Writing is the exploration of life...

Several years ago I was at an Artists conference in Holland listening to a talk about Intolerance, Ethnicity and Art. The speaker, a woman called Ching Ling Pang, expressed the following thoughts that have stayed with me:

"Writing is the exploration of life. It gives an in-depth, condensed view of reality. Whilst the media often shows one fragment / moment of reality - the crisis - writing shows the fabric of life as it is lived".

In that sense, there is a similarity between writing and mosaics. Broadly speaking, they are forms of expression and creativity that take time and patience to come to life. They are most often not 'immediate' expressions of the moment but the product of brewing and gestating, fiddling, adapting and re-doing until the artist is happy that their creation is a good reflection of the slice of life they are trying to explore and reflect.

Writing amazes me. I am in awe of the way that we as human beings have found ways of making squiggles mean things! What is a load of unintelligible lines in one culture is full of meaning in another. How on earth would I have coped if I was born before writing was invented?! Click on "Scratch and Tap" for more on this.

When I tell people that I am "doing writing" they often ask me "fiction or non-fiction?" and "is it for publishing?"

I really don't know how to answer these questions briefly without falling foul of fake categories and labels that I don't agree with. Firstly, my writing "just is" and its existence and reality is not defined by whether or not it gets published but rather by the fact that is exists and is real! I have had articles and one publication published within the world of work but that of itself is not what defines me as a writer. I really do not think that anyone should give over their creativity and artistic identity (be that writing, singing, visual art or whatever) to the fickleness and randomness of 'making it' in the published / media world. Would the creative work of JK Rowling, James Joyce and the Beatles be any less creative or valid as 'art' if they had allowed their first rejections from publishers or producers to stop them in their tracks to mass fame? Is a work of beauty any less beautiful if it is seen by only a few pairs of eyes? Is the artistic value of a story, song, poem, play or painting any less because it makes little or no money? Is an artistic creation done primarily for the love of it (which is what the word 'amateur' means) any less 'art' than that done to earn a living?

  "Do I let Bentham's ghost, in his utilitarian bliss

  Hover over me as I labour

  Inducing guilt, reminding me

  I am a fruitless lover, not a pro(fit gainer)?"

  from Scratch & Tap

I am not taking issue with an artist's need to put food on the table. For those who choose their art as their bread and butter work, becoming known so as to generate income is important. But I do not think we should define who is and isn't an artist by whether or not they are 'famous' and making money for that invalidates those who aren't (well) known and don't make (much) money from their art - and it can turn those who do into factory-like production lines. As for the writing I am currently engaged in, my answer to the "Do you want it published?" question is "I am doing it first for me, then for those I choose to share it with. Anything else comes after that."

The other question, "Fiction or not?", is a bit easier to answer. My writing is an exploration of life - my life and other's. Click on Links to go to a page where I sometimes post current 'life stories' and musings. With the emergence of new forms such as "New Autobiography" and "Life Writing" there is not doubt in my mind that creative writing and memoir live together very easily. The more I read about this type of writing, the more I discover that many famous novelists were actually telling their story, so I believe more and more that a lot of novels have an autobiographical element. (Bizzarely, as I write this, a radio chat show that is on in the background turns to the very same topic and apparently, PD James agrees!). After all, most things we write have our experiences and observations weaved in. The question is how much? That is for the reader to wonder and the author to tell if they want you to know!