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"The Engineering of Words"
Topic Started: Mar 20 2010, 02:37 PM (53 Views)
NathanielBlack
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A Fence ::::::

A Gate ///

A Wall |||||||

And a Bridge ====




For all respective purposes I could just submit this and be done with it; just give the theme its mention, then add this text saying so and be done with it.

Would it win?.... Not unless someone took some greater meaning from the brevity than is actually there.

Would it be respectful to the contest?.... Not very likely, and especially not to the sponsor(s).

Would it be good?.... What do _YOU_ think?


But why? Why would I or anyone else want to do that? Want to just submit a seemingly half-hearted entry into anything and be done with it? For that matter why would anyone want to write about doing so?

I've been in Wordgrove since two-thousand-five (That's "2005" for you numbers folk) and in that time i've discovered many things -- likely more than I can ever list, or even remember.


I've discovered one can have a "home" in a virtual world without playing a part in a fiction, and sometimes a family to come with it......

......I've discovered that no amount of virtual contact can totally make-up for actual, physical contact: A hug; a kiss; a simple touch.

I've discovered I have a talent for writing far greater than I expected I would......

......I've also learned that talent is so rooted in personal grief and pain that I may never see myself finish a novel in my lifetime -- or may possibly end my own life shortly thereafter if I did.

I've discovered for the first, real time online what it was like to have near-total freedom while learning to be my true self at the same time instead of an acted role......

......I've discovered that, ultimately, that freedom is limited to the physical presence of that computer -- be it desktop or laptop -- and where that computer is currently located.


And perhaps, of all the discoveries i've made in There -- in Wordgrove especially -- these are the most relevant to the topic at hand.

A fence; a gate; a wall; and a bridge.

Would that I could take you all upon a journey through my life; tell an epic tale of triumph and tragedy which you all would be so eager to hear. As I write this very sentence many hours have passed, writing far more than the simple content of a small contest would ever allow -- or even request. An effort on my part to earn my keep and support several friends by entering a submission which has already taxed me physically; mentally; and emotionally before even being halfway done. It would have been an epic-sized tale of exile and true love; of the responsibility of a gift, and the damning curse it shares fate with; a journey of self discovery -- and a tragic story of broken wings no longer able to fly. Even now I can hear a certain "humble sponsor" groan at the loss of reading an epic which may well have rivaled Homer himself had it been entered into the contest.

But regardless of the story, each part would lead to the same penultimate ending.

You see, there is a reason this Wordgrove Prize -- the last, great Wordgrove Prize perhaps -- allows the option of four subjects, and it may not even be one a certain sponsor himself is aware of.

A fence; a gate; a wall; and a bridge.


They are all one-and-the-same.


Every fence is a sealed gateway to forbidden lands and hidden paths; a half-wall between two sides, friend or foe; and a bridge to overcoming greater heights, both literally and metaphorically.

Every gate is a fence undone to those restrained; a foreboding wall penetrated to those hopeful; a bridge to another realm beyond not only ones world, but ones very perceptions.

Every wall a restricting fence against both the barbarians at the gate, and the open mind of a nation; a gate unrelenting to hidden treasures beyond; a bridge to a greater perception, and for those whom walk the "high road".

Every bridge is a fence restricting even the most determined of invaders; a gateway to exploring new lands and mending old rivalries; and a wall of defiance against men, gods, and nature herself whom seek to restrict mankind from reaching a distant shore.


Ask the man unable to leave his home and he will tell you a door is as solid a wall as any brick. Ask any builder whom builds a bridge and they will tell you every bridge is not only a structure, but a symbol of unity and a gateway to new frontiers. Ask any woman whom grows a vined garden and she will tell you a fence is the bridge upon which her garden may grow.

They are all one side of the shared whole.


The answer to "why" is the same; individual, yet united; different, yet the same; critical, yet insignificant. Everyone has something to hide, and that can often be the most telling. Obviously, this isn't actually about something as trivial as a half-hearted entry; just the opposite. It's about the most simple of things and how it only takes the most minute of connections to link them all together -- or the most insignificant of cracks to tear them apart.

In the end, every fence; every gate; every wall; and every bridge serve their own, unique purpose -- and yet every-single-one can unite, or tear-asunder, anything. A fence can define borders, or contain others; a gate can grant freedom, or can deny it; a wall can protect, or it can oppose; a bridge can unite distances, or can invite troubles. Each could even do both, or neither.


The moral? Writing is no different. Choose well the words you craft; the thoughts you fence into them; the walls you construct with them; the chasms they bridge; and the gateways to the mind they open. Just a little food for though.



Write well; Write wise; Write true.





"Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword."
— Edward Bulwer-Lytton

"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."
— Cyril Connolly

"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters."
— Solomon Short

"Why do writers write? Because it isn't there."
— Thomas Berger
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NathanielBlack
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[The above writing was a Silver Quill winner in the 2009 WordGrove Prize. It was the only one I ever won, but I was both surprised and appreciative to have had it. I would also like to personally note that this story -- at least to me -- seems to have taken on even more substance with the now-former There having passed-away. --Black]
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