On Communicating

Hello Friends,

This month’s Patreon sponsored essay was inspired partially by a novel I read last week. The book was set inside a culture I know quite a bit about, though—being an outsider—I don’t have access to many of the details that open up the richness of that culture. I became frustrated with this book because it repeatedly referenced one flavor by name, as if that would explain what the character loved about it, and why a latte made with this flavor combo evoked connection to their culture. The novel made oblique references to the flavor, giving hints of it, but after that, it mostly relied on the name itself, which was a foreign word.

Frustrated, I finally looked it up and went, “Oh, they’re talking about a Berliner. A jelly donut. That’s why the latte is raspberry flavored.”

I’ve read other novels that did the opposite. Books where the author invites the reader into their culture, and does so in a way that is evocative and not at all clunky. It means that all I have to do as a reader is immerse myself in their world and enjoy.

That got me thinking about all the other things we try to communicate with each other. How conveying our passions, our causes, our hopes, anguish, and fears, all hinge on relating just these sorts of details.

So I wrote an essay that begins by talking about concepts used in writing and photography. Here’s a snippet from the middle:

“What are you passionate about? What is the telling detail that will help connect others to your passion?

What is the decisive moment? How do we communicate what is important? How do we convey the kernel of truth embedded in all experience?

How do we share our lives and reach beyond ourselves?

We do so by capturing a thread of imagination, tugging on it, and weaving it into the tapestry we know so well, bringing other people along: into texture, into emotion, into a sense of place and time.

We evoke emotion by saying: ‘This is what is important to me, and here is why.’”

Read the rest of the essay here: Decisive Details.

I look forward to your thoughts!

blessings - Thorn