Nordic-walking, Frontal Lobotomies and a General Dread of Self-promotion Which Could Make a Person's Brain Sprout Legs and Runaway
Qualifications and portfolios seem to mean a great deal to modern society but, as a fiction writer, I struggle with such things. Many other areas of endeavour have a clearer, and perhaps more sensible, relationship with such things but what qualifies someone to write fiction? Or, from my perspective, what aspects of my experience, and point of view, will help people look upon my work favourably?
Fiction authors make things up and often a person's life doesn't live up to the depth of their expressive talents or insights. Take Dave Toadface as an example. He's a retired banker, who enjoys couscous and Nordic walking. I just made him up, and I don't think he's very pleased with me because his life history isn't helping him sell his very well-crafted spy thriller.
Taking the question of life experience and qualifications into the real world, a rather famous illustration of such things can be found in the life of Janet Frame. Winning a national writing award in New Zealand saved her from undergoing a medical procedure known as a frontal lobotomy. Largely ignored by modern surgeons, a frontal lobotomy has a permanent and profound effect on both the structure and functioning of the brain. Frame's first collection of shorts; 'The Lagoon and Other Stories', saved her from such invasive surgery by winning the Hubert Church Memorial Award.
Someone's ability to write, as long as they are coherent and able, has an independent life of its own. Justifiers other than the written word should largely be considered irrelevant to the author. Bruce Lee wrote an essay on how to choose a martial arts instructor but don't worry, I'm not about to say kung-fu is the ultimate portfolio must have for any aspiring writer. Some of his concluding thoughts read; 'One cannot learn the speed or power of an instructor but one can assess his skill. Thus the soundness of the system, and not the instructor, is to be considered.'
Assessing the system (or book) makes more sense than evaluating the individual (or author). Still, it is a minefield to cross for both reader and author. We don't know what makes a human being produce a good book. Forty years of legal practice or a year in Afghanistan? These are kinds of currency which we can't quantify and good fiction helps us to explore exactly those things.
Personally, I want to convey the substance of who I am through my fiction, rather than a skeleton of my history through experience and qualifications.
Endlessly, Perpetually, Something,
L-J
Final thought;
You do not need to understand a river to follow its flow,
Rest upon its currents and soon enough, it will show you all.
