Yesterday a friend, who has been hugely supportive of my blogging, offered feedback about a recently published David Bowie tribute monologue, which I posted on the recent anniversary of his passing.
They informed me that, although it made them laugh, they felt there were too many blags (silly fictional references) and not enough deference to Bowie’s genius.
I was appreciative of their openness and honesty. After all, nothing comes from disingenuous plaudits. With this in mind, I thanked them for their integrity and told the cheeky sod to get the f*** out of my house.
The friend in question is a huge Bowie fan. They saw the late rock legend perform in Leeds back in the 1970’s. This infatuation extended to them throwing their knickers onto the stage. This revelation came as quite a surprise as this friend is a bloke!
In my defence I deliberately made my tribute different with a smattering of tongue in cheek observations. I was keen not to get dragged into the clichéd, recurring sound bites that seemed to emanate from the well meaning, but unoriginal, masses since his passing.
Surely, that is what Bowie was all about. Difference and the avoidance of conforming to art that had already been mass produced and didn’t challenge the boundaries of the mainstream! ……… Well that’s my entry for the ‘Pretentious Paragraph of 2017′ award written! …. I’ll move along swiftly!
Don’t get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for my friend’s opinions on my monologues. After all they are far more academically accomplished than I.
It hasn’t been an easy road for me to get to this pinnacle of unpaid, attention seeking blogger. A journey fraught with pitfalls where setbacks and rejection became my unwanted companions. I’ve truly suffered for my art and so have my readers.
To be serious, I appreciate constructive observations about my work which, if I want to grow as a writer, are as important as the plaudits. After all, it can’t all be positive comments relating to my writing prowess.
I often tire of the constant accolades such as “Gary you’re a f***ing genius!”, “That was funny! Who are you again?!” and “Did you watch Silent Witness last night?!” ……. I knew having multiple personalities would come in handy one day!
My wife Karen is very supportive and reads all of my blogs prior to me publishing them. Sometimes her critical observations are funnier than the blogs themselves.
As an example, a few months back (on the occasion of our 27th wedding anniversary) I wrote about our wedding day. In it I wrote all sorts of fictional silliness, like the service being undertaken by a vicar on roller skates, her mum sitting with a ‘Kill the heretic’ placard on the front row and her dad being the victim of a horrific bee attack outside the church after wearing his lucky honeycomb on his head.
It was a piece littered with made up scenerios (well, apart from her mum’s placard) which Karen read from start to finish (the blog, not the placard).
When she finished her read, I asked her what she thought of the piece, along with a polite request to desist the chewing of my iPad.
She responded “It was funny, but not that accurate.”
On being asked to elaborate, she pointed out “You wrote the weather was overcast on our wedding day, but it was a lovely sunny day.”
