Last week I went on a rant about the old saying, "write about what you know", blasting people who cling to the idea as though it were their salvation, stray and be lost forevah. Anyway, once again I overdid it because I did not give much of a nod to the times when sticking to what you know results in smoking hot writing so I'm back, hashing it out. It's what we do out here along the language barrier, hash things out. And I don't expect this will be the end of it either but then ending it is not the point, is it?
The point is, can I say that? The point is... I doubt anyone who has given it half a thought believes that subject is any more than a place to start. Otherwise, why bother? It's what you do with it that matters, and more importantly, what you let it do to you, where you let it take you that makes the difference.
And not to belabor the point but, on the flip side, those of us who think that rules are made to be broken need to keep in mind that there are no guarantees breaking them will automatically lead to extraordinary writing.
But back to the thing about sticking to what you know...
Here's a guy who has put it together. He writes about what he knows and kicks ass. He is a teacher/performance poet who bills himself as the man who "wants to create one thousand new teachers". I found his video at a Reno Spoken Views site but I don't know if he ever read here in Reno. My friend, if you haven't heard Taylor Mali before, you are in for a treat...
4 comments:
Wow. I only had a couple of teachers like that, but I'll never forget them.
That is awesome. I made my teacher wife watch it. (She's actually the liberrian, which makes her master over all the kids AND their teachers.) Loved it.
Oh, and I don't recall any teachers quite like that. The only passion that comes to mind was in the one leading the jazz band. But still, it only takes a small handful to make a huge difference in a person's life. My wife is one of those. We can't go anywhere without being hailed by some child. Or former child.
Roy, it's awesome you had a couple of teachers like Taylor Mali. You are one lucky guy.
Don, double awesome that your wife is like this. OMG, what a world if even half of the teachers were like this. My respects to your wife. Wonderful! My high school English teacher was like this, in her own way. She changed my life.
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