The joy of reading and writing is that there are so many different styles to enjoy. I remember once hearing Martin Amis interviewed and he talked about the difference between his own style and that of his father. Both were acclaimed writers but Martin thought the reader should be challenged whereas Kingsley liked to also provide a degree of amusement, something lighter. There's room for everything and it's so interesting to see you discuss the nuts and bolts of it all. I'm a bit scared to look too hard at my own work and notice that I'm doing it all wrong!
Ok, first I can definitively say you are NOT doing it all wrong :) I really enjoy your newsletter!
Second: completely agree. This is just it -- it's about opening up the ways of writing rather than limiting ourselves and drawing on different styles to in turn make them our own. I also enjoy reading such a wide range of styles. Really like the Amis reference you brought up and will look for this!
I don't think it's so much about recognizing what we do right or wrong as growing forward by reading and considering ways of shifting our writing that make sense to us. When I work on something more substantial (like a book or something to send to a publication), I like to leave drafts sitting a few months if possible to see it fresh as if it's not my own, and then try to think more like a reader.
I imagine that leaving your own work to rest for a while then picking it up as a reader is a really good test as to whether you would want to read it yourself. Great idea. It's not quite the same but I do work on most of my pieces, even the shorter ones, for weeks, going back to them and rewriting. Sometimes a phrase that I thought was good when I wrote it is edited out completely by the time it's published. I have written something and posted it the same day but that's very rare. I like to ruminate, play around with ideas. It can be exhausting but the need to strive to make the piece better is strong. This is something that AI can't steal from us humans, and it can't experience the joy of connecting with others through writing. It is not alive, so it's efforts to replicate what it is to be alive are, in my view, superfluous. I don't mind saying so as I can't hurt its feelings. It doesn't have any.
I think the Amis reference was from a South Bank Show (maybe when "Experience" came out).
Great post, with some good advice and links. I've always taken the view that I shouldn't shy away from using difficult words or concepts where appropriate, and that the reader may have to work a bit themselves. However, I don't like writers and writing where long words seem to be used just to convey how clever the writer is. I enjoyed the DFW article.
"As an English literature teacher for twenty years, I found that what motivated kids to read more and be ready for an engaging class was challenging reading. If it’s too easy, they’re bored" - I feel precisely the same with regard to music. I've taught in music to 11-18 year olds in the UK classroom for over 15 years, and whether it's looking at a piece of music for analysis, performing it in a choir or composing from a stimulus my pupils are always most excited when the music itself is challenging. And perhaps just as importantly, so few students I teach label work as "hard" or "easy" when they find out about it - they think it's "interesting" or "boring" - so why do we need to label the work as such? I could go on... x
Also I wonder if it’s also that some teachers are worried about “teaching all aspects” of a text (music as text, too). I think it’s great to leave holes to explore further and simply inspire more learning. Sometimes it’s the (external) assessments that drive this unfortunately and teachers are just trying their best to help the students.
Yes the guide on the side is my absolute favourite way to consider teaching. And end of term/ year “assessments” or exams as they really are can be crippling
Loved this article. I like to write and read across a wide range when things pop into my head. There is so much out there to broaden our minds. Thank you for another great post.
Superb piece, Kathleen. Bit slow to get to this one, sorry. Had good intentions to read it over the weekend.
I LOVE having to work whilst reading, especially in fiction. Ambiguities, unreliable narrators, things that are very much not spelled out to the reader -- all these things are what I generally look for in fiction and am inherently drawn to. Though as Terry says, it's not about the use of big words, long sentences etc, it's about the composition of those words and what they *might* be alluding to.
Big respect for the linking to Murakami 😄 One of my all-time favourite authors.
This is a stellar point to make: "The paradox, however, is that the riddle itself, the tensions and questions posed, should all be exceptionally clear in delivery, even if that clarity includes nuance and double meanings."
The joy of reading and writing is that there are so many different styles to enjoy. I remember once hearing Martin Amis interviewed and he talked about the difference between his own style and that of his father. Both were acclaimed writers but Martin thought the reader should be challenged whereas Kingsley liked to also provide a degree of amusement, something lighter. There's room for everything and it's so interesting to see you discuss the nuts and bolts of it all. I'm a bit scared to look too hard at my own work and notice that I'm doing it all wrong!
Ok, first I can definitively say you are NOT doing it all wrong :) I really enjoy your newsletter!
Second: completely agree. This is just it -- it's about opening up the ways of writing rather than limiting ourselves and drawing on different styles to in turn make them our own. I also enjoy reading such a wide range of styles. Really like the Amis reference you brought up and will look for this!
I don't think it's so much about recognizing what we do right or wrong as growing forward by reading and considering ways of shifting our writing that make sense to us. When I work on something more substantial (like a book or something to send to a publication), I like to leave drafts sitting a few months if possible to see it fresh as if it's not my own, and then try to think more like a reader.
I imagine that leaving your own work to rest for a while then picking it up as a reader is a really good test as to whether you would want to read it yourself. Great idea. It's not quite the same but I do work on most of my pieces, even the shorter ones, for weeks, going back to them and rewriting. Sometimes a phrase that I thought was good when I wrote it is edited out completely by the time it's published. I have written something and posted it the same day but that's very rare. I like to ruminate, play around with ideas. It can be exhausting but the need to strive to make the piece better is strong. This is something that AI can't steal from us humans, and it can't experience the joy of connecting with others through writing. It is not alive, so it's efforts to replicate what it is to be alive are, in my view, superfluous. I don't mind saying so as I can't hurt its feelings. It doesn't have any.
I think the Amis reference was from a South Bank Show (maybe when "Experience" came out).
Great post, with some good advice and links. I've always taken the view that I shouldn't shy away from using difficult words or concepts where appropriate, and that the reader may have to work a bit themselves. However, I don't like writers and writing where long words seem to be used just to convey how clever the writer is. I enjoyed the DFW article.
Thanks Terry. Agree on your comments about language use.
"As an English literature teacher for twenty years, I found that what motivated kids to read more and be ready for an engaging class was challenging reading. If it’s too easy, they’re bored" - I feel precisely the same with regard to music. I've taught in music to 11-18 year olds in the UK classroom for over 15 years, and whether it's looking at a piece of music for analysis, performing it in a choir or composing from a stimulus my pupils are always most excited when the music itself is challenging. And perhaps just as importantly, so few students I teach label work as "hard" or "easy" when they find out about it - they think it's "interesting" or "boring" - so why do we need to label the work as such? I could go on... x
Also I wonder if it’s also that some teachers are worried about “teaching all aspects” of a text (music as text, too). I think it’s great to leave holes to explore further and simply inspire more learning. Sometimes it’s the (external) assessments that drive this unfortunately and teachers are just trying their best to help the students.
Yes the guide on the side is my absolute favourite way to consider teaching. And end of term/ year “assessments” or exams as they really are can be crippling
Love this. Yes! It inspires them to be intellectually curious and learn for the sake of it.
Loved this article. I like to write and read across a wide range when things pop into my head. There is so much out there to broaden our minds. Thank you for another great post.
Thanks a lot for this great feedback, Jon!
Superb piece, Kathleen. Bit slow to get to this one, sorry. Had good intentions to read it over the weekend.
I LOVE having to work whilst reading, especially in fiction. Ambiguities, unreliable narrators, things that are very much not spelled out to the reader -- all these things are what I generally look for in fiction and am inherently drawn to. Though as Terry says, it's not about the use of big words, long sentences etc, it's about the composition of those words and what they *might* be alluding to.
Big respect for the linking to Murakami 😄 One of my all-time favourite authors.
This is a stellar point to make: "The paradox, however, is that the riddle itself, the tensions and questions posed, should all be exceptionally clear in delivery, even if that clarity includes nuance and double meanings."
Thanks as ever for the insightful reads!
Thanks for the great comment, Nathan.
Please don't apologize for reading 'later'...I'm grateful that you are reading it!
Murakami is a master of this I think. He's always taking us in so many directions all at once, often without clear conclusions. I'm excited for his latest to be translated into English. https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/04/13/haruki-murakami-has-a-new-book-out-heres-why-you-should-care
I'm sooo excited for the new book. Wish I could read Japanese and could read it now! 😅
😂 my sentiments exactly!
Hi Emmanuel! Thanks for the great feedback. Interesting journey -- really cool you’re finding a better space for your voice on Substack.
Related to this topic, I really enjoyed this podcast -
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5fgrPlfxWWkQjE3LEESd5v?si=b6JfaI1sRFW6iKhcjhv2Ig