Yesterday a friend asked me where I get my inspiration from. Several times in the last week the question has been raised as to why I seem to wake up each morning with the urgent need to write something down. The implication in every case is that this might not be normal. Evidence supports that view. The fact is that most people, once they have left education either never in effect ever write anything again, or alternatively do so simply because their work requires it.
Let me ignore the fact that I write simply because I like the process of writing. Words on pages have always, since I was first aware of them, fascinated me. Printing did likewise. I loved my John Bull printing kit as a child. My first typewriter arrived at around the age of eight, and the (even then) ancient cast iron Remington that I still have, soon thereafter. Simply seeing words appear from it fascinated me. Asking me to not write is like suggesting I do not breathe.
But that complaint is usually the preserve of the fiction writer, and although I have done published fiction (but not under my own name, or for some time, and in any case I am not letting on), it has never been that important to me, much as I enjoy it when I get the time, as well as poetry, which I read more often.
So what's the inspiration? Given that all those who asked were vocal, charismatic, opinionated people this seems to me a strange question, although its frequency suggests otherwise. It simply seems to me to be another way to explore the questions that bug me.
The fact is (and I am sure it is sometimes apparent) that when I write a blog I am not always sure what the ending will be. That makes my blog writing quite different from most of my other writing, where I rarely have any doubt about the structure of my arguments before I begin. I usually spend some time working that type of project out in some detail on a mind map before committing much to the page to make sure time spent writing is not wasted.
But blogging is different. This is simply thinking out loud about issues that engage me in ways that seek to enhance my understanding. And most of the comments offered on this blog are welcome precisely because many then reshape that thought. That is why those who come to say an issue is settled (e.g. climate change deniers) or that I cannot have an opinion on an issue because it could not have been covered by my degree, taken 40 years ago (as happened yesterday, with the commentator presumably thinking I have learned nothing since) entirely miss the point. I write to help find answers.
And, yes, sometimes I find the wrong ones. So I change my mind. That's not a sin.
What is interesting to me, though, is that thinking about how I would write about an issue makes me question things a little differently from the way I might if I was only passing comment in conversation, which is how most do this, and where all my questioners very clearly have no difficulty in finding inspiration.
Writing does impose a discipline. Just asking ‘what is the question?' because I need to frame it very quickly at the start of a piece requires a type of thought that can be skipped in conversation, where the question can (and often is) continually reframed.
Similarly, writing demands that the question ‘what does the question mean?' Be addressed. My frequent resort to sequentially numbered comments is an attempt to structure in a way that conversation does not demand. Rather unsurprisingly, I rarely start by saying ‘three thoughts follow' when talking to people.
Finally, I am curious. Since I first encountered injustice imposed by society (and at a level that seriously impacted me that was at the age of 11) I have always wanted to ask what I can do to address the issues that create harmful outcomes for people. I didn't choose to think that way. I think circumstances suggested that was something I had to do, with varying degrees of success and commitment over time. So, I write with the intention of finding that out.
And that is why I so often express hope at the end of posts. By the age of thirteen I had realised the alternative was despair, and I was not going there.
To answer the question then: what's my inspiration? It's simply a quest to answer the question 'what's that all about?' in a way that works for me.
Pretty much where it all began
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I had a Remington very like that. I don’t remember it having a ’12’ on it so probably a different model. It very nearly pulled my arms off carrying it from the shop halfway across Newcastle to my accommodation at the time. I never really liked it and preferred for years to write by hand; something I have now almost entirely given up doing. I realised one day just how infrequently I use a pen when I had to produce a recognisable signature for one of those electronic signing pads and it took me eight attempts. 🙂
I can no longer ready own handwriting….
Yes, yes, yes. I write all the time. Essentially for an audience of one. How else can I explain complicated issues to myself? Despite the close circle of about 10 who intermittently might see something long that I have written encouraging me to “write a blog” I have always been concerned that explaining things to others diluted the selfish purpose of personal enlightenment. Very occasionally I write specifically for others, you graciously published something I wrote about Brexit, and I think before that I wrote a couple of things for Paul Kavanagh during the ’14. The motivation for these “published works” was probably anger, and if that is what it takes, I should probably stay quiet. There are plenty angry voices to choose from.
I have to write at enormous length sometimes as part of my professional life, and that does quiesce the personal voice. I do not find the motivation for self-exploration after a day of technical writing. As I enter semi-retirement, I am very lucky that I have writing as an outlet rather than the athleticism of my youth. I write more now than ever. Love the picture of the Remington.
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@ david
Yes, please do!
The important thing is you make people think and consider topics in a wider context than the mass media usually does. You are not bound by party or sectarian loyalties. It is always refreshing to read what you write. You often articulate things which I have a gut feeling for but can’t always immediately express. Thanks for all your good work and long may it continue.
There’s quite a difference between not being allowed to have an opinion, and stating an opinion without evidence or expertise to support it. That’s the point.
Stephanie (If that is your real name, and it is open to doubt)
You have actually managed to claim two qualifications – CiD and ACiD I cannot even find explanation for – Who’s Who, for example, with a massive database think that’s only refers to you being a detective
Maybe they should investigate
On a point of order, I think the personal invective is uncalled for on both sides, as it obscures rather than illuminates the points you are both trying to make, but a little Google research might be more fruitful than a call to the police.
And on a point of information, the CiD was the Certificate in Derivatives, and the ACiD was the Advanced Certificate in Derivatives, both examined and awarded by the Institute of Actuaries until 2004. I think they are included in other papers now. (There is also a Certificate and Advanced Certificate in Interior Design, but I doubt it is that.)
I tried quite hard to find it
I can also find no person with the name given with the qualifications
I do take some effort
My day would no longer be the same without reading your take on the broad range of current issues that are of concern to you – and clearly the far reaching audience you attract. I admit to confirmation bias. I do feel better when I’ve read an ‘expert’ opinion that confirms my intuitive lay understanding of a topic. So, thanks so much for all the peace of mind you’ve brought me over the years!
Speaking of which (i.e. my lay understanding) I’ve just read this story in the ‘TruePublica’ newsletter (I’ve no idea who’s behind this medium, but it seems to attract some high-profile contributors): ‘National Insurance Fund plundered to pay down national debt’ – https://truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/national-insurance-fund-plundered-to-pay-down-national-debt. Is the government really saying it will run out of money?! “The Government’s own Actuary Department has warned the National Insurance fund — which pays the state pension and other social benefits — will run out of money around 2032.” Sounds more like something out of ‘Private Eye’. Apologies if you’ve covered this in an earlier blog that I accidentally missed.
Anyhow, that aside, I wish you all the energy & inspiration required to maintain the level & quality of blogging (typos simply add to its spontaneity) that makes a real contribution to not only deconstructing ‘official’ bullshit but more importantly offering sane alternatives 🙂
Thanks
The national insurance fund is meaningless – all payments are really on a pay as you go basis
I would not get very worried about this
Hi. Belated thanks for your reassurance. Coincidence. I’ve just received this via Frances Coppola’s newsletter – https://www.coppolacomment.com/2020/01/the-ni-funds-reserves-dont-pay-down.html.
I spoke to a pensions advisor recently, who said he’d never met someone who looking back considered that they’d gone part-time too soon. The other good bit of advice he gave was to go part-time with an employer who already knows you and where your skills can fit in.
And if you reduce your hours and specialise in fewer areas you will have time to attend events like this
https://www.theticketfactory.com/tickets/events/the-festival-of-british-railway-modelling/?utm_source=29724
I am not planning to slow down until I am 70
But railway shows are visited anyway…especially narrow gauge ones
Which are the two keys that the Remington appears to be missing?
They’re all there….
I’m smiling. I still remember what whacking away on an old typewriter felt like. It was a LOT of physical effort. And we needed to return the carriage at the end of every line.
I remember eventually snaffling the ONLY electric typewriter set up in my typing room at school. The other students were afraid of it, but I loved it. (I could cheat on it as well, because, unlike the others, the keys had the letters printed on them.) It required a lot less punching effort. It also had a key return, which took some getting used to. The ingrained habit was to whop at a non-existent carriage return lever. Kinda like double-spacing at the end of every sentence, which has also gone the way of old tech.
The big breakthrough for me was the wordprocessor, though. That’s when my keyboard writing really took off. Why? With a wordprocessor I could dispense with the eraser, the tippex, the multiple carbon copy. What a huge step forward.
Like you, I can no longer read my own handwriting, and I struggle to send things like handwritten birthday card notes. Pathetic, I know. But hey….
Tippex…
I do not miss it!
Debating with people verbally is one way to shape your thoughts, allow unexpected challenges to them, let them wander in all directions so you can respond or question on the spot, sometimes well, sometimes not so well.
Writing is a calm and considered synthesis of all that debating, and of all the disorderly observations, reading and reflections one does during the day.
But writing can, as you say, meander too, unless it has a specific aim, as in professional writing for the media, academic or literary work, or reports for all sorts of work.
Looking for the right words (even in a foreign language…) to try and order thoughts, pushing the boundaries of thoughts through words, learning new concepts through new words, being creative with their ordering, inventing new ones for fun to fit your thoughts….all of this seems so vital, how else can you function?
I have always preferred the ‘organic’ handwriting to the mechanical typing. Somehow it seems more real, more intimate. I much prefer a handwritten postcard from a friend to an email or a whatsapp message…but I suppose being able to correct, delete, move sentences or paragraphs around, send the writing off and archive it, is far easier with a machine.
As for inspiration, unless you are in a closed space with nothing & no one around you, no emotions, no memories, no imagination, or hopes, there is always plenty to write about.
As you say, it’s the breathing of the mind isn’t it.
🙂