Empty Space, Notated.
Stories, with no words.
“Music is the space between the notes.” — Claude Debussy
Most of my astronomical career has been dedicated to searching for knowledge from the space between stars, the voids between galaxies. A hope, I suppose, that we might learn just as much from what we can’t easily see as what we can. Indeed, isolated atoms floating around between the stars end up being the fuel for future star formation, and isolated galaxies from the cosmic void our greatest teachers on how galaxies evolve.
As I slowly grow as a writer, I’ve been learning to think more about not just the words, but what’s between them. Words, I think, cast shadows. Sometimes we feel them. This can be especially apparent when we cut a story, or a sentence, down to its barest bones. I’m fascinated with the power of brevity: 6 word stories, 3 word mercies, even 1 word poems (like as referenced in this post).
So today, I wanted to share a little experimentation with this idea taken to the extreme.
Now, to be clear: I love words. So many words. Sometimes they tumble out. Like: I was talking to a guy the other day who was so excited because he was writing without punctuation without all those marks slowing him down getting things down onto paper and out of your brain because we just want to get a concept across and it’s better to just let it all flow because there’s not enough time to control everything that is happening so just let go.
(Phew, I need a breath).
Words, I often think, can save the world.
And yet, sometimes there aren’t any words. Just a void. But even in the emptiness, there’s still something there. The story goes on.
But how do you say it?
Well, I’ve been wondering whether you always need the words. Could just the marks, just the space, be enough? Sometimes, perhaps, the words just might need to step aside to leave room for the story.
Take your time, and consider the following wildly different stories, juxtaposed:
, . !
! , .
,! .
! . ,
That last one gets me.
Sortof like this story, perhaps, of loss:
,!;!!! . . .
Or of hope, realized:
, , ? , … ? … , !
Some stories are simple:
? ! .
Some, quite complex:
; ; – . : . “”? ; … ! : .
Some stories might satisfy:
,. ? :. !!
And others seem more real:
… ? , … , ,
A Romance:
!,.;!,–,!.!??... … ? !!!!
Thriller, perhaps?
!!!? :. :! : .:–!:!!!
And a few others that, to me, have seemed pointed enough:
, . ,. ! ! . … … ,!. …
? ? ?? ???? ???????????????????? … … .
?!~””,.;:-+./\()!.,?**%@..,#- –’: .
… ? … … .
,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,. !?!: ,(). .
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