Why I write #2

I have always written, and my writing was inspired by my reading. I started reading when I was six, with the first booked I started my reading journey with being my Children’s Bible. Shortly after that, just over a year later, I wrote my first short story, entitled The Magic Computer. It had a sad ending (when the computer lost its magic), yet it is one of the only stories that I managed to complete.

I became addicted to reading. The Harry Potter series truly drove this, and I would get so absorbed in my books that the res of the class would be making a ruckus about me, and I would be quietly going about the business of my characters. Talk of World War III in 2001 couldn’t even tear me away from the world of Bilbo Baggins and Artemis Fowl.

I don’t know what lead me to think I could write. I still don’t even know if I can write. Perhaps this optimism in my writing abilities is just because I have been writing for so long, or perhaps just because my zeal for reading caused me to know how to write.

School irritated me because their formatting was just wrong: we had to leave lines between paragraphs (even though they don’t do that in the real books that I read) and their punctuation was all wrong, at least according to how the books were done.

I suppose I write because I am a perfectionist, and as a perfectionist nothing is ever good enough. A writer will just about never be completely satisfied with their work. We could always have done it better.

I know that I write. That much is certain. Does this make me a writer? I do not know: am I genuinely a good writer? Or do I just think that I am because I know how to do it? If I am not a writer, then what am I? I am busy. I am busy finding myself. I am busy learning about who I am, what I am good at, and what I am interested in doing. I don’t know where I am going in life, but I do know that I want to know more.

Writing is my vehicle. As I write, my writing improves, hopefully making me a better writer. Writing takes me to deep places within my mind. Writing delivers parts of myself to paper, and I learn about who I am. I hope that through this, I will gain some direction with my life. Hopefully I will join those who inspired this love for the type and work to instil a drive in others to write. This way I will always have something to read. I write so I will always have a world in which I can disappear, and escape from the possibility of a World War III.

NELM - No one Even Likes Museums

We had our second on-site Journalism practical this week, and we found ourselves in yet another historically rich museum that I had never heard of: NELM - the National English Literary Museum. So, like, I'm not really a huge fan of museums, right...? Other people are though, and that's okay too.

People from all over the world have visited NELM. Imagine 

we had something like the Internet?

But, when you don't have a choice when doing something, you just have to make the most of it. I think the most significant thing about that day was the blistering heat, and the best part of the museum was that they had air-con (in one of the rooms only...). The exhibition in the foyer was nicely done though, and I appreciated the fact that all the printing was done on recycled materials, and that, in trying to preserve the environment (/landscape) that they were promoting in the exhibition (literary landscapes), they avoided some unnecessary irony.

Environmentally friendly displays of the African landscapes

As far as content goes, I thought that it was rather interesting that they had the actual works of famous writers, great writers, and most of all, South African writers. I think what put me off was the fact that I would never use this institution: if I need to get a hold of a piece of writing, I will get it off the Internet. I am glad, however, that the original artefacts are somewhere tangible though - everything needs a home, and it's not as though you could just throw away the original manuscripts of Herman Charles Bosman!

Some of the writers whose works are kept at NELM

Considering the historical relevance and significance that many of their artefacts have, I was not impressed with their filing system. It's not that big of a deal for now though, as they will be moving to a more "state-of-the-art" facilities, where there will be appropriate preservation methods put into place. It kind of reminds me of the Vatican Archives (and scenes from Angels and Demons).

The most interesting thing I learnt about this place was that it existed. And that some guys discovered diamonds and scratched on the windows, with the scratches still being visible today. I also learnt about how significant Guy Butler was to Rhodes and Grahamstown. I think I need to learn more about this character who seems to have started every little thing at this University...

Photographing the diamond-scratched windows for the assignment