Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the world premiere of Alasdair Gray’s screenplay, ‘Fleck’. Despite being written for a full stage production, this performance consisted of a large group of well-known and hugely successful writers sitting in a row, each reading a part. According to the programme notes, this play has been rejected by ‘many’ British theatres; that is a real pity, though in practice this play would carry relatively high production costs. In this performance, writers such as A L Kennedy, Will Self and Liz Lochhead all participated, so for the knowledgeable audience it was a rare treat. The real pleasure was Gray’s writing, his own unique style of storytelling, and his distinctively individual view of the world.
If there was one message that came home to me, it wasn’t in relation to the themes raised by the play, but rather the mind that produced them. Alasdair Gray is, in my view, the epitome of individuality: his writing follows its own rules, principles and morality. It is my view that individuality is absolutely necessary for any sense of meaning in writing, or any art form. It’s not necessarily required to sell millions of copies of a piece of fiction, but it is necessary if you are producing work that will genuinely touch and influence people.
This may seem snobbish and elitist, which in a sense it is. While I enjoy reading the occasional thriller or can blast through a Dan Brown novel, they will entertain without necessarily making me think about the world in which I live. I guess the kind of writing I’m referring to is commonly known as literary, but I prefer to say it’s writing of individuality. Novels can have a formula and still fall under this category, it is all about the demonstration of character. As well as explain events, these novels are the ones that force the reader to invest themselves in the protagonist or protagonists, seeing through their perspective.
Of course, we are all individualistic; while some are outward and bombastic in their self-portrayal, others are quiet and keep their independent spirit confined to themselves, a secret shared by their soul and mind. I’m in the latter character, bland and beige in my dress sense and deportment, often shy, quiet and at the back of the room. But I know I’m an individual who doesn’t merely follow the trends set for us in society, because I write and think contrary to the typical. I have an idealistic and almost childish optimism that I can make my outlook work in the real world; find work and a life-style that suits me perfectly. My inability to forge a stable career or path for myself is testament to this, but I continue to strive, through Book Sanctuary, studies and various outlets of writing, to find my place.
In an era of the internet, excessive social networking, reality TV and 24 hour news, writing is an important weapon in maintaining individuality. That is the foundation of this website and my own personal goals, to provide an outlet for individual expression; whether a tale of post-apocalyptic South England, or a collection of short pieces that have formed our first two publications. We all need to keep asking why, keep looking at the world objectively, sharing our outlook through fiction or otherwise. Whether you write, sing, paint or just speak openly, don’t lose your individuality.
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