Hello!
Its been a while. I’ve been meaning to send this email for some time, but something always changed when I sat down to write this. This has gone through a lot of iterations and now I finally want to share it. Hit reply or comment if you want to talk :)
Every writer’s desire to write stems from either being a poet or a philosopher. Every writer defaults to one of these two modes of writing, and you can clearly see where they belong.
How so?
They both have similar goals, but with little differences. And in these differences you can see how the writing intent changes.
Both seek elegance and eloquence in their writing:
A philosopher seeks elegance by way of sharp writing, writing that makes the reader curious. She wouldn't think twice about improving prose to make it sound more palatable, juicy, savory. The only concern is not being misunderstood. To not have her words twisted to mean something she did not mean. To have fine control over every word so that it produces a very specific meaning. Her writing flows logically, every sentence derived from a previous explanation.
She writes concisely, to deliver maximum output for minimum effort. She only cares that the words carry the ideas fully, without any room for misinterpretation. Here the words don't create the impact, the idea these words carry creates the impact. Concise writing is something only a philosopher would believe in. It is most important to her that the idea is not lost in a sea of words.
She is concerned with simplicity and clarity and precision in her writing.
A poet is concerned with beauty and emotions and style in her writing.
She would not worry about a sea of words, because you need the right set of words to evoke the right emotions. She understands that repetition breeds familiarity, which creates a connection with the readers, allowing her to take them on an emotional journey. She twists and turns words to delight the reader. Her writing has a natural flow, even if it doesn’t follow a pattern, it intuitively makes sense.
There are a number of ways you could interpret her words, and she may never reveal what she fully meant. But people find their own meaning in her words, and upon rereading you may discover a new meaning, something that you missed earlier, adding to the richness of the writing. Because when something is misunderstood the first time round, it becomes much more beautiful after you discover the real (hidden) meaning yourself.
A poet seeks elegance by beautifully composing a narrative, creating a connection with her reader.
(This is the basic idea explaining the two sides)
Both seek to transform their readers in different ways: A philosopher wouldn't worry about the emotional response a reader has to their writing, but a poet would. A poet doesn't write with the intent to impart knowledge or provide explanation, but a philosopher does.
Both write for truth: A philosopher writes to guide people to a truth they do not know. A poet writes to guide people to a truth they already know.
Both write for themselves: A philosopher writes to understand her ideas. A poet writes to express her emotions.
Some writing is beautiful, quite meaningless even, but it feels right, it makes you happy that you read it, it makes you want to appreciate things around you. This is the work of a poet.
Some writing is pointed, sharp, cuts right through and shatters your beliefs, makes you question things, makes you change things, makes you curious. This is the work of a philosopher.
The poet is an artist. The philosopher is a scientist.
These words, poet, artist, philosopher and scientist, each have a certain meaning, they trigger a certain image in your mind, depending on your preconceived notions. You might be inclined to like the artist more than the scientist or vice versa. You might think that the poet has more creativity than a philosopher. Or that a philosopher has more intellectual capability than a poet. This may or may not be true in reality. One is not better than the other, they are just two separate identities. These are just the labels that convey my idea most easily in the English language. You might find better labels in another language (or not).
I find this hypothesis true a 100% of the time for me - I can focus either on making my writing pretty or on making my writing pointed. And I can segregate other people's writing in these two camps. And I think (like the yin-yang in everything else), the most successful writers are those who can walk the fine line between both camps, the poetic philosophers or philosophical poets. Those who write prolifically and have precision. Those who write beautifully and have deep insights too. Those who make you feel deeply, and think deeply.
(Can you do the same and say which of your favorite writers are poets or philosophers or both?)