| "The Voice" |
[Jan. 24th, 2008|02:14 pm] |
The first time I applied for university (three years ago) I attended an interview in Norwich for a Creative Writing course. The professor was some pretensious old chap. Very skinny, black roll neck sweater, clear-framed glasses and white trainers. He had this big leather chair he leant back in and while he crossed his legs and sipped tea, he skim-read my work. "Interesting, do you write all your pieces in third person?"
"Actually that's in first person," I said. But wtf kind of question is that. Did he also want to know if I begin all my pieces with the word 'the'?
"Oh, ok, yes, I understand," he said, reading beyond the first few words. He put my work down on the desk and then leant forward with his chin in his hands. "Let me ask you. Do you ever feel "the voice" flowing through you when you write?" I must have looked puzzled. He chuckled. "THE VOICE," he said "is what us writers call when we feel the voice of a character we are writing about sort of narrating through us, and we are so absorbed by it we don't really count what we're doing as writing."
"Uhm, sometimes I write quite quickly without thought." Was it a trick question?
"Ah."
In the same interview I also asked "Do we get to meet any writers? Like, do people come in and give talks?" he seemed immediately enraged.
"I AM A WRITER! WE ALL ARE ON THIS COURSE!" he said.
On my way out a mature student painting the halls (for free) said that I was so lucky to have met the professor, and I should Google him as soon as I got home because he is so famous and omg his poetry is great. I found nada on Google. I got a letter a few days letter saying the man had decided to offer me a place. Needless to say I decided against it.
My writing has been hellish today. I'm wondering if there really is a non-torturous ease that comes to all great writers, and I was simply not meant to write. I have never experienced a "voice" or any such great out of body experience where I feel like I'm just a set of fingers and a keyboard for some greater artistic force to speak through. I think I am just crap. I feel constipated with words. So why did I decide to "study" this "art" for three years?
Oh, bollocks. |
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