A World Book Day Prayer

Summary

The website content is a reflective essay celebrating the enchanting power of words and literature on World Book Day, emphasizing the importance of reconnecting with the joy of reading and writing beyond the mechanical aspects of productivity.

Abstract

The essay, titled "A World Book Day Prayer," delves into the intrinsic beauty of language and the transformative experience it offers. It cautions against the industrialization of writing, where quantity overshadows quality, and reminds readers of the initial spark that drew them to words—a spark rooted in wonder and the capacity to transport one's imagination beyond the mundane. The author encourages breaking from routine to immerse in life and language fully, suggesting activities like watching John Agard's "Poetry Jump Up" and reading classics like Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" and Shakespeare's "Hamlet." The piece advocates for a rediscovery of the magic in words, which can liberate one from the monotony of a production-line approach to writing, and it concludes with a call to embrace the freedom that literature provides, especially on World Book Day.

Opinions

The author expresses concern over the modern tendency to prioritize writing productivity (quantity) over the love and appreciation for language (quality).
There is a strong belief that words have the power to evoke emotions, create new realities, and break the boundaries of our immediate environment.
The essay suggests that routine can stifle creativity and that experiencing life fully is crucial for authentic writing.
The author holds that classic literature contains a richness of language that can rekindle a writer's passion for words.
There is an opinion that writers should not become "online-automaton-writers," but rather maintain a sense of wonder and creativity in their work.
The piece conveys that World Book Day is an opportune moment to reflect on and re-engage with the joy of reading and the profound impact it can have on our lives.

On the Magic of Words

‘The bruised moon’ —

‘A summer afternoon’ —

‘horizons commensurate to our capacity for wonder’ —

Beware the writers’ routine that has us churning out thousands of pages a day, so-many articles a week, so many bucks an hour — it all began, this writing thing that we do, with a love of words and it all goes back there –

Being pulled to another thought-space, another feeling, by the ‘ravaged earth’ — any words of wonder and joy, ripe with promises of another reality — they make us look up from our room in our street to the stars and the sky or the brick wall in front of us which begins to blur, dissolve, melt, resolve itself into its elemental dew –

And — of course! — the street you live in is a lie — the whole town is a lie — you are a lie — everything is possible — tomorrow glows and hums, sparks with effs of the ineffable…

Don’t forsake the magic of words for the productivity of a writers schedule. Sometimes, we need to:

1. Get Lost in Life — break our routines, let experiences overrun us like a sea, rising about our islands and leaving us swimming -

2. Get Lost in Language –

Try John Agard’s ‘Poetry Jump Up’ video to hear him savoring words, rhythms, rhymes.

Read classics like Flaubert’s Madame Bovary:

‘The parasol, made of marbled silk, as the sun came shining through it, spread shifting colors over the whiteness of her face. There she was smiling in the moist warmth of its shade; and you could hear the drops of water, one by one, falling on the taut fabric.’

Shakespeare’s Hamlet:

‘What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals. And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?’

Sometimes I have to remind myself: Don’t be an online-automaton-writer whose morning routine and nightly self-development reading produces a perfect stream of articles for popular consumption like a sausage factory of the written word –

Let words set you free again!

Happy Reading on World Book Day.