Write. Right?

Redstar on Aviary   

I am working on a novel, with the title of 'Red Emeralds'. This has made me think of how privileged we, in the  Western World are, to be able to read and write. Thanks to the Education Act of 1870, ordinary people have been able to enjoy books and to write them.

I am glad that I began reading  Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, D H Lawrence and George Elliott in my teens and twenties because the enjoyment has lasted throughout my life. What I am finding now, though, is that I look out for diaries written by ordinary people, such as 'Housewife 47', written during World War 11 and the 'Red Leather Diary', written by a teenage girl in the early part of the twentieth century.

I sometimes give talks to womens' groups, very often in rural areas. After I've spoken, almost every time, someone will ask if it is necessary to have formal qualifications before you can write.

I always say the good thing about writing is, anyone can do it. All that is required is the need to put something down on paper.

In the  'Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner', the sailor stopped 'one of three', because he had a compulsion to tell his tale. Similarly, a writer must want to make someone listen to the story.

The need to write can be so great in some writers, that it does not matter whether anyone wants to read their work or not. (Diarists write only for themselves, not wishing to reveal their thoughts).

It is often said you should write about only what you know. I believe this to be a form of tautology, because most people cannot write about what they haven't experienced.

Good writing is about sharing a universal experience and making it recognisable. Shakespeare is a genius because of this. Here is one of my favourite quotes, taken from Antony and Cleopatra:

'To business that we love we rise betime
And go to't with delight'.