13 April

Blogs And Arguments. Is Literacy Dying?

by Jon Katz
When Life Is Not An Argument. Robin has not yet had her first argument.

I had an interesting invitation the other day, it was from the organizers of a literary conference, and they were holding a seminar on how the Internet had changed the language of writing. A researcher had come across my blog writing about my decision to put productivity and content on the blog above proofreading, correct punctuation, spelling and grammar.

I do some proofreading, and I often go back and correct typos.

I do not believe grammar and punctuation have much to do with good writing, and I made a decision when I started the blog that it would be a full account of my life. I wanted there to be a steady stream of relevant content, even if it meant there misspelled words and subjunctive clauses in the wrong place sometimes.

When you write as much as I do and as often, typos are somewhat inevitable. To proof my writing more carefully would diminish the content drastically. So would waiting for proofreading software.

My decision was one of the best i have ever made. Internet writing is fast and informal, and my blog has grown steadily ever since I started it in 2007. Subjunctive clauses are not important to my readers either. The blog has four million visits a year.

I should say I always hated the teaching of writing and grammar in American classrooms, it always valued arcane rules over the real values of good writing – emotion, clarity and authenticity. I started teaching writing because I was sick of people telling how much they hated the writing classes they had taken.

The teachers of writing generally, and I am generalizing, teach their students how to feel stupid and inadequate, not to gain confidence and write with honesty and excitement.

The Internet culture values productivity, also. People like to see new stuff when they come to take a look. So do I.

I have seen so many people and students shut down over the years by the fear that their language or grammar is not perfect, they learned to literally be terrified of any kind of writing that had any kind of errors or was not, in their minds, letter-perfect.

The professor who invited to the conference said they wanted me because it seemed that I was able to be successful, attract and audience and write well,  even though I often write  that grammar and spelling were just not that important to me. I think she was trying to compliment me, perhaps to lure me there.

There was no chance of my going. I was imagining one of those academic panels – it was at Yale – on how the Internet has brought about the death of literacy, to which I am sure I have greatly contributed.

I have never done well with snobs, from the border collie ones to the literary ones. I just don’t fit into groups, and never really want to join them. On those rare occasions when I give in and do join, I am gone in a flash, as soon as someone tries to tell me what to think or say.

Groups and labels teach people not to think, and I love to think. Generally, the combative, intrusive and intensely argumentative tone on social media kills thought, shuts thinking down in an instant. It is a way to declare, not think. My blog is a monologue, not a dialogue, and it helps me to think.

bedlamfarm.com is to me, a memoir in the classic literary  sense. No true literary person would see it that way. The literary snobs have always turned their noses up at blogs.

I have embraced a new tradition of writing that is pushing many of the old traditions aside. Most writers I know are horrified that I have committed so much of myself to the blog rather than to classical ideas about writing, like books. Blogs are not considered books, and my blog would never be considered what it truly is, a new kind of living memoir.

In not spending hours agonizing about clauses and spellings, I am committing a kind of heresy It is just not the way writing is supposed to be done. In the ten years or so of the blog, I have received perhaps a dozen complaints about typos and misspellings. I am grateful to be free of that pressure. It has nothing to do with good writing.

Lots of people would disagree with that. Writing is never supposed to be about what the people want, it is abaout what the writers want.  That’s why Amazon has upended the publishing world, it cares about what people want, not what publishers want.

I told the kind person inviting me that I have chosen to live apart from argument, as opposed to discussion and genuine debate. I couldn’t accept the invitation because my idea about writing is not an argument. I wouldn’t urge or argue that anyone else should do what I do, nor do I need other people to argue with the way I do it.

It works for me, I love my blog, it fits my manic and sometimes disassociatve writing style, and my need to share my life fully and openly, something I could never really do in a book, which is somewhat outdated the moment is it is finished. I am proud of my blog, if I am ever to have written a great work, this is it.  Sometimes the blog is very good and sometimes not so good and sometimes very bad, just like life.

But it is always authentic and real. Some people even pay me for writing it.

I never met an English teacher who thought I could write well, or told me so. Every one of them wanted me to study grammar and sentence structure, something every student I ever knew hated. Every one of them made me feel frustrated and dumb.

Writing should never be something anyone hates to learn, it should be pure voice, joy and affirmation. It is about finding one’s voice and place in the world. It is about knowing who you are, and fearlessly searching for the truth.

The blog is, despite its clunky name, a re-thinking of what writing is. It is informal, impulsive, and because of its timelessness, very real. Blogs are about the return of the individual to writing, you don’t need critics, reviewers, marketers or publishers. You can just do it, at whatever length and in whatever form you like. You can proofread for hours, fearing a mistake. Or you can proofread in minutes, and then go write something else.

I love books, but this is the right form for me.

You can spell beautifully and be a wonderful writer, you can spell horribly and be a wonderful writer. It depends on what you are writing.

For me,  is not an argument for me to debate at  some Yale University conference.

People will either read my writing or not, and as someone who has taught writing for a long time, I am firm in the believe that writing is grounded in the heart and the head, not the elements of style. There really is no right or wrong, only what works for you. Or for me.

More writers have been shut down and killed off by teachers and their subjunctive clauses than all the tyrants in the world.

I don’t need to go and argue that idea, and I can’t recommend it to anyone else. It is not an argument.

13 April

Guess Who’s Going To The Great Escape?

by Jon Katz
The Great Escape

Do not let anyone tell you there are no angels in the world.

I encountered one last night. A few days ago, writing about Ali and the kids at the Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus (RISSE) in Albany, New York. I wrote that Ali has been trying for a very long time to raise money and get 16 of the kids he teaches to the Great Escape Adventure Park near Lake George, N.Y.

He has not been able to raise the money. Yesterday, a very lovely and generous human being named Kimberly (she lives in the Midwest, where some of the world’s nicest people live) offered to pay the $800 ticket price to the park. I told her I am certain that we can raise any additional funds quickly.

I called Kimberly last night and spoke with her, and there is nothing more affirming than meeting such a good, open and warm-hearted person. Watching the news, we can easily forget that most people are eager to do good, given the chance.

Kimberly got it right away and was eager to support it. She will make it possible. I didn’t even get a chance to fund-raise on the blog, the Army of Good is everywhere.

This makes the trip possible.  Ali messaged me this morning, he said he was happy to know me. Ditto.

This morning, I found an angel on the Great Escape side, her name is Sandy, and she was extremely helpful and supportive of the RISSE kids, who come from some of the most troubled places on the earth.  Many of them have not yet been outside of the city of Albany.

The Great Escape will open up their hearts and souls, they need nothing more than a good day of pure fun. They have known almost unrelenting dislocation, uncertainty and sometimes, isolation. Sandy was a pleasure to talk to, we will make this happen.

There are lots of options at places like the Great Escape and Sandy patiently and clearly explained them to me. I even wrote them down and remember them.

Today I’m meeting with Ali at RISSE and we’ll go over the options with him. The prices vary depending on what time of the summer we go, and whether do or do not  get a catered lunch along with the tickets, or use Comet Cash, get photos taken on all the rides, and do or do not go home with  a big Great Escape Souvenir Cup.

(The cup is $9.99. The kids will get to understand America even better.)

I think the best deal is late June. It’s a day long experience.

We have to hash out some final details before it can happen.

My head is spinning. Sandy is great, sometimes you just find people who make things happen professionally and courteously. In fact, if you wish to e-mail her and thank her for supporting this, it might make her day. She is Sandy at [email protected].

So we’ll pick a date, do our paperwork, sign a group contract, figure out exactly how much money we need to do this things, and I have agreed to come along on the trip. With my camera. I can’t imagine a better way to spend a day. I messaged Kimerbly this morning (she is modest and doesn’t want her full name disclosed) and said this is so much more fun than arguing about the world.

We don’t need any more money at the moment, thanks.  Kimberly wants to fund the trip, but I don’t wish to take advantage of her. If we need more help, I will either get the money or ask for help. No need to send any. Save it for the soccer uniforms. They will be a lot cheaper, at least I think so.

Ali has been trying to pull this off for a long time, he loves the kids he teaches very much. It’s wonderful to be able to help make this possible for him and them, thank you Kimberly. I don’t mind amusement parks much myself.

I’ve been to the Great Escape a few times, interestingly. When Maria and I first got together, she was working at a home for the emotionally disabled in Argyle, N.Y. She often took some of the residents to the Great Escape and sometimes I met her there.  I often think of it when I think of us. Maybe this time I’ll get on some of the faster rides.

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