I really do think it's pictures before words, but it could also be both at the same time, or like Gombrich's rabbit/duck -- first one then instantly the other, back and forth, each informing the other. There's always a gap, I think, between what we picture and what we say, what we imagine and what we do. I think Derek is right about the creative writing being led along by the language and the same could be said about mind-pictures (diagrams?) pushing the words, or the other way around. It's likely a mix of every possibility back and forth, first word, then picture, and then word, etc. It all comes down to description.
WC --- Armando Baeza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Derek, in the use of paint or clay, to achieve any > abstract design, does one > have to use words?. Does one have to think of words > while whistling? Do > dancers have to think of words while dancing? Or > playing a flute? > > mando > > On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 1:02 AM, Derek Allan > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > For some reason I didn't get Cheerskep'e email re > the above, but I saw > > it on the archives. > > > > He writes in part: 'Writers struggle to choose > the best words -- how > > could that be if their > > thoughts are in words?' > > > > I think the answer is they struggle precisely > because the thought only > > emerges fully once they sense the best words have > been found. Until > > then, it is a kind of embryo of a thought. 'Crime > and Punishment' is > > in a sense just one thought - which needed all > those words to fully > > reveal itself. Dostoyevsky was not writing down a > pre-thought > > 'language-less' idea - like an amanuensis putting > someone else's ideas > > on paper. He was exploring - discovering - his > thought, as he wrote. > > Like all artists. I think we all do much the same > in everyday life in > > a less developed way. > > > > Wordless thoughts would be like 'a painter' who > had never painted > > anything. > > > > DA
