On 4/4/24 17:06, Udhay Shankar N via Silklist wrote:
I found this perspective (from a newsletter on, of all things, Brit
politics) fasinating. Basically, "everything is interesting."
What are the group's thoughts on both the process of writing, and the
specific hypothesis that "everything is interesting"?
It reminds me a bit of a lesson I learned at the knee of the late Ray
Bradbury, "Writers write! That's how we know we're writers. I sit down
at the typewriter every morning, put in a sheet of paper, and put down
words. Some days they're great and I keep them; some days they're shit
and I toss them. It doesn't matter, I keep writing, because if I don't
write, then I'm not a writer, and then what am I?"
He was talking about fiction of course, but I don't think non-fiction is
much different. I've been writing professionally for nearly half a
century, and I can't say I've had any trouble from "writer's block."
Yes, some days what I write is junk, but I can generally come up with
something better the next day ... and the next if needed.
As for the argument that "everything is interesting," I call BS. Bad
writing (or bad teaching) can make any topic the most boring and
off-putting subject imaginable. Good writing (and good teaching) can
often do just the opposite. This is how you test for good writing -- is
it interesting?
I think people romanticize writing. It's a task just like building a
house. You can build a beautiful or ugly building, a sound or rickety
building, a building that suits it's purpose or one that frustrates
those who use it. Writing is the same. To those who claim the existence
of plans and building inspectors makes carpentry different, permit me to
introduce them to the concept of task definitions and editors.
Is writing easy? Is carpentry? You can learn skills to make both easier,
you can use what techniques help produce good product, and some people
just aren't good at one or the other.
Is everything interesting? Better to ask if writing on a given topic --
and reading the results -- is interesting, or fun, or informative, or
inspiring, or whatever end you're going for. "Interesting" isn't an
inherent quality of the topic.
Cheers,
/ Bruce /
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