Dear Editor,
I’m going to risk taking some flak for jumping into this ‘cuss out’ between Dr Dabydeen and the local writing fraternity, and seemingly, taking sides with Dabydeen.
My aim is not to debate the use or misuse of the Caribbean Press, but to examine, dispassionately, Dr Dabydeen’s comment that “Most of the poetry sent to the Caribbean Press by local writers is doggerel.”
I agree that our Ambassador to China could have made his point without resorting to personal attacks on Mr Ruel Johnson and Mr Barrington Braithwaite. But is it possible that Dr Dabydeen is right about the state of much of local writing? Is it possible that part of Dr Dabydeen’s frustration stems from the fact that he’s been deluged by manuscript after manuscript, ‘dashed off’ by aspiring writers, who did not take the time to hone their submissions, had not read enough fiction or poetry to understand the craft of writing, were ignorant about aspects of writing such as plot and characterization, and, in some cases, may not have even bothered to master the basics of punctuation or grammar, to ensure their work is publishable?
I consider myself fortunate to have made a friend of novelist, artist and playwright Harold Bascom. I recall us meeting on Saturdays, along with poet Ras Michael and others, at the John F Kennedy Library in Main Street. We would spend hours browsing through reference books like The Writer and the Writer’s Digest, which offered tips on both prose and poetry.
We would often read each other’s work and have frank discussions on whether the work was good or bad and how it could be improved. Harold was a hard but fair critic. He was particularly hard on himself. That’s what helped to make him a three-time Guyana Prize winner. That editorial criticism has made me a much better writer, and, I believe, a publishable one.
But who am I to lecture on writing? So, let’s look at what some of the ‘great’ authors have to say on the subject.
In an interview, Ernest Hemingway stated that he rewrote the last page of Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times before he was satisfied. Thirty-nine times!
The interviewer asked: “Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you?”
Hemingway replied: “Getting the words right. Sometimes, there’s no other way to put it. When we’re writing, we can analyse everything and apply every skill and trick and device that we know. We know how to write, and how to edit, and what should work and what shouldn’t. But sometimes we just can’t get the words right, and we have to keep working at them until they do, whenever that may be.”
And Stephen King: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. If you don’t read, you can’t be a writer. You have to read just about everything.”
Can many of us local, aspiring writers, honestly say that we strive to “get the words right,” as Hemmingway and others did, before submitting our manuscripts? Are we open to criticism or do we merely seek praise? Are we avid readers?
The argument many of us make is that we don’t have a corps of experienced colleagues here to advise us on improving our craft. That may be so, but we do have access to books and the internet, (including YouTube), with writing tips.
Perhaps something good can come out of this acrimonious debate. I would suggest that Dr Dabydeen meet with some of the writers who have submitted poorly presented manuscripts and explain their flaws.
Most important, perhaps this debate can force us who dare to dream of authorship to look honestly inwards, and eventually produce works that can prove Dr Dabydeen wrong.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Jordan
