Soul, Max Agigian ’19

Max Agigian ’19

Soul

I want to write something new. How would I go about doing that? On the one hand, it’s very easy: nobody has ever written before exactly what I’m writing now. On the other hand, it’s nigh impossible: I can’t imagine that nobody has ever expressed the ideas I express in this paragraph.

A new form of writing seems out of reach, too. Poetry, prose, proverbs, plays. All that’s left is screaming—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH— wait, I’m sure that’s also been done.

As I write this in the Notes app on my phone, I realize that I could write all in emoji. That has all the perks. It’s unintelligible, it tries too hard, and it would probably be a headache for the printers (thanks for all your hard work!).

Even if I could do something new, could it be anything but a joke? Would it be a joke by definition? A joke is the subversion of expectations, and I would subvert the readers’ expectations by doing whatever I would do.

What is it I’m writing right now? Probably some kind of prose poetry. Everything is classified. If you do manage to do something unusual, it’s “experimental.” You can’t write anything that doesn’t fit into a box.

To heck with their arbitrary categories! Frick the system! Down with the status quo, whatever it may be!

I suppose there’s nothing new to write under the sun. Then again, everything must be new in some way. If not, nobody would read it.

Eh, we writers must be doing something right.