“Immature artists imitate. Mature artists steal.” Lionel Trilling wrote that, and a lot of other writers have said pretty much the same thing: among them Tom Lehrer, Alexander Pope and Quentin Tarantino – an eclectic bunch. I guess by that they mean ideas are public property, available to anyone: the important part is what you do with them.
And once again the immortal Dr. Johnson had something to say on the subject when he wrote to some unfortunate, “Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.” Kind of proves the point, doesn’t it?
Monday, July 28, 2008
It's getting harder
Writing is harder these days, not only because of the number of people trying to get into it, but the number of untalented people trying to get into it. The system is getting choked.
What can I say? The man was right.
“If you’re a singer you lose your voice. A baseball player loses his arm. A writer gets more knowledge, and if he’s good, the older he gets, the better he writes.”
“If the public likes you, you’re good. Shakespeare was a common
down-to-earth writer in his day."
“I’m a commercial writer, not an ‘author’. Margaret Mitchell was an author. She wrote one book.”
“Those big-shot writers could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar.”
Mickey Spillane (1918-2006)
“If the public likes you, you’re good. Shakespeare was a common
down-to-earth writer in his day."
“I’m a commercial writer, not an ‘author’. Margaret Mitchell was an author. She wrote one book.”
“Those big-shot writers could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar.”
Mickey Spillane (1918-2006)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Distraction by gadgets
There’s no question about it. Our attention spans are becoming increasingly short. I blame it in electronic gadgets: principally cellphones and pagers and those inventions of the devil, blackberries.
Now I’m among the first to agree that the telephone is useful: in fact it’s hard to imagine modern life without it; and word processors and e-mail and the Net make for quick and easy communication despite rendering the art of letter-writing all but dead. (See previous post)
But when I am sitting with someone, hopefully having a meaningful discussion, and that person has acquired an involuntary tic that compels them to check a damned gadget every few minutes, or they rudely interrupt our conversation the moment a call comes in instead of letting it go to an inbox, then I know gadgets are fast taking over, and mankind is doomed to become a second class citizen and electronics will eventually rule the world.
It’s enough to make me wish for a catastrophic, world-wide power failure – well, almost, because I’ve forgotten how to do semaphore and my inkwell has run dry.
Now I’m among the first to agree that the telephone is useful: in fact it’s hard to imagine modern life without it; and word processors and e-mail and the Net make for quick and easy communication despite rendering the art of letter-writing all but dead. (See previous post)
But when I am sitting with someone, hopefully having a meaningful discussion, and that person has acquired an involuntary tic that compels them to check a damned gadget every few minutes, or they rudely interrupt our conversation the moment a call comes in instead of letting it go to an inbox, then I know gadgets are fast taking over, and mankind is doomed to become a second class citizen and electronics will eventually rule the world.
It’s enough to make me wish for a catastrophic, world-wide power failure – well, almost, because I’ve forgotten how to do semaphore and my inkwell has run dry.
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