{"id":38873,"date":"2021-02-08T06:30:29","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T17:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=38873"},"modified":"2021-02-03T23:24:54","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T10:24:54","slug":"inside-the-writing-life-listening-to-the-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2021\/02\/08\/inside-the-writing-life-listening-to-the-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Writing Life: Listening To The Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Naturally “self-isolating”…<\/p><\/div>\n

Several times last year, I posted on the solitary aspect to the writing life. (I\u2019ve included the links below in case you would like to take a look, or revisit.)<\/p>\n

For me, periods of solitude are a necessary part of the creative process, but within which I sometimes find myself \u201clistening to the silence.\u201d Possibly because I seek my necessary solitude in relatively solitary places.<\/p>\n

On almost every occasion, though, I realize that what I am hearing is not silence at all. Being near the sea, the waves are a constant background murmur on even the calmest days. Some days, needless to say, they roar \u2013 but I would not describe those days as silent, not in any way. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\"\"

Amid the solitude<\/p><\/div>\n

Listening past the sea\u2019s voice, a myriad other constants may be discerned: the tweet and twitter of birds, the hum of insects, and the sound of leaves, moved by the wind. The occasional voice, or car engine, or dog barking, provides a \u201cpop\u201d that marks the contrast.<\/p>\n

Whenever I stop and consciously listen, I become aware of how these background sounds create a texture that shapes my perception of milieu just as much, if not as overtly, as what I see.<\/p>\n

Unquestionably, I bring this awareness to my writing in order to create atmosphere and to \u201cworldbuild.\u201d The process is not always conscious, any more than experiencing the complexity of apparent silence. Yet just as I occasionally pause to consciously listen to the silence, when writing I will actively consider the sounds \u2013 and other attributes \u2013 that best support the mood or physical environment I wish to convey.<\/p>\n

All of which led me to decide this was<\/em> an \u201cInside The Writing Life\u201d post, although it arose, quite simply, out of pausing to listen.<\/p>\n

\"\"

These little guys always have a lot to say — Fantail; credit, B Miller<\/p><\/div>\n

—<\/p>\n

Those Earlier Posts: <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Writing In A Time of Corona Virus \u2013 March 23<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Inside The Writing Life: \u201cNaturally Self-Isolating\u201d \u2013 May 28<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Inside The Writing Life: Fun With Friends \u2013 September 17<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several times last year, I posted on the solitary aspect to the writing life. (I\u2019ve included the links below in case you would like to take a look, or revisit.) For me, periods of solitude are a necessary part of the creative process, but within which I sometimes find myself \u201clistening to the silence.\u201d Possibly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-what-im-doing","category-about-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38873"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38880,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38873\/revisions\/38880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}