I was just thinking... #1
Course cancelled, good bad writing, a noticeboard, photo of the week
Greetings!
I thought I would start a new series called As I was thinking…”, because that to me sounds like a good catch-all for a multitude of things — all related to writing in some way. I’m inspired in this by George Orwell’s long-running column called As I please, and Paul Jennings’ twenty year run in The Observer with a weekly column entitled Oddly Enough. So here we are; I hope you like it.
Good bad writing
On the subject of Orwell, he once wrote an article on the topic of good bad books. Apparently, this was a term coined by Chesterton to refer to those books that are by no means great literature but are a damn good read.
Examples that come to mind are the stories of Sherlock Holmes, the Agatha Christy mysteries and, for me, the Just William stories by Richmal Crompton.
This made me think that there is a case to be made for what I would call “good bad writing”. That is, writing that does the job it set out to do, and is pleasant to read, but not necessarily “great literature”.
I think that this is the other side of the “good bad books” coin. I suppose what I am saying is that some writers seem to try too hard. Not all writing has to be intended to be quoted in a few hundred years’ time!
A big disappointment
A course I booked myself on ages ago has been cancelled due to a lack of numbers. That is so disappointing. It was called Writing about music, and was going to include not just the writing side, but where and how to do the research into various archives. The two tutors, Katy Hamilton and Ed Breen, are experts in their fields, and write for magazines such as, respectively, BBC Music magazine and Gramophone magazine.
Hopefully, the course will be put on again and actually run next time. In the meantime I shall immerse myself in their websites, which are:
Falsettist (Ed Breen)
Incidentally, it’s great to see that, like me, Katy is a member of The Society of Authors!
Anyway, I am looking forward to reading classical music reviews by experts. Me? I can do a reasonable job with jazz1 or pop 2I think, but when it comes to classical music I’m in the “I don’t know much about music but I know what I like” camp.
Every noticeboard tells a story
… although what that story is is not always clear. While on my travels recently I came across this village noticeboard:
The item which caught my eye is the notice in the bottom right-hand corner, which invites men to come along every other week for a chat and a breakfast, the latter of which comprises a bun filled with a load of meat. Well, for a start I’m vegetarian, but the main question I had was: why?
A teenage girl I spoke to thought it was to provide an opportunity for men to bond. Er, no thanks. Or maybe the women in the village are getting concerned that their menfolk are beginning to look dangerously thin. There just has to be a story behind that invitation, and perhaps one of these days I shall write a fictional factual article about that!
Photo of the week
As an ex-schoolteacher I can sympathise with this message, which I saw on a sign somewhere:
That’s it from me. I hope you have enjoyed reading this.
Click the link for a journey through some of my favourite jazz tracks, with a link to a collaboration between
and myself.Click the link for a micro review of You Really Got Me, by The Kinks.
I like your idea for a series, Terry. I may steal it. And good/bad literature comprises most of my reading.
Also, I am reminded of a quote from the great Frank Zappa: “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.”
Gosh, it's such a shame that the course has been cancelled - it sounded right up your street. ☹️
I love your 'Beware Children' observation. I love the advert for washing machine detergent pods that's doing the rounds at the moment, which declares 'Always stay away from children'. Yup, will do!