Blog @ Work

Motivational Monday

Motivational Monday! Author T.S. Eliot, born on this day in 1888, once opined, "Where is all the knowledge we lost with information?" What do you think about that? Is it possible now, in this age of information so readily available at our fingertips, that we can have access to too much information at once, and not be able to gather as much from it? Are we ever at risk of knowing too much for our own good? And how much do you think is enough (versus too much) when it comes to your own writing?(30-Day BC)

I think I know nothing much, but can find all the information I need. I think we got lazy with all that information at the tip of our fingers. Knowledge has to do with taking time to search, swallow and make memory tracks inside your mind. We never have the time to do this nowadays and rehearsing is not fashionable. Everything has to be quick, quicker, quickest. Sometimes I think we are at risk of having too much info, since not all the information is healthy for us or is something we need to know or can do something about. I used to be a news buff, before I joined WdC, now I am spending so much time at WdC I sometimes forget to watch the news. I know a few people who stay away from the news because it depresses them too much, but that is going too far for me: I like to know what is going on in the world. As a writer there is never enough knowledge or information to gather, since we can use almost anything. We as writers are omnivores!

Let's try something a little different today. I found this prompt on Daily Teaching Tools. Prompt: "Write a thank you note to a friend who gave you onion and garlic-flavored chewing gum."(BcoFs)

Thank you for this onion and garlic-flavored chewing gum. I get the hint you don’t want to kiss me, and that is fine by me. As long as you stay my friend. Sincerely yours.

Prompt: Cryptomnesia is a certain type of a memory bias where a memory is mistaken for imagination. It is said that this happens to writers quite often. What do you think about this memory quirk? Have you ever written something that you didn’t know at first if it was a memory or a derivative of it or totally your imagination?(BC)

I think it is difficult to distinguish between memory and imagination sometimes. I sometimes dream very awkward dreams with scenes I have never encountered before, but it has to be inside my mind to be there in the first place. So sometimes I don’t know if it is a memory of times gone by or imagination at work. “The belief that a thought is novel when in fact it is a memory” is indeed something that occurs a lot. I didn’t know there was a term for this. Since this is merely an unconscious process I don’t think I can do anything about it, but be very careful with what I am writing. It may not be that original. As a matter of fact I think originality is something that is overrated. Nothing is original nowadays. But we put things together in a newly fashion and call it our own.

Day SIXTY FIVE "Give It 100!"