the beauty of the sunlight..." Well, when we deal with such abstractions, it may not be possible to agree entirely one way or the other. That doesn’t matter. What is important is that we continue to have these wonderfully stimulating exchanges and profit by them. Thank you so much for initiating such exchanges. Vaidy Thanks Joanna for your response.
Like you, I am also with Zinsser. He so beautifully shows how intention is inseparable from the individual – “Call it the writer’s soul… Nobody can make us write what we don’t want to write… We get to keep intention… Writing is related to character…”
I would imagine that he believes that writing is an egoistic act – more egoistic than altruistic. I believe so. That’s why I would rather say
“I intend to capture the beauty of the sunlight …” instead of, as you put it,
“I intend to wake someone up to the beauty of the sunlight…”
Well, when we deal with such abstractions, it may not be possible to agree entirely one way or the other. That doesn’t matter. What is important is that we continue to have these wonderfully stimulating exchanges and profit by them.
Thank you so much for initiating such exchanges.
Vaidy

]]> By: Joanna Young http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-1882 Joanna Young Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:32:46 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-1882 Thanks for your lengthy comment Vaidy. I suppose what I am meaning by intention is not so much "I intend to write a poem" as "I intend to wake someone up to the beauty of the sunlight as it glistens on the water at the beach at Whiting Bay, to move them with the possibility of change that sense of beauty offers..." and then to trust my unconscious mind to find the words. The intention is positive so it moves me to act, it is part of my inspiration. I think this fits within your gramamtical schema too - but just approaching intention a slightly different way round. Joanna Thanks for your lengthy comment Vaidy.

I suppose what I am meaning by intention is not so much “I intend to write a poem” as “I intend to wake someone up to the beauty of the sunlight as it glistens on the water at the beach at Whiting Bay, to move them with the possibility of change that sense of beauty offers…” and then to trust my unconscious mind to find the words.

The intention is positive so it moves me to act, it is part of my inspiration.

I think this fits within your gramamtical schema too – but just approaching intention a slightly different way round.

Joanna

]]> By: Vaidy http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-1881 Vaidy Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:29:02 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-1881 Intention and Inspiration 1. I intend to write a poem. 2. I am inspired to write a poem. In the first example, it can be said that I feel a desire to write a poem; or, perhaps, it may explain why I am reading a collection of poems (Purpose). Talking about the second example, we can even say that there was no intention whatsoever – to write a poem or even to write anything at all. There is the tacit reference to someone or something that has caused this desire or intention to be felt. With Intention in play, you push yourself. With Inspiration in play, you are pushed by someone or something. Grammar elucidates the difference: ‘I intend’ is active voice, and ‘I am inspired’ passive. There is, however, a shared characteristic, too. ‘I intend’ and ‘I am inspired’ both suggest something impending. And, the suspense, as it were, is broken when we see action. Let’s just explore two possible and relevant actions. A. I intended to write a poem, but I ended up writing some nonsense. B. I was inspired to write a poem, but the inspiration evaporated as enigmatically as it had come. A describes how I failed to do what I had intended to do. B rationalizes my (in)action. Much as one might intend or be inspired to do something, nothing can be said until action takes place. When action does take place, even failure to achieve the object can be celebrated, and inertia censured. I believe that Intention and Inspiration are secondary elements in the development of thought and expression. The primary and fundamental element is a force within, an impulse that manifests itself in the form of writing (as it does in many other forms), about the things that matter to us and stir us. In conclusion, let me quote a passage from ‘What is Literature?’ by Jean-Paul Sartre: Each has his reasons: for one, art is a flight; for another a means of conquering. But one can flee into a hermitage, into madness, into death. One can conquer by arms. Why does it have to be writing, why does one have to manage one’s escapes and conquests by writing? If I fix on canvas or in writing a certain aspect of the fields or the sea or a look on someone’s face which I have disclosed, I am conscious of having produced them by condensing relationships, by introducing order where there was none, by imposing the unity of mind on the diversity of things. Intention and Inspiration
1. I intend to write a poem.
2. I am inspired to write a poem.
In the first example, it can be said that I feel a desire to write a poem; or, perhaps, it may explain why I am reading a collection of poems (Purpose).
Talking about the second example, we can even say that there was no intention whatsoever – to write a poem or even to write anything at all. There is the tacit reference to someone or something that has caused this desire or intention to be felt.
With Intention in play, you push yourself.
With Inspiration in play, you are pushed by someone or something.
Grammar elucidates the difference:
‘I intend’ is active voice, and ‘I am inspired’ passive.
There is, however, a shared characteristic, too. ‘I intend’ and ‘I am inspired’ both suggest something impending. And, the suspense, as it were, is broken when we see action.
Let’s just explore two possible and relevant actions.
A. I intended to write a poem, but I ended up writing some nonsense.
B. I was inspired to write a poem, but the inspiration evaporated as enigmatically as it had come.
A describes how I failed to do what I had intended to do.
B rationalizes my (in)action.
Much as one might intend or be inspired to do something, nothing can be said until action takes place. When action does take place, even failure to achieve the object can be celebrated, and inertia censured.
I believe that Intention and Inspiration are secondary elements in the development of thought and expression. The primary and fundamental element is a force within, an impulse that manifests itself in the form of writing (as it does in many other forms), about the things that matter to us and stir us.
In conclusion, let me quote a passage from ‘What is Literature?’ by Jean-Paul Sartre:

Each has his reasons: for one, art is a flight; for another a means of conquering. But one can flee into a hermitage, into madness, into death. One can conquer by arms. Why does it have to be writing, why does one have to manage one’s escapes and conquests by writing?
If I fix on canvas or in writing a certain aspect of the fields or the sea or a look on someone’s face which I have disclosed, I am conscious of having produced them by condensing relationships, by introducing order where there was none, by imposing the unity of mind on the diversity of things.

]]> By: Joanna Young http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-1880 Joanna Young Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:32:10 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-1880 Rosa, well thank you for teaching me these concepts, and adding so much to my understanding of work, writing, coaching and life in general! Joanna Rosa, well thank you for teaching me these concepts, and adding so much to my understanding of work, writing, coaching and life in general!

Joanna

]]> By: Joanna Young http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-1879 Joanna Young Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:31:14 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-1879 Shari, that's great! I'm glad we can inspire each other as we weave our words together in the blogosphere :-) Joanna Shari, that’s great! I’m glad we can inspire each other as we weave our words together in the blogosphere :-)

Joanna

]]> By: Rosa Say http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-1878 Rosa Say Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:59:10 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-1878 Thank you Joanna for adding my words here! As you well know, Ho‘ohana (and the English translation of intention) is right up there with Aloha as one of my most favorite words, because it IS such an intentional word. This is joy for me, having you help me celebrate the thought, and the living of it. Mahalo nui loa my friend, we Ho‘ohana together :) Thank you Joanna for adding my words here! As you well know, Ho‘ohana (and the English translation of intention) is right up there with Aloha as one of my most favorite words, because it IS such an intentional word. This is joy for me, having you help me celebrate the thought, and the living of it. Mahalo nui loa my friend, we Ho‘ohana together :)

]]> By: Shari http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-1877 Shari Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:03:31 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-1877 I've been practicing this very thing lately. I'd fallen into the rut of putting off and decided that I was getting nowhere. In ordering my tasks, intentionally blocking time and focusing on writing, just as you wrote and Bob Younce attested, I get more done. Your post is a fabulous affirmation that I'm on the right track. You did it again, Joanna. Thank you. I’ve been practicing this very thing lately. I’d fallen into the rut of putting off and decided that I was getting nowhere. In ordering my tasks, intentionally blocking time and focusing on writing, just as you wrote and Bob Younce attested, I get more done. Your post is a fabulous affirmation that I’m on the right track. You did it again, Joanna. Thank you.

]]> By: Joanna Young http://confidentwriting.com/2008/03/how-intention-adds-fuel-to-the-writing-fire/#comment-1876 Joanna Young Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:01:53 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=362#comment-1876 Thank you Amy. This was one where I did dig in deep to try and share something important. I still haven't quite worked it all out in my mind, but I know that it's what makes the difference to my writing, over and over again. I look forward to chewing the fat over it some more when next we meet Joanna Thank you Amy. This was one where I did dig in deep to try and share something important. I still haven’t quite worked it all out in my mind, but I know that it’s what makes the difference to my writing, over and over again.

I look forward to chewing the fat over it some more when next we meet

Joanna

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