Virginia Woolf On Writing

 


 




The last months I was wondering: Why is the Dutch media just following the talk of the day - even the newspapers that used to be good?

This is what Virginia Woolf says about writing.

How can we combine the old words in a new order? So that they survive and create a new beauty. So that they tell the truth. That is the question. Think what it means (...) every newspaper will tell the truth, or would create beauty. (...) Words don't live in the dictionary, they live in the mind. (...) they are much lesser bound with ceremony and conviction than we are. Royal words meets with common words, English words merry French words, German words, Indian words and negro words. (..) Think before you use them, and feel before you use them, (...) They are highly democratic too, they believe one word is as good as another. (...) They hate being useful, they hate making money or lectured about in public. Perhaps there is one reason why we have no great poets, novelists or critic writers today, we pin the words down for one meaning, there useful meaning.

So now I know the answer of my question: They are not telling the truth or create beauty, they are bound, they don't live in the mind, they don't think before they use the words, they don't feel before they use them, they are not democratic, they are only using them useful and to make money. So in Virginia's words: it's bad writing.

Listen for yourself.