Avi

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For lack of want

Year ago, when I was work­ing as a librar­i­an in a New Jer­sey Col­lege, an Eng­lish pro­fes­sor talked to me about the dwin­dling num­ber of stu­dents in his cours­es about Joyce, Woolf, Eliot, and oth­er post-mod­erns. “They just aren’t inter­est­ed,” he com­plained. “What do you like to read for plea­sure?” I asked him. He said, “Mys­ter­ies. Detec­tive fic­tion. I love them.” “Well,” I said, “have you ever con­sid­ered offer­ing a course on mys­ter­ies and detec­tive fic­tion? You know, what makes for a good one. The his­to­ry of. The best writ­ing. And so forth. Bet you would get stu­dents for that.” historical mysteries

He was shocked. “I could nev­er do that,” he said. “I’m an Eng­lish pro­fes­sor.” Alas, his cours­es con­tin­ued to dwin­dle until, in time, he was dropped from the college. 

Writ­ers are always look­ing, search­ing, for what to write. There are many rea­sons to choose this or that sub­ject, style, and/or genre. But I would sug­gest you should always choose what you most like to read, what gives you the most plea­sure. You know the sub­ject, style, and/or genre because you read it for plea­sure. There­fore, you have the best crit­i­cal appa­ra­tus to shape and cri­tique your own work. And because you love it, you know its capa­bil­i­ties, lan­guage, style, and form. It’s all very well to write what you think is want­ed.  Write what you enjoy and it is more like­ly to be wanted.

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