Writing without an education
Posted by: Dennis McIntosh
8 January 2009
Hi David how are you going? Yes, Kevin made an impression on me thirty years ago. And time has not diminished my admiration for him. Hence his prominence in the narrative at Warrigal Creek. He was a gun rousie, as you know (you taught him), and later became a skilled shearer. Thanks for naming his learning difficulty, i wasn’t sure why he couldn’t read. Although i suspected it was Dyslexia, i didn’t want to say something that was incorrect. However, you are not quite right. Eleven years ago i set out to write my daughter’s life story. She had had a brain injury and it appeared a few months after she was born that she may never read, write, walk or talk. Adding to her illness She was heavily medicated through her early life, which can be disabling in itself. Later she underwent many years of brain co ordination exercises and she eventually made it to university and became a teacher. A teacher of children with learning difficulties.
When i realized she had ‘made it’i felt an urge to explain what happened to her and the circumstances around the time of her birth. So i wrote her life story. What i found was i couldn’t spell and the story had no full stops, capitals or commas. It didn’t have any semi colon’s either because i didn’t know what they were . If i had of known of them i definetly would have put a couple in somewhere. Not only couldn’t i spell i had no grammatical skills. I set out to learn how to write and that took me on a seven year journey which culminated in my Masters Degree at Melbourne university. While working in the English department at Melbourne, after many years of study and numerous night school courses in grammar, i realized i still couldn’t automate my basic learning skills. i still make homophone mistakes and i still can’t remember my double letters in spelling. And i am still not sure about where the comma goes. but i did write a story and i did get it published because as Kevin has shown with his life and as my daughter taught me in her life a problem is only something we work around not something that stops us. To suggest that i am floating around with the literary elites is a misconception. Do you think after years in shearing sheds, then i spent a further seven years digging tunnels, that going to university was easy?
I may or may not have a learning difficulty. What i can say for sure is i didn’t consolidate the early years of learning and despite my considerable efforts as a mature age student i have not been able to automate them into my literary skills. That is why i think the governments early intervention into spelling and grammar is an important policy. It is not easy, David, to put something on paper for all to read. Especially when you will be compared to all the other highly skilled writers. So it is with respect for Kevin that i included him in my first blog.
Hope to see you at Richmond library David. Cheers Dennis
August 11, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Hello,
Is it possible that everyone can “Writing without an education”? No it is not possible that without education you can write everything. Education is the third eye of human being and education to every thing which is important in our life and what we do? so that education is necessary for everyone.
January 9, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Hi Shirley, thanks for the comments. well as far as my reading goes i was inspired during my study by books from the Realist writers. ‘Short shift Saturday’ by Gavin Casey (it was both the title of the book and the title of a short story in the collection)It had a huge impact on me. it was a story about men working underground and i had spent many years working in tunnels after i had finished shearing. i could identify with the narrative and the characters. Mena Calthorpe’s The Dye House was another book that grabbed my attention, once again i had lived that itinerant factory life. Jean Devany and Susan Pritchard’s novels were also inspiring. At university i read an average of forty-five books a year. I loved following the reading suggestions of academics. They have spent their life dedicated to their area of interest and i was given reading lists that i would never have found in a library. Academic books such as ‘Problems with Soviet literature, The making of the working class and works of Raymond Williams, Eagelton and other British academics were also inspiring. I found the works of Linguists such as Labov and Bernstein, who unpacked the coded language of the working class, riveting to read. Locally, Geoff Goodfellow’s, work, particularly, ‘Poems for a dead Father’ and Pio’s, local poet, 24 hours as great works of literature that i believe will live long past their life times. They captured voices that seldom find representation in mainstream literature. I could go on for ever, so i’ll halt it there. Don’t want to bore. Cheers dennis
January 9, 2009 at 11:00 am
Hi David, yes it would be great if Frank could get there. cheers dennis
January 8, 2009 at 11:15 pm
fairdinkydinobullshitnuthin!!! Love ya Dennis
January 8, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Dennis, I am thrilled to hear of your daughters achievements.I visited Frank S (ex Grazcos boss)today. He has filled me in on our mates, and I will try to communicate with them. Thoughs that haven’t got a pen in the “Big Shed Upstairs”. All shearers go to heaven as they have already done thier time in Hell.Shearer’s Heaven is where the Graziers have to shear the Ropel wethers and we watch.
There are many of us that have the stories, grammar skills etc. but not the courage and dedication to create an honest story for others to read. I hope that Frank will come to Richmond he also has a story that should be heard, from a different perspective to us.
Cheers David
January 8, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Hello Dennis
I think it’s really admirable that you went to uni as a mature student; working and studying is extremely hard. And writing a book is a huge accomplishment - for anyone. Your story is a wonderful inspiration to anyone who has had to face adversity. I was wondering, do you have any authors that you admire or books that have been an inspiration to you.
January 8, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Thanks for your open and honest blog posts Dennis. It is amazing to have heard a little of your story (and now I can’t wait to read the rest - I have a copy of your book on reserve at the library!)