Intertextuality: Wednesday Workshop

I had this amazing conversation with my friend, Roger Moore, last week about how we as writers often find ourselves following the same themes as each other or even using similar language in our work without being aware of it. He explained the concept of ‘intertextuality’ and I asked if he could expand on the idea for a post. Here is the marvelous result! Enjoy!

rogermoorepoet

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the dialog that takes place between texts or as Merriam-Webster explains it: “the complex interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as a basic to the creation or interpretation of the text.”

Often we write from an intertextual perspective when we respond to other writers and their thoughts and imagery. This is why, in the creative process, reading can be as important as writing. Reading expands our vocabulary. It reinforces some of our own opinions and challenges others. Without reading, we are lonely rocks in sunless seas.

To be creative, we need to be aware of what others are writing and how they view the world we inhabit. When we read creatively we read with an eye to improving our creativity and our structures. We look for new ideas, new images, new words, new ways of expressing our thoughts.

Often we think we are being original…

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