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Is it possible to be a fan without reacting personally sometimes to things our favourite singers or actors or writers do?

Joanna Trollope has been entrenched in my top five list of favourite writers for many years. Probably more years years than either of us care to remember. It just so happened this morning, however, that my usual sense of contentment that the English language was in such fine hands was jarred by a picture of Trollope on the inside cover of one of her novels.

It is a portrait, carefully staged and offering a professional rather than a personal look at the subject. The picture is used in several of her books, so Trollope obviously likes this particular image of her. I don't.

That is what jarred me from my usually unrestrained state of admiration for Joanna Trollope. The thought had been swimming in my subconscious for years, but this morning it finally surfaced in full-blown realisation: I don't like that picture.

Of course, I thought immediately, this is a ridiculous reaction, and an utterly subjective one. I know almost nothing about Trollope personally, so on what basis can I possibly justify having any opinion about a picture of her, especially one she apparently approves of?

And then I thought how odious it must be for well-known people to be confronted with irrational, unreasonable reactions such as this. Surely somebody who doesn't know you has no right to have a personal opinion of you.

Having delivered this lecture to myself, one half of me felt primly stern and smug and the other half felt suitably chastised.

And then a new thought arrived.

I am too reserved (or arrogant) by nature to be an unreserved fan of living beings, but I make a few exceptions and this is one. I feel strongly that the world would be a darker, poorer place without the contemporary novels of Joanna Trollope. There, I have finally admitted it in a public forum. I'm a fan.

Being a fan, it seems to me, is about engaging. Does not a fan, by definition, have a right to care? Does it not come with the territory? I may have no personal knowledge of the subject, and I may have no need or even inclination to gather any such first-hand knowledge, but that does not stop me as a fan from personally engaging. If I didn't, in fact, I wouldn't be a fan at all. I would be a critic or a mere observer.

So, Joanna, with all respect, I reverse my verdict that my reaction, no matter how subjective, is invalid. I do not like that picture.

If we ever meet, can I still have your autograph?

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Human nature, Philosophy, Writing

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Huh?

August 25th 2008 04:54

George Orwell: 'Never use a long word where a short one will do.'

I just came across, in the course of my day's work, the fact that an article published in 2001 in a teachers' journal carried the heading, 'Communal constructivist theory: information and communications technology pedagogy and internationalisation of the curriculum.'

My first reaction was this: I need a new job.

The article was written by teachers for other teachers. Heaven help us. If any of these people get within two time zones of my daughter's primary school English class, I'm charging them with assault.

Thank you for listening. I feel much better. I'll go back to work now.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Writing

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My 10 favourite reasons for writing

July 18th 2008 04:24

Gustave Flaubert, who said, 'Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.'

Jeanne Dininni's Writer's Notes blog has a post on writing motivation which you can read here and it motivated me to write the following. It proved one of the most fun things to write in a long time, so thanks Jeanne!

My 10 favourite reasons for writing are:

1. If I didn't sit at home writing, amidst the comfort of my books, my dogs and my favourite coffee, I'd have to go to work.

2. Writing is my favourite way of expressing myself.

3. Writing offers the thrill of confronting a fear. In this case, it's the fear of failure. What if I'm not as good a writer as I think I am?

4. I can't draw, sing or play a musical instrument. Although I once knitted half a scarf - with cables - I generally have no craft skills. But I can put words together quite well.

5. Writing is a community. I read the literary pages of the weekend papers to see what the current generation of successful authors is writing. I read blogs to see what my fellow part-time authors are writing, and what the next generation of successful authors is writing.

6. I live in hope that I will, one day, create a great writing quote. Wouldn't it be an achievement to have one's name on something like this, "Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead" (Gene Fowler), or this, "Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity" (Gustave Flaubert).

7. It's a legacy. My name will go down in the annals of Hong Kong as the winner of the 8th national correspondence chess championship. But as legacies go, this isn't a big one. My writing may or may not receive recognition, but it is a record of me, and it's a record I'm comfortable with.

8. It's cathartic. Sometimes I need to sit down and give myself a damn good writing to.

9.It's humbling. While I have a reasonable opinion of my own ability, I am under no illusion that I can "move the stars to pity".

10. It's mine, all mine. What I write is a speck in the consciousness of the universe, but it is fabulously, grandly unique. And I did it.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Writing

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