Sexuality in the Arts

Who should write?

Who should create?

Do you think I should write?

If in the off chance you do, let me tell you some of my story.

In high school, I was probably nearly invisible to my English teachers.  Unremarkable.  I was barely able to read with comprehension.

As you can tell from my writing, I don’t have a large vocabulary.  I did poorly on the non-math side of the college entrance exams.

In college, I majored in English and literature, in large part because it was an area I was weakest in.  I could grasp math, science, social sciences, and history with comparative ease.  I was born with a gifted ability to memorize.  If a course was primarily about memorizing a set of facts, I usually did well.

But reading and writing is far more complex than simply memorizing a set of facts and applying a known equation.  Reading and writing present more complex challenges for me.

I argued with my English professors probably far more than the average student or English major.  When I return to visit them, I get the impression they are rolling their eyes as they see me coming.  I was always a handful of trouble, often making humorous comments in a classroom that set the room roaring with laughter the professor had not requested.

I wasn’t forgettable as a student, but I also wasn’t considered to be particularly insightful or eloquent as a reader or a writer.  Fair and deserved criticism.

If you asked my college English teachers, none of whom know I write this blog, which of the students from my era would go on to be read the most widely, I would probably not even be on the multiple choice list of potential candidates.  (There probably is another student whose writing is read more than mine, I’m just saying my name would not be on that list.)

I never received any writing accolades or awards. 

In law school, I was initially a below average student (for the first time in my life).  The most tenured professor at the school privately communicated to me in his office that he didn’t think law school was my cup of tea (not that I disagreed with him) and that maybe I should consider doing something else. 

When I shared a piece of fiction writing with another law professor who had published a fiction novel, he suggested I should stick with studying law. 

I have no pedigree for writing.

No one in all of my schooling strongly encouraged me to consider writing further.

Whatever you consider to be good prerequisites for a writer, I may not have most of those things.

So, I return to the question of:  Who should write?

I don’t know for certain.

But I write because I think I have uncommon and worthwhile things for others to consider.  I don’t write what everybody knows or what everybody agrees on.  I write about important controversies that deserve more debate and consideration.

Who should write?

You, if you have something worth others’ consideration.

Writing is not about having a degree or “higher education,” although those experiences likely will improve your reasoning, ability to determine veracity, communication skills, and writing. 

To write, you should have enough knowledge to know if you have uncommon information to share.

Don’t worry about writing “prose,” “poetry,” or “essays.”  Focus first and foremost on finding the best ideas worth sharing.  Make the form subordinate to the functions (unless of course your intent is to reverse those priorities).  Choose the mediums that will meet the ideas’ intents.

Writing is not usually masturbation. 

Writing isn’t usually just spinning happy ideas internally in your head.  Writing is about putting together ideas you’re willing to share with others, you’re willing to have criticized, and you’re willing to change as feedback warrants . . . again and again.

Who should arrange and publish their ideas for others to respond to?

Anyone with a troubled mind

Who should write?

Everyone

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On a related side note:  The American Experience episode on Walt Whitman that aired last night was very good.  Walt Whitman sure could write.

A website set up to supplement that broadcast is available here. 

Fortunate for everyone, the program can be seen online now here.

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