What makes me write is the rhythm of the world around me - the rhythms of the language, of course, but also of the land, the wind, the sky, other lives. Before the words comes the rhythm - that seems to me to be of the essence.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of the natural world's rhythm in inspiring creativity and expression.
John Burnside illustrates that the act of writing is not solely about the words themselves, but rather the underlying rhythms that permeate life and the environment. He suggests that language is influenced by the sensations and movements of the world—nature, other individuals, and the ambiance that surrounds us—highlighting the interconnectedness of experience and artistic expression.
In practice
In a poetry workshop, one could use this quote to explain how our surroundings influence our creative writing.
When you get down to it, the way that the music affects you individually is the most important thing, and when you let things like the location of a band get in the way or have an effect on your overview, you're cheating yourself out of a really good time.
It looks like the writer is telling you a story. What the writer is actually doing, however, is using words to evoke a series of micromemories from your own experience that inmix, join, and connect in your mind in an order the writer controls, so that, in effect, you have a sustained memory of something that never happened to you.
I used to play flute and clarinet at school, and although I wasn't thinking about making a living or getting a pay cheque, I already knew I was going to play music all my life.
I believe that good television should be challenging and frustrating and maddening and thrilling. If you just want to see people who look like you and think like you and do what you would do in any given situation, you'd have to stop looking at TV and start looking in a mirror. But would that be as much fun?
I really, truly believe that writing comes out of the body; of course, the mind is working as well, but it's a double thing and that doubleness is united. I mean, you can't separate persona from psyche; you just can't do it.
A blind man can make art if what is in his mind can be passed to another mind in some tangible form.
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