Library of the Mind

Vocabulary, knowledge, inspiration... emotion.

Vital skills of every writer.

And how come, you say, I am unable to write? However can one write when all that ever appears in their mind is a vast threshold of blankness within, and a visual image of one accurately representable piece of white paper?

If eyes are a window to the soul, then writing is a door to the mind.

These doors for me, are tightly shut at all times, unless circumstances require otherwise.

When they do open, all one can see is organized shelves of concrete, factual information. Like a non-fiction library, with its walls painted light-grey, and the books lined up neatly like they've never once been touched.

Yet, sometimes, a keen visitor would discover a few books that were.. misplaced, perhaps. Hidden carefully among rows of identically brown-coloured covers, it takes truly a pair of sharp eyes, and perhaps the librarian's own carelessness as well, for such an unwanted accident to occur.

For one's thoughts and mind, are what make up that person inside the cover of fakeness and hypocrisy we call 'appearance'. The outside can be packaged into various forms, the limitations to this vary little from one individual to the other; yet the inside composition is of a completely different nature, one that cannot be altered simply, one that speaks the truth about its owner.

And this very 'library of truth', you see, once was a display of shameful and ugly secrets.

One day, the librarian found the long-anticipated formula to change all of that.

Book by book slowly fell into disintegration; the vivid emotions that had been like a shadow, lurking and eating away at her from within, diminished to dust, and then were nothing more. Soon, new bindings illustrating the crammed-in facts taken off school textbooks and research projects replaced the temporary emptiness of those shelves.

Evidence of the past, however, had not been completely erased.

In those moments of guaranteed solitude and silence, she would dig out these remains of yesterday, read, and remember.

And pick up the pen once more, to write, in hopes that a time will come when the new works - a continuation of the past she had once attempted to abandon - may be discovered by a kind soul, whom may read with patience from cover to cover, and offer to help redecorate the rooms and books, into the most beautiful sanctuary one could ever imagine.

A contest entry

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Comments


  • Bitter Irony
    October 19, 2007

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    You have some original ideas expressed in this piece; however, be careful that you don't come across as "trying to hard." Metaphor is great, but make sure you aren't using it for its own sake: also, quality is better than quantity. Using one big metaphor throughout an entire piece (such as you did here, for the most part) can indeed be more effective than using many smaller ones.

    Thanks for entering the contest, and good luck!

    ~Bitter Irony


  • Saej silver member
    October 4, 2007

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    woah... that's deep. lol.

    Score!

    Theme: 10/10 > As complete as complete can be. I must be honest, however. I didn't think so when I first started reading. Of course, you've changed my mind. Great job.

    Originality: 15/15 > Another one that takes the cake, and I don't think I've ever given two perfect scores like this.

    Flow: 23/25 > There were a few spots where I said, "what?", and there's got to be a better word to describe the outward appearance than "fakeness".

    Feeling: 20/20 > Simply, pardon my vocabulary, freaking amazing. I could feel every word of this piece as though it applied to my own life. Very accurate, and wonderfully expressed. Great job.

    Structure: 29/30 > I had to deduct a point, because it isn't perfect. There were a few things, aforementioned and not, that were detrimental to the structure of the piece.

    Total: 97/100

    This piece absolutely blew me away, which is difficult to do. Great job on this, and the best of luck to you in the contest.

  • abba12
    October 2, 2007

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    wow, this is really good. from someone with issues with supressed memory, this particuarly touches me, loosing the old books to be replaced by facts. i had to read it twice to get the whole thing. good work.


  • Asfand
    September 27, 2007

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    Wowzers ~

    What concept ~

    A very good write. It's quite wonderful really, it was a very original and strong concept and the whole story was phrased beautifully ~

    Most of the write was very philosophical ~

    Loved how you started out, bringing the entire focus into view. You chose a very unique writing style ~ be proud ~

    A job very well done ~

    *And how come, you say, I am unable to write?*

    --> Never start a sentence with AND, plus the sentence is overusing commas.

    Other than that, an excellent job here ~

    Theme ~ 10/10
    Originality ~ 14/15
    Flow ~ 24.3/25
    Feeling ~ 17.4/20
    Structure ~ 28.2/30

    Total 93.9/100

    A very high score ~ I hope you shall qualify and bring your talents to the enxt rounds ~

    Good luck!