Sunday, July 08, 2012

What Resonates

I've spent a lot of time today thinking about what makes songs, stories, paintings, or photographs, resonate with people.
I've written things that I thought were really good, but when I put them out there, they fell flat as a dime.  I've written other things that I thought were OK, but nothing special that somehow struck a chord, and resonated with readers.
It happened several weeks ago with a column I wrote about my brothers and father. The piece was entitled Restless Spirits.
Then today my  newspaper column about our first set of Encyclopedia's (it was from a blog post I published last week), received a ton of comments, emails, and phone calls.  Someone shared it on Facebook and it's received 10 comments on there so far. 
After lunch when we took our daily nap, I tapped the Pandora icon on my iPhone and went with the Bob Dylan radio stream. Before I fell asleep, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright, came on.
What is it about that song that has withstood the drift of time. What makes it relavant 50 years after it was written?
The only explanation I can come up with is that it resonates with listeners.
How important is that to what we do? If we as writers could somehow tap into the psyche of America (or the world) and come up with stories, songs, art, or ideas that resonate, our work could make us famous, and most likely outlive us.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:03 PM

    I think the best we can do is to create something that resonates with us and hope we are not alone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with mybabyjohn/Delores. If something fascinates you or moves you, then someone else who will be fascinated or moved is probably out there. I write for myself, but I also keep in mind my audience. I'm quite the tightrope walker.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good for you!!Words are truly powerful! Take care
    x

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think if one writes enough, they are bound to find a common thread with all who read it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I experience the same thing - often times the things I write that get the most attention are not the ones I thought were particularly good. But they usually have one thing in common: they are about an experience that everyone has had at one time or another. They're not peculiar just to me. People love to read about personal experiences - especially if they've had a similar one. We love to relate to each other.

    ReplyDelete

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