The pre requisite for creative writing: darkness and silence. Though I am currently in possession of both these assets, this, in no form, is creative literature. I'm just venting out some of the my thoughts.
Just now, I was reading a paper on how they found out a new cnidarian that shows anaerobic respiration. Well, this is a huge deal in the scientific community, for we have known a lot of anaerobic microbes, but we believed that all animals (and by animals I mean the scientific term, which includes everything from sponges to humans) were aerobic; and yet this creature, Henneguya salminicola, is perfectly fine without oxygen.
This sent me thinking how to incorporate a good scientific backbone into literary writing. Well you see, I enjoy two types of reading experiences: one is the scientific paper style, where the intellect, and more importantly, the curiosity is stimulated. The other is good fiction that gives a healthy dose of imagery and fantasy. Often, the scientific literature is dry, with nothing but the topic to anchor your eyes to the page, and fictional writing is often a game played with words. I was thinking of how to mash those two and still come out with a decent product. Well, Dan Brown did something similar with deception point; but still, it is a fictional story with science for backing it and making it more believable. What I'm talking about is the skill to present a scientific paper as a literary work. A piece of writing where the core study and findings provide coherence and backbone to the topic, whilst good literature glues the reader to it, a science paper that could interest the masses, a science paper that could be discussed in laboratories and book clubs alike.
I personally think such a paradigm shift could bring about a fresh take on both science and literature. Who mandates that scientific works must be dry and to the point? Every word written is entitled to the advantage of literary elegance. I hope I could someday be lucky enough to read a doctoral dissertation on String theory as the wild and fascinating adventures of a curious child in a magical fantasy world. Just imagine a science report gaining reputation as one of the best literary works of the decade... There lies, hopefully, a bright future.
Just now, I was reading a paper on how they found out a new cnidarian that shows anaerobic respiration. Well, this is a huge deal in the scientific community, for we have known a lot of anaerobic microbes, but we believed that all animals (and by animals I mean the scientific term, which includes everything from sponges to humans) were aerobic; and yet this creature, Henneguya salminicola, is perfectly fine without oxygen.
This sent me thinking how to incorporate a good scientific backbone into literary writing. Well you see, I enjoy two types of reading experiences: one is the scientific paper style, where the intellect, and more importantly, the curiosity is stimulated. The other is good fiction that gives a healthy dose of imagery and fantasy. Often, the scientific literature is dry, with nothing but the topic to anchor your eyes to the page, and fictional writing is often a game played with words. I was thinking of how to mash those two and still come out with a decent product. Well, Dan Brown did something similar with deception point; but still, it is a fictional story with science for backing it and making it more believable. What I'm talking about is the skill to present a scientific paper as a literary work. A piece of writing where the core study and findings provide coherence and backbone to the topic, whilst good literature glues the reader to it, a science paper that could interest the masses, a science paper that could be discussed in laboratories and book clubs alike.
I personally think such a paradigm shift could bring about a fresh take on both science and literature. Who mandates that scientific works must be dry and to the point? Every word written is entitled to the advantage of literary elegance. I hope I could someday be lucky enough to read a doctoral dissertation on String theory as the wild and fascinating adventures of a curious child in a magical fantasy world. Just imagine a science report gaining reputation as one of the best literary works of the decade... There lies, hopefully, a bright future.
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