Thursday, December 13, 2012

WELCOME TO MARTA'S CORNER

Gentile or Jew, this is a time for reflection.
My own balance tells me that I have learnt much. This year has brought me into contact with many wonderful people all over the world, most of them writers or aspiring writers. True friendships have bloomed, as well as the art of giving generously.

As a writer, I look upon life through a magnifying glass. No detail escapes scrutiny, and many of the things I see hurt me. In my craft, I try to make the good and the bad visible to my readers. At the same time, my own visibility gives me the odd feeling of living in a glass cage.

I am the observer and the narrator, but also the observed and the narrated. Does every writer split into two levels of experience so that her/his self breathes life into the characters selected? Is every writer aware of external influences -the layers of literature in the realms of fellow writers- pervading the structure, spirit, rhythm, and core of creation?

Too many such questions haunt my days. I believe that, if we write realistic fiction, there is only one story to tell: that of mankind's plight. We can change the emphasis, the focus, or the tone, but not the kernel.

Writing is my way of processing the information that assaults me from inside and outside.
It would seem as if my comprehension of what baffles me were aided when I see it neatly laid out on a page. This is partly true and partly an illusion; a magician's trick, if you wish.

The illusion is the best part. I feel I have the power to create, develop, and destroy imaginary lives. I also feel I have the possibility of helping real people heal through my stories.

If these thoughts strike an echo in your heart, by all means share with me.


15 comments:

  1. Marta, it was the last part that really struck a note upon my heartstrings. Yes, there is that power with the imaginary lives but it is the helping of others through the written word that is the soul of the writer! We never know at the time our words are penned at what point in time or whose lives may be touched! When we do receive a kind word, a comment, a review, then we know it was all worthwhile. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Thank you for reading, and for all the beauty you bring into my life.

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  2. Marta, it absolutely strikes a chord with me but I'm not sure I could have expressed it. Man's plight is certainly at the core of what I write and what I enjoy reading. I like this idea of "Marta's Corner." We can all learn from you insight and are blessed to be able to do so. Kudos!

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    1. Marta's Corner is a little place from where to exchange feelings and thoughts. Thank you so much for reading, sharing, and for your beautiful poetry!

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  3. I think reflection at this time of year is quite different for everyone. I think all of us on this thread are greatful for the friendships we have formed. The distance to me does not make a difference now that we have the inernet to keep in touch with each other.

    Your train of thought is of course so much more sofisticated than mine, and I realize that it is because you are so worldly. I don't find myself living in a glass cage. I can take the lumps and bumps, I learn from them.

    As far as friends, and people go, I tend to have an instinct or a gut feeling if you will. Most times I am right, however there are times that I have been fooled, but it just makes me stronger. It can also be food for thought, and might even turn into a story.:o)

    Your writing is superb and I will probably never even come close to that kind of success, but I dance to a different tune. It makes life more interesting for me, and easy to meet some wonderful people, who just happen to be authors, poets, writers, educators, and story tellers. We each have a story to tell, each story has a begining, a middle and an end.

    My outlook is that possibly fifty years from now someone will find one of my works on a dusty old shelf, read it and it will make them smile.
    "The river of my life runs through me, in the river are the rocks, under the rocks are my words."

    The people I meet along the way are a blessing, and you are one of them. :o)

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  4. Thanks for sharing here, Patricia. Your voice should be heard in as many places as possible!

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  5. Thoughtfully said, Marta and of course so true for many of us.I always say, "Writing isn't what I do, writing is who I am." How lucky we are to be blessed with both the need and the talent to put the views we experience in life into words in such a way that others see through our eyes.Thank you for sharing your wise words.

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  6. Dear Micki, I am blessed in having such colleagues as you. While the rollblog is for fellow writers to speak about their works (please book your week, by the way,) this is the place for my ramblings. You're kind in calling them wise; they are simply frank.

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  7. So poignantly put Marta - thank you so much for posting your eloquent insight.

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    1. Thank you for reading me, Sarah. I feel very close to you already :)

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  8. Hi,
    As in much of what I write, I too feel like the narrator, the observer, and sometimes the person that is being written about. It is a thin veil that trend me sometimes from reality when I am writing, because I enter into my own, what I call, alternative world, a world where I see things that should be but are not.
    I usually waltze through this world with my characters providing thoughts to jar people into thinking about what matters most in life, to shake their comfortable zone of possessing things, instead of loving and accepting people unconditionally.
    I write in several genres but regardless of the genre, I personally believe we as writers can point to the plight of human nature in man in our writing or for that matter in our music, and we can change things when we are willing to face the decadent nature that we possess and have the willingness to change ourselves. This change occurs when we venture towards love and unselfishness by allowing ourselves to reach out to others, and the more we reach out, the more we draw out the best in people. I believe that.
    These are just some of my thoughts. All of my books reflect my beliefs, what I think, and how I live, otherwise I could not write.
    Shalom,
    Patti

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    1. Patti, I think all true artists try to do the same. Your words, as usual, are words of wisdom. As we search for enlightenment, our change is constant, and if we succeed in bringing about some change in just one other fellow being, we are blessed, because he/she will, in turn, achieve the same through us.
      In other words, I believe we are instruments or intermediaries.
      Thank you so much for your thoughts, my Sister!

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  9. Oh,Super a Marta's corner! Thank you Marta.
    I don't know you enough, but slowly I am learning.
    For me entering in one of my characters is like jumping from one reality to the next. What is the name of the insect with the myriad eye facets? I feel I am one of those. Sometimes blue becomes pink, ugly beautiful, catastrophic, a funny joke depending on the facet I am looking through.
    I have no intention to become a guru dribbling wisdom to a naive audience, I just want to be a run-of-the-mill liar who wears glasses aiming at the back of her head.

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    1. Dear Claude, I love the way you depict yourself. We all lie in some way as we create our stories, but at the same time tell some truths. We know that truth is subjective and partial, but so are certain lies.
      It's not difficult to know me, only there are many "me's" to know :)
      Thanks for accompanying me here!

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  10. dear claude I am a poet in my language Telugu and English ,my thinking has now turned to be correct after seeing you web.The concept of not punishing criminals is from vedic times but now the people are completely against it. This is a big fight let me write more in my next blog kalvala suguna prasad

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