Droplets from the Inkwell

The magic of writing

I don't know how well this fact is known by the people who read my stuff on this site, but in addition to being a writer, I'm also a witch. I am reminded years ago that I said something about writing on an email discussion list and a Wiccan elder commented that there is a strong connection between the Craft and any craft. Both are about creating and/or changing something. Both are about a vision and having the will and skill to make that vision into a reality.

I remember years ago, I was writing something -- probably a journal entry -- by hand. While part of my brain continued to focus on what it was I was writing, another part of me started to focus and pay attention to the process of writing itself. I observed how a handful of careful pen strokes against the paper would form a letter. More pen strokes would form another letter. After enough letters were crafted from individual strokes of the pen like this, a word would emerge. Then more words. Eventually, enough words, with appropriate punctuation added, would be crafted to create a full thought: a sentence. I observed how this process of making hundreds of tiny marks on the paper would eventually comunicate complex thoughts and idea. I saw this as a truly magical act with an incredible outcome.

This is why I often enjoy going back to writing some things out by hand -- providing I have the tools, materials, and environment I need to keep my hand from cramping up within five minutes. Yes, the forming of ideas, thoughts, and stories through clicking keys on the keyboard is equally powerful and magical. But it just doesn't have quite the same effect for me as and does not reveal the magic to me as well as watching that tiny ink marks transform into something far greater.