I have a strange compulsion to write. I have nothing to say, little articulation of my thoughts, and no readers to er, listen.
The last bit stops me from being mistaken for the ‘Daily
Mail.’
As far as I can remember this desire first found life once I left school, well actually two or three years later as far
as I can remember. On occasions I would sit on a train heading north wondering if it were possible to write about the experiences, such as they were on the journey. Rarely did anything come of this, and the world rests in peace because of it.
It flared up when Blogger came along and I decided to
influence the world by putting my ill thought out opinions on line.
No-one replied.
It took a while to work out how to contact
the world, and often times it spoke back. It did not always encourage me to continue.
The good people still speak to me today.
The bad people either stop reading or have sadly missed the opportunity to consider my thoughtful contribution to er, literature. They have a point I suspect.
Why do I wish to write? I left school at 15, well 14 actually, the day before my 15th birthday, with no qualifications and a suggestion that I could get an 'O' level if I stayed one more year. That was like asking POW's if they would like to stay another year and get a qualification! I ran away! I did obtain an English 'O' level a few years ago through answering questions via buttons on a screen. This gave me a certificate but I suspect the one on offer in Edinburgh would have been harder to obtain!
So why attempt to write when I have little idea of grammar, syntax (wot?), or the use of a full stop? Is it because I have something to say?
My words tend not to change the world when I speak to people personally,
however I do get a response, but let’s not go into that! Could it just be my itchy fingers wishing to run
across the keyboard? That certainly is
a phenomenon that occurs when I have been unable to use the machine for a while, I need my fix on the keyboard. It can be worse when
the PC or laptop breaks down and I have to leave the house and actually speak
face to face with folks!
No, I think I just want to write something, anything, and so
I have. Therefore I am quite
content. I have had my fix, I have
spoken, no-one has listened, and I have said nothing. Another day at the office then?
.
8 comments:
Well, I've read it. It's a bit hard to listen to the written word, you must admit. What you write is always entertaining, and that's 9/10 of what is needed to be a writer. Maybe you have a novel inside you after all.
I didn't listen to you, Adullamite, because I can't hear your words from way down here; but I can and did read them!
And I understand what you wrote, even though you said you had nothing to say. You may not have had anything to say - but you certainly did have something to write about!
Blogging is great for allowing us to let our inner writer escape from the closet.
How old you, me, or anyone else is when you, me and all those unknown, unnamed others leave school has little or no bearing on one's desire to write...in my humble opinion, anyway.
I left school when I was 15; three months and a bit before I turned 16. I had the urgent desire and need to go out into the world to earn my own money; to help out financially within our small family unit.
My mother desperately wanted me to continue with my schooling; to go on to Teachers' Training College to become a school teacher. That was Mum's dream, not mine. Unless I won a scholarship, back in those days there was no way we or I could afford to go to Teachers' Training College (as it was then called) in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland.
I wanted to work; I wanted to earn a wage!
I attended the College of Life instead. And it's proven to be pretty costly at times, too!
I have listened! If you want to write, you should write. I always have done so and hardly anyone notices except for the nice people who read my blog!
You write well, my friend, and you clearly have things to say. You read,show a gread interest in history, in observation of nature, and people. I think for some of us, the education on offer in school comes to soon. For whatever reason, it does not grasp our imagination, all too often it's because our schoolteachers fail to do their job properly, because their job is to inspire us to look beyond. It's not to hammer dull, unexplained facts into reluctant heads.
Before the teachers out there rise up in anger at me, let me just say, I was once one of you.
Over the years, Adullamite, I've had the good fortune to have several friends who were deemed failures by their schools, yet set out to learn, years after leaving, because they'd found something that stimulated their interest. One of those friends grew up in a life of petty criminality in the poorer parts of Los Angeles. He can't exactly say when he 'left' school, because he was so rarely there, for years he'd go in the school gate, get registered, and leave through the back door.
Yet now he's a professor of philosophy, a writer of books.
We're told, so often in our young days that those certificates are vital. Maybe they are, to some.
But O-levels, A-levels, diplomas, degrees are not the measure of a person. A lack of those bits of paper is not the measure of a person either.
Your character flaws are clear. You have a completely illogical attachment to a hopeless football team, you're a curmudgeon, and you're a Scot.
Apart from that you're okay.
I hear you A-man.
I was nodding away as I read that - just like those damn silly dogs you used to see in the back window of cars! You echoed my thoughts pretty well spot on.
Goodness me, what a response! I may have touched upon something we all feel at times. How wonderful to know so many er, writers! I'm sorry the listening bit is hard.
There is no doubt this has been a very successful post, it touched something in most folks!
Jenny, You of course are a famous published writer of distinction! To be complimented by you is indeed a compliment! I doubt the novel, but I would like to write a 'Three Men in a Boat' style book.
Lee, You are indeed right, Blogging lets the inner man out unless it is an inner woman that is!
Kay, So glad you listened! You write well, and ought to cover more subjects!
Soub, I think you are right in saying school comes too soon. They ought to teach the basics first and then practical skills, then throw kids into some sort of apprenticeships in the real world. The desire for qualifications does not aid learning in a practical manner. Many qualifications are just wasted. The best teachers we had were the toughest and most caring ones, mostly men, who were strong enough to be honest and took time for each one. The strap fell hard but we loved them! I am a bit unsure about being either a gangster or a philosophy professor, which is better? I do not recognise those character flaws, I see them as blessings!
Carol, You are so lovely! You are also the only one to hear!
BP, So glad to know someone who has been there!
Sorry to be late...a long day chasing bureaucrats and a long evening feeding the lamb.
Some of the most ignorant people I know are those who hold degrees and diplomas - and think that that piece of paper acts in place of a brain.
I enjoy your writing - both style and content - and am always glad that i found your blog through 'Jenny Woolf's blog.
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