Plus the awful sight of Old Joe stumbling through the presidential debate. Am I the person I once was?
Plus this talk about mystery. Old age maundering?
But here's what I see as the core of the matter. It starts out as deceptively simple. Just two words: Why blog?
If you feel you could answer that straight off, then you and I have a problem. If you'd like an hour to ponder, that's a step in the right direction. Take a day, even a week; I have.
But hey, this is not some variant of the English class system based on intellect. As you all know I left school at 15, never having learned how to learn. Being forced, over eight months of National Service, to absorb a very hard subject - electronics, with a dash of physics and maths - took me by the scruff of the neck. Even so I have no "method" of thinking.
Though my attitude towards singing lessons may undermine this vague conclusion. There are no easy theories
For some people blogging couldn't be simpler. They do things and then record what they've done. This strikes a chord and leaves them and their readers without awkward questions. I've done it myself.
But not always. I'm still not clear but my aim may have been to launch dialogues - exchanges which build on what has been said before. Given I am who I am, doing this while simultaneously acting as cleverclogs. My facetiousness is never far away. Laughter, I've found, can bring comfort.
Dialogues, if they are to last, require subjects that have potential. And that can mean abstractions: one such is blogging about thinking. Thinking new thoughts, that is, not recycling clichés.
Perhaps. But if this is the essence of what I've done then it's not working. And, after all, Labradors are subjected to the jab because they've become fat, lazy and have reached a certain age.
Reasons to blog ?
ReplyDeleteOnly my gut feeling and not scientifically researched by me.
Narcissism. A human trait possessed by some humans more than others. It could materialise
In using blog post writing as a means of expressing that attribute to the world at large (showing off?)
Humanoids have an innate gene (or whatever) to explore and expand knowledge and solve problems. Again some have it more than others. It is apparent in the world of physical exploration or scientific exploration but I see it as also being relevant to solving a crossword puzzle, or:
Facing the challenge of putting thoughts into words, and in your case even anally imposing a three hundred word discipline just to make it harder whilst kidding yourself that it is a mark of skilled journalism, which I admit is undeniable, but not necessarily always to the good. Why not try a bit of prose liberation?
Perhaps you are searching for subjective reasons that don’t exist. What a relief that may be?
Sir Hugh: In writing prose one faces two separate requirements: gathering the facts, speculations and opinions one wishes to convey and considering the way in which these elements are presented - in a word, style. And style (or lack of it) is what distinguishes different writers
ReplyDeleteThe more one writes the more one realises that style has its own disciplines and - far from being a restriction - these disciplines promote clarity, wit, narrative interest and coherent argument. In fact, these disciplines - somewhat refined - lie at the heart of the most intense form of writing - poetry.
So what are these disciplines? Mainly they centre on what may be left out in order to make the writing more vivid. Clichés (which arrive as words, phrases, sentences, quotations and even ideas) tend to promote a cliché state-of-mind in the writer. One sees a sunset, one concludes (without a second thought) this is a good thing, one calls it pleasant. Clunk. But sunsets are also reminiscent of atomic explosions and the aftermath of stormy weather. Clichés discourage the writer from thinking about phenomena in different ways.
Another discipline involves mental effort and many find this unwelcome: finding the precise word instead of making do with an approximation. The English vocabulary has about 30% more words than the French vocabulary; the result is many French words have multiple meanings which can blur writing if you allow them to. Take advantage of English's greater precision..
There are other forms of discipline and it seems from your very casual use of "anally" that you think these are bad things. Thus you waffle about "prose liberation" without hinting at what this may look like.Only that it may be longer than 300 words. That self-imposed limit creates a template for what I have to say and greatly discourages surplus wordage. It also suggests a type of rhythm in the sentences I create. It is harder, I agree. But not wilfully so. Always suspect writing that comes easily.The cost may be harder reading.
Finally ask yourself this question. When writing an account of a walk how much time do you devote to the various ways the details may be expressed. Are some better than others? And why?
Also, are you hand-on-heart certain that your posts would not benefit from cutting. That there are no unnecessary opening the gate, walking up the path, knocking on the door, watching the door open..
My comment was intended to offer some suggestions for the question you posed, “why blog?” I thought my suggestions may lead to some further discussion.
ReplyDeleteAs in much correspondence I experience the recipient fails to pick up on the points I have raised, as in this case when two of my suggestions were ignored. OK, they may have been, in your opinion, not worth commenting on, instead much better to give me a long winded “liberated” lecture.
Okay, okay, I'm going to take a few days to think about why I blog. I think my reasons are quite different than yours. But I do know I have learned a lot from your approach, even though it will not be mine. Thank you for all that.
ReplyDeleteColette: I'd be hugely disappointed if you shared my reasons. Apart from anything else I yearn to be influenced by alligators. Or are they crocodiles? I'd love to know what you've learned from me. Really! Truly! It's asking a lot but it's something I could add to my CV when looking for work elsewhere.
DeleteAlligators. They are a wonder.
DeleteI write for myself, to force myself to think more deeply about things that happen to or around me. I'm not a professional. I'm not even a serious writer, but I do want to write a reasonably good post. I think I write better since making friends with you in blog land. You often take the time to elaborate and critique, pushing me in a certain direction. Sharing new ideas with me, challenging me. I appreciate that, even though I sometimes got annoyed with you. In fact, the more annoyed, the more I thought. I enjoyed that.
From you, I learned to write shorter and more concise posts, to not use so many adjectives, and to not use "I can't think of anything to write" as an excuse to not blog. I learned to take writing more seriously, even when I relied on humor. From you, I have found that finding the right word is an enjoyable pastime.
And if you were MY brother... I might say that you are bullheaded.
Colette: You present me with several interesting and - fortunately - rare problems. It is far more difficult to write entertainingly about good things things than bad things. And your comment is very definitely a good thing. At first glance my only legitimate response is one of seventeen ways of saying "Thank you." How boring that would be.
DeleteMy problem is further compounded by my need to say why this comment is a good thing. You have neatly avoided the trap of the generalised statement. By which I mean saying that something is wonderful or rubbish and leaving it at that. You have used persuasive and supportive detail (conciseness, cutting out adjectives, etc) all of which I am forced to agree with. And agreement offers fewer opportunities to be witty than disagreement.
On top of these problems (for me) there is the fact that this comment - as a whole thing - is worth reading by anyone. It has broad, even complete, appeal.
However I have been in this game since 1953 and it is a game I decided would suit me since I was eleven. I have also been an editor of four different magazines which means I have had to get the best out of people without a talent for writing as well as those with it. Criticism without crushing
First, I must avoid the insidious tendency of damning you with faint praise. Praise that looks like compliment but on closer inspection turns out to be a sneer. A variant of this would be for me to suggest - carefully and not obviously - that, yes, I'm glad I was responsible for all your improvements. In fact other important elements are missing here.
Good writing is, by definition, harder work than bad writing. Bad writing tends to consist of the first unmodified gush. Good writing is almost always the result of extra sweat; time not spent on a lounger sucking ice cream. Sweat takes time. You've got to want the finished product. And you apparently want that.
We're all equipped with egos. Egos which may get in the way of taking advice. You are able to suppress your ego.
I could go on. There's much more to say on a subject that has occupied me for the last seventy years. But I'm perilously close to having gone on for too long.
Oh yes, I did like the two snarky bits. .
If there's much more to say on the subject, why are you thinking about ending the blog?
DeleteSir Hugh: Were these really suggestions? Surely a blog based on narcissism would be self-resolving; nobody would read it. I'm not sure I've grasped the meaning of para three: that somehow blogging and problem-solving are related? As to the 48-word sentence in para five, desperately crying out for some full-stops, I'm completely baffled. You say something or other is undeniable but who is trying to deny it? And then, it seems, a volte-face arrives with "not necessarily always to the good." So most of the time it is "to the good". Whatever.
ReplyDeleteI asked Why blog? Perhaps I should have said: Why do we blog? An invitation to offer an explanation on our own behalf. Hence the sentence starting "If you feel..." And I go on to explain some of my difficulties in trying to say why I blog.
By the way long is not the same as long-winded. I am genuinely interested in whether your consider style when you write. Since you frequently say I under-inform you I felt it necessary to explain what I meant by style and what rules I apply.
I think your penultimate sentence confirms that you misunderstood what I was after. I am not searching, as such, for anything. Merely inviting opinions from which a dialogue may emerge.