My Little Life

I don't buy newspapers as often as I used to but I do get the Guardian on a Saturday. At £2.70 I consider it a small luxury. It will take me most of the week to finish it. The magazine is the first part I'll tackle, then the main paper followed by the family section and finally, the review. The sports, travel, cookery and finance sections are usually ignored although last Saturday I did read the AP McCoy interview. He's a local lad who started his career over at Billy Rock's yard. McCoy went to the same school as my brother and sister though I'm told he wasn't there that often. Too busy riding horses.

So it must have been Wednesday before I got round to the Toni Morrison piece in the Review section. That was a good and interesting read. I haven't kept up with Morrison. There are a few of her most recent books to read and that article reminded me that I still want to read them and I'm encouraged to go back to some of her earlier novels which are still on the shelves. Somewhere. Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye. I really haven't kept up.

I was struck by this statement from Morrison which stung a little and I've been pondering it ever since.

 “So much contemporary fiction, even when it’s well written is sort of … self-referential. I used to teach creative writing at Princeton and I would say ‘Don’t do that. Don’t write about your little life’.” 

Because isn't that what a personal blog is all about, and I know it is not considered creative writing, it is just writing about one's little life. My self-set task for the month of May will be to try and do it better. Perhaps with just a little more creativity.