Any Artist will tell you how important negative space is.

The blank spaces on the canvas are as important – if not more important, than what you lay down on the canvas. The mind acknowledges what you consciously left off and completes the picture for you.

The same goes for the spoken word. Any narrator worth his salt, uses brief moments of stillness to add significant weight to the words he uses – before, after, and often mid-sentence. As important, is the length of the pause. That silence often says more than the words spoken.

The real craft is to judge the length of the silence. Gifted spokesmen stretch the pause to such lengths, that one almost starts feeling uncomfortable, wondering if anything is wrong. Most Politicians and TED Talks Speakers use this powerful tool to hold our attention.

We feel the rush of relief and our attention is captivated, when the words suddenly flow again. Using tempo in the speech is just as effective – slowing down and speeding up, keeps us in their grip.

That space, the moment of silence is a valuable tool and a special gift.

One is reminded of the speakers blaring “Mind The Gap!” on the British Subway System – although an entirely different context, but the message is appropriate in terms of using the spoken word. That gap of silence, that space of nothingness, is where the treasures lie. The magic lies in the spaces of no sound.

Musicians too, know very well that music is simply sound, and the absence of sound, as well as the combinations and timing of notes.

The same can be said about writing on paper by hand, with a pen – preferably a fountain pen. The moment a writer pauses, waiting for the words to come. When now is the only time and here is the only space. The silence is used to gather one’s thoughts, waiting for the words to come in a flow that makes sense. When they do arrive, that space of quiet changes to the familiar sound of pen on paper.

That ‘scratchy’ sound referred to as feedback.

When reading a hand-written letter, one can almost feel and hear where the writer paused, where he wrote faster, where he hesitated, where he pushed harder down on the paper.

I personally, need that feedback in my writing, I need to hear the scratch.

I love music but can’t write when music is playing. I need the pauses of absolute silence, the hesitation in nothingness, interrupted by the sound of nib on paper. The silence that can be described as the absence of noise, not sound.

There is no better tool when writing than a fountain pen, precisely because of the sound when writing, and no sound when pausing. I love a broad nib, the way the pen simply glides across the page. But sometimes I get no feedback, so I have to grind the nib – just a little, to get the sound and feel the resistance again. Thoughts don’t flow without it.

Is it just me?