The Boogie of Writing
By Martin Atanasov
Oh, how I love dancing. Many people do. It’s simply fantastic. All the stress, all the negativity, all the bullshit are gone in an instance once you hit the dance floor. Dancing is easy. You just move your body, throw your hands around like an octopus on LSD and try not to hit your dance partner or neighbour.
However, there is a fine line between dancing like Mick Jagger and David Bowie in the “Dancing In The Streets” video and having moves like these couple:
It’s incredible, outstanding and superb. Some might say that’s pure talent, but the talent is just a tiny piece of the whole puzzle. It takes years of practice, unquestionable dedication and a whole lot of passion for the music to be able to boogie on their level. The most important part of it is understanding the music, its components, and how you can exploit them to create something beautiful, gracious and unforgettable.
Anyone can learn to do a triple step, spin or jump, but one needs passion for the dance to come back every other day to practise to perfect their moves. One needs love for the dance to dedicate their time to make such an exquisite performance. One needs not only to listen to the music but to hear and understand it so that they can interpret it with their dance. Every beat, every sound, every accent in the music can be seen in Thomas and Sophie’s performance.
Believe it or not, writing is just like dancing.
Whenever you are writing, you are actually dancing. You are the leader, and the reader is the follower. Just like in dancing, knowing how to lead will help the reader follow your thought, examples, and notion flawlessly. Just like boogie dancing, writing also has a rhythm, flow and timing. When you master these three components, you’d know where to place a highlight or do some crazy acrobatics. Understanding the flow, you’d control your partner and sync with them supremely. Mastering the timing will give you the power to make the right move at the right time to be most impactful. Like in dancing, this comes with a lot of practice and learning how to read and understand the text in front of you. Pure talent won’t help you with this – a lot of writing will. Everyone can write a sentence, and everyone can scribble what they need to say with a few words on a paper. However, saying something in written form is not the same as expressing your feelings on a blank page. Just as in dancing, when writing, you may do it simple, uncoordinated and unimpactful, or you can do it with passion, filled with emotions, extravagant and memorable. Becoming a great leader is hard, but through practice and devotion, you will learn how to write just as passionately and captivating as Thomas and Sophie’s dance is.- 15.03.2021