13/ Elsewhere, I read an anecdote where SG told a class of students that he was a writer only because he couldn't do anything else, & that he had also said that writing was hard and most students wouldn't be able to hack it. Here we go again with the "anointed" narrative.
-
Show this thread
-
14/ SG isn't the only person who has said things like this. I've heard other writers in positions of power say the same, with varying degrees of sincerity. The SG anecdote strikes me as funny because, honestly, I WOULD KILL to do anything else other than write.
1 reply 0 retweets 17 likesShow this thread -
15/ I've thought multiple times about giving it up and doing a different career. Not "being able" to do anything else than write? That's a failure, imho. Having other skills that you can use and depend on to get through the world? THAT'S A GINORMOUS BONUS.
1 reply 1 retweet 21 likesShow this thread -
16/ But somehow we get fed the idea that writing is anointment, a calling, something that makes someone "special", above all others. And that sense of superiority is then carried into writing circles themselves, perpetuating the hierarchies and turning so many voices away.
2 replies 3 retweets 35 likesShow this thread -
17/ I. Get. So. Furious. When I hear things like this. You're a writer? Great. Good luck. Think that somehow makes you special? Fuck off. You are choosing to make a go of this thing. Put your head down & do the work. Don't shit on other people who are trying to do the same.
1 reply 2 retweets 44 likesShow this thread -
18/ CanLit has never been a community with a shining centre. It *has*, over the past few years, through dint of hard work and pain and a lot of rebuilding, become a place where multiple people are choosing to make a go of it. THAT is something special.
1 reply 3 retweets 32 likesShow this thread -
19/ Literature is a special thing only insofar as it helps us to navigate the world & connect with one another. Do not come at me with How Important You Are Because of The Important Things You Do In Your Fiction. Have you restarted a heart lately? No? GO AWAY.
1 reply 4 retweets 33 likesShow this thread -
This Tweet is unavailable.
-
Replying to @stevenwbeattie
Yes, absolutely. I’m not trying to deny that. I just don’t think it’s productive to propagate a culture where storytelling is seen as some magical gift bestowed only to a few.
0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes -
This Tweet is unavailable.
Storytelling talent in my experience is distributed very democratically. Education, free time, and access to publishing isn't.
-
-
This Tweet is unavailable.
-
Replying to @stevenwbeattie @AmandaLeduc
You should take
@NearSitedMonkey's writing workshop. She finds the hidden storyteller inside everybody.0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
End of conversation
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.