The internet and the truth. Will one ever know the other?
I’m researching Greek Myths at the moment. All those wonderful stories have many versions within the Greek tradition, before ever the Romans got hold of the stories and passed them down to us – we who have altered, rewritten and re-shaped them ever since.
Of course, The Greeks didn’t think the stories up themselves, but adapted them from other traditions, Goddesses becoming Gods as it suited.
So it is interesting to see how the stories change on the internet. One misquote on one site leads to a new chronology on another.
I just found one site that suggested that Hermes used his winged sandals to steal Apollo’s cattle. Nice idea, but Hermes was less than one day old when he stole the cattle and had not been given the sandals yet.
Does it matter? I’ve spent the afternoon re-crafting and outline of Hermes life, trying to make it exciting and accessible to modern children. Isn’t that what storytellers have always done? Isn’t that how stories get honed over the centuries and made relevant to the modern taste? Maybe I’m just a servant of Hermes, making sure his name lives on – in which case I can write what I like, exclude what I like and make up what I like, as long as it makes a good story and Hermes comes off the better for it!
Dear, lovely, sensible Anthony Browne, Children’s Laureate, had to put his two pennyworth into the Authors in Schools debate. I suspect he would rather have not got involved, but his position means that the press will come to him first for a comment. I think he mediated his way through the minefield quite well and managed to not upset anyone in the process.
He says that authors and illustrators aren’t special and that children need to know that we were the same as them once. That’s true, but it’s not true. When you meet Anthony Browne and look deep into his eyes, you see his famous character, Willie, staring back at you. Like a dog owner that looks like his pet, Tony either started out looking like a Gorilla or he grew to look like one. Anthony Browne – Children’s LaureateWhen you meet him, you know instantly that he is special. To have produced the work that he has and to have received the acclaim that he has is not an accident. He has an innate artistic, creative quality that you have to be born with. On top of that he has obviously worked extremely hard over the years, doggedly perfecting his craft. A real master at work makes everything they do look easy. Their fans can have no idea how many hours, how much effort, self-discipline, self-knowledge and general grit and bloody-mindedness has brought them to that stage of life.
That is the true inspiration to children – to let them know that they can’t walk straight into a TV presenter’s job or become a pop star celebrity without working for it or having a grain of talent. Programmes like Britain’s Got Talent encourage the view that you just walk onto a stage, do a turn and become famous. It works for BGT to promote the show in that way. We never see the work and sacrifice that all those winners have put into their acts already.
Tony says that children are creative and that they stop drawing and painting and writing as they grow up and become self-conscious and fall prey to peer-pressure. That too is the reason why Anthony Browne is special. He fought through all that teenage rubbish and remained true to himself – original – creative.
I know how hard it is. “No son of mine is going to be a namby-pamby artist!” my father yelled, when I suggested going to art school. I fought through, but a bit of encouragement at that time might have saved me twenty years of struggle. I had one Bank Manager who said it was, “nice that I could make a bit of money out of my hobby,” but he wasn’t going to approve a temporary overdraft, even though I had a fistful of publishing contracts from major publishers in my hand to show him. He would rather have seen me and my young family lose our home.
Anyone who rises above the ordinary is special. They have to be to get there. They have to believe that they are special too – otherwise there is no point going on. They may be self-effacing and humble, but deep inside is a burning belief in who they are and what they do. And these are the people who are heroes to children – that children look up to and emulate. These people should be honoured guests. But how can they be when, after you have ascertained whether they are prepared to make the time to come and visit your school, the first question you ask them is, “can you prove to me that you are not a paedophile?” It’s just not the kind of question you ask of an honoured guest.
Asking the question proves nothing. Those who wish to do harm to children will always find a way, no Quango will ever stop that. This law came about because of the panic over school caretaker, Ian Huntley. The Police knew all about him. The laws were there to protect Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, but someone decided that the Data Protection Act was more serious. So Now we have a massive quango and database collecting information on the innocent, spreading suspicion throughout the education system. Whereas we used to have a system that checked up on the guilty. The new system will just push potential child-harmers out of the schools and into the domestic setting, which is not checked by law and which is the setting in which 99% of harm occurs.
Anthony Browne, believe me, you are special. And so was the trust that we have lost behind the security fences and video entry phones that schools hide behind today.
Maybe it’s not a good idea to read emails before you go to bed. I did last night. There was an email from my editor. The title seemed quite innocuous. A few thoughts about a synopsis I had sent her for a new series. Could I make one or two tiny amendments and rethink the character sketches as we had discussed on the phone – oh yes – this was just dropped in casually at the end – it might be nice to have a couple of sample chapters.
That probably doesn’t sound too bad. Except that to write a couple of sample chapters meant to me, that I’d need to pretty well research the whole eight book series and get it set in stone before I could move on to write the story. Let’s just say it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.
So, at two in the morning I woke up, wide awake, it seemed very bright outside. The moon must have been quite bright. And I lay there, trying not to think about the synopsis. the more I told myself to go to sleep and not think about it, more I did think about it.
In the end I gave in to it. Experience has told me I might as well. If I get a good idea in the night, I don’t mind sleeping late, because I know I’ve already been at work.
When I got to my desk at about 11, I had a pretty good plan in my head which I’ve been working out all morning. Of course I’ve done quite a lot of research on this project already, but to day I had to start refining it enough to create a convincing couple of opening chapters.
A few years ago, I’d have been in tears by now. I guess I’ve just had a lot of experience now and know what I need to do. Without the internet, I’d have had to begin by collecting up books and then I’d have to read them all and makes notes that would then have to be collated somehow, to create the foundations I need. But with the internet, I can flit around following up ideas and hunches, finding little snippets of useful information, checking their veracity and twisting them to my needs.
Now I’ve actually started the writing. and hope to have it all sorted by the weekend. I’ve got other things to worry about and want this little piece of work put to bed so I can concentrate on current jobs. Then I can let, what I call, the “Old Back Boiler” get to work on the synopsis over the next year or so, picking up information and building up the big world in which I will finally be ready to start the stories properly.
So, in a way, I’m procrastinating and putting off the project I should be working on, but I’m actually working really well on the project I’ll most likely be working on after the current on. Is that displacement activity?
