Lovely piece! I'd argue that you always at your core were you, but apparently, no one in your orbit knew enough to ask the right questions to help you express yourself. Seems like your later experiences gave you more of that for motivation.
I find it interesting that the publishing industry chases after the young guns, yet unless such guns have had really unusual backgrounds, perhaps tempered by a touch of hardship or privation, and/or are of such exceptional intellect and discipline with the nous to see beyond their immediate needs and creature comforts, they have little to say - while those who are seasoned, who have drunk deep, who have insight, and who otherwise have been around, are ignored.
It's always interesting to look back on the old days and old comments from teachers. Obviously, you showed plenty of potential in those days and now, you're writing. Very cool. I definitely think a writer gets better after forty. You need life experience and well, that's the one thing many young people don't have. I think it's good to start at a young age so you can get the techniques and mechanics down but expect to do some living for the raw inspiration. Awesome post, Ian.
That's a lovely summing up of change and development! I've changed myself fairly deliberately a couple of times, but for personal/relationship reasons - my schooling did produce a good picture of my academic abilities, but not of my social skills. I was politically alert by 14, socially shy till mid 20s, non-assertive till my 30s.....but we're all different after all! And females in the 50s and 60s were not encouraged to be assertive (or too clever either). Fortunately, I didn't produce offspring until my mid 30s, by which time I was capable of rearing them rationally enough, though they agree with me that I have little maternal instinct........
Lovely piece! I'd argue that you always at your core were you, but apparently, no one in your orbit knew enough to ask the right questions to help you express yourself. Seems like your later experiences gave you more of that for motivation.
I find it interesting that the publishing industry chases after the young guns, yet unless such guns have had really unusual backgrounds, perhaps tempered by a touch of hardship or privation, and/or are of such exceptional intellect and discipline with the nous to see beyond their immediate needs and creature comforts, they have little to say - while those who are seasoned, who have drunk deep, who have insight, and who otherwise have been around, are ignored.
What sells & celebrity commercially trumps 'message'...
It's always interesting to look back on the old days and old comments from teachers. Obviously, you showed plenty of potential in those days and now, you're writing. Very cool. I definitely think a writer gets better after forty. You need life experience and well, that's the one thing many young people don't have. I think it's good to start at a young age so you can get the techniques and mechanics down but expect to do some living for the raw inspiration. Awesome post, Ian.
Thank you so much, Parker. I hope your work is going well!
Well done, Ian. Yes choice is valuable and attending school regularly can help but that’s another story to write. With warm regard. Barbara S.
A thoughtful piece, as ever. It also highlights how vulnerable a child might be to the messages it is constantly receiving at school, or university.
I can remember how surprised my grammar school teachers were when I got a First. that just wasn't on their radar.
That's a lovely summing up of change and development! I've changed myself fairly deliberately a couple of times, but for personal/relationship reasons - my schooling did produce a good picture of my academic abilities, but not of my social skills. I was politically alert by 14, socially shy till mid 20s, non-assertive till my 30s.....but we're all different after all! And females in the 50s and 60s were not encouraged to be assertive (or too clever either). Fortunately, I didn't produce offspring until my mid 30s, by which time I was capable of rearing them rationally enough, though they agree with me that I have little maternal instinct........