I make
my living from writing, so I come into contact quite often with people
who tell me that they, too, want to be writers. They tell me about
their plans and the titles of the books they are going to write. When
I ask them what they are writing at the moment, lots tell me that they
haven't started yet! This is not the way it works if you're a writer.
All
artists write, paint, sculpt, sing, and dance when no one is
interested: that's what they do - they can't help it, they have a
passion. I'm a bit strange, because I don't have a passion to write, I
find it laborious and a chore. Having said this, I feel compelled, like
some literary lemming, to throw myself into a story or write about the
world around me. I used to appear on a radio show for Radio Sheffield
a few years ago, and the host of the show was Rony Robinson, he was
also a writer and playwright. He used to tell me that he couldn't
wait to get home to, as he said, “Put all those lovely words on
paper”. I don't share this view.
People
will often ask where you got the idea about certain characters or
stories, so I tell lies, because the truth is, like lots of writers, I
don't know where the inspiration comes from. I have woken up from a
night's sleep with a whole story running round in my head. I hate it
when this happens because I am then compelled to write and being the
world's laziest writer means this is no fun for me. Having said all
this, here I am writing a blog in a desperate attempt to be heard.
I'm
telling you all this because there has been a lot of discussion about
education in the media this week. The emphasis has been on how
university graduates are working in very low paid unskilled jobs. So
what? The only difference between an apprenticeship and a university
course is the snobbery, as they are both further education, but the
apprenticeship leads on to better job prospects.
In
Britain, education is used as a tool to pass useless exams, putting
pressure on young minds to conform into one way of thinking. This is
not education, it's mind farming! Education should be about sharing
knowledge and creating a love for the world around you. It should be
about swapping ideas and discussions and disagreements. Education
should be about creating a love of learning without pressure. There
is nothing wrong with learning just for fun. One of my heroes,
Socrates, used to stop people in the street and engage them in debate
about the world around them. This forced them to think in a different
way, but also gave them a voice.
In the
past when I could manage one of my rare nights out with close friends,
we would often end up in debates about statements one of my group
would make. Often people sitting nearby would be drawn in to verify
snippets of information that the group would throw at each other. Now
this no longer happens because of so-called smart phones. As soon as
someone makes a statement everyone reaches for their phone to look it
up, and for me the whole evening is spoiled. A debate is a journey where
many things can be learned along the way. For instance you could say
that Barack Obama is the first black president of America, but the
real intrigue and knowledge comes when you discuss why he's the first
black president of a multi-cultural country. The true knowledge is
discussing the journey of millions to arrive at the success of one
man, that is education, this is wisdom.
I have
written before about this, but please do try it out: it cannot be
verified by your smart phone. The next time you are out for a few
drinks with friends, ask them to define love. Every answer leads to
another question Socrates would have loved this, he would no doubt
have debated this subject many times anyway. But you can spend a
whole evening talking about this subject, though I must warn you that you
may find out things about your friends that you didn't know.
For me,
I have just had my fix of desperate attention seeking by writing this
piece, so I can now go out in the world a behave like a normal human
being, until the ego rises again....
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