Ever thought about what this really is? Is there such a thing as complete silence? According to Merriam-Webster, silence is the "absence of sound or noise." Even when you sit as quietly as you can in silence, there is still the sound of your own heart beating, and the rhythm of your breathing.
To a person with tinnitus (like my boyfriend) his version of silence is roughly like this: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE." Seriously, he says it never stops. Which is why he likes static; he says it drowns out the screeching in his ears. I am convinced he's simply using his tinnitus as a cover-up for torturing me with radio static, fuzzy sounding walkie-talkies, and droning talk radio.
My version of silence is like this: (insert several characters talking, trying to explain their story to you). While this may not be actual sound, I'm sure many writers out there will agree that there is so much "noise" going on in their heads at any given time, that true silence eludes us, too.
My sister and I (also a writer) absolutely HATE the sound of dismbodied voices talking on a radio. People talking on tv or in a movie is okay, because you can see them. But for some reason, droning voices on a radio makes both of us crazy! She thinks it's because the voices on the radio are competing with the characters' voices in our heads. (added bonus to being a writer: you can have voices in your head and it's nothing to be alarmed about!) At any rate, she and I agree on this one.
I wonder if cavemen writers had the same problem?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
The voices in their heads were probably mumbly, so perhaps they could have withstood static. Perhaps the earth-shattering roars of giant carnivores provided their own kind of static. Who can know the inner mind of the Caveman Writer? I'll imagine that he or she was rather introspective and liked to listen to birdsong. I hope cave birds didn't shriek, too.
Post a Comment