Perspectives: Completely Useless Writing!

My parents and extended family all thought it was exceptionally cute when I would answer that I ”want to tell stories,” in response to that classic childhood question ”what do you want to be when you grow up?”

Whereas I was definitely encouraged to write, that encouragement only extended so far as developing a skill, but not to the point of it actually being something I could consider as a career.

As I moved into my high school teens it was made very clear to me that writing wasn't something I should set my sights on, except as a hobby. As far as my family was concerned people such as journalists were just considered sleazy and creepy, and the remaining writing world of poets and novelists were considered ”artistic flakes that usually ended up as alcoholics.”

Neither represented an appropriate profession for somebody of my education and intelligence.

I suppose this was made worse by the fact that my particular preferred writing style was what most "adult" people thought of as ”perfectly useless” writing.

So what is that style?

Well, it's what continues to grace these pages and has graced other pages and other blogs for better than three decades... it's a form of first person narrative commentary and prose.

I think this has always been my preferred style because I am — as much as anything — a keen observer of life. I pay a lot of attention to the world, and to people's troubles and foibles and stories, and to what I see around me that seems either extraordinary or out of the usual or beautiful or tragic.

In a sense, I try to use words to paint a picture of various snapshots of the human experience and condition, from sunsets to kittens to love affairs. Perhaps it doesn't really make sense to anybody other than myself, and that's OK. As I look back I'm actually grateful that I gave up on the idea of writing as a career because it affords me a sort of freedom to not really care whether my words are ”marketable,” in the legacy sense of the term.

At times they are (perhaps!), but most of the time they are not.

And yet?

What most people most often feel moved by are human stories, rather than instructions on how to clean a gun or install a new carburetor in the 1971 Buick. The latter may represent useful writing, but it's not something that moves us.

I have often told people that part of what makes somebody a good writer is that they tend to also be a voracious reader. That definitely applies to me, as well. And I recognize and saying that that I am drawn primarily to writing that engages my mind and moves me in some way. I want the writing to reach out and give me a sense that I am actually with the person writing, hearing the words for the few minutes or hours it takes me to interpret their words.

As a reader, I am more inclined to be a consumer of feelings and experiences, rather than information.

Perhaps this is primarily an introvert sort of thing, but the way somebody relates something —especially about themselves — can be so powerful that you might even be able to feel something like love for the other person, simply through their words.

But whereas powerful, such writing also falls under the greater heading of ”perfectly useless” because while it might leave an imprint on your heart, there is no purpose for it to leave an imprint on something like a newspaper or magazine.

Some might look at what I just wrote and say ”that's perfectly insane! You're delusional!” To which I can only respond that if we go back to for example the Victorian and Edwardian eras, people would — quite literally — fall in love by correspondence, by writing long heartfelt letters to each other. In a sense, it's the exact opposite of today's practice of starting with swiping right on Tinder!

In the end, I suppose it's all a matter of where our priorities lay.

Do we want to just have fun, primarily playing in the shallows, or do we want to dive into the depths of experience? For some, the latter is simply "too intense" to create any sense of comfort... while others cannot feel "close" without plumbing the depths.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the remainder of your week!

How about you? Do you have a favorite writing style? And a favorite style to READ? Do you think we can get very closely connected to someone purely through writing? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2024.08.15 12:25PDT
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