5 ways writers lie to themselves

The things we try to convince ourselves, and others:

1.    That we don’t think we are any good

Everyone has to have a certain amount of self belief in what they do. Writers particularly. From the moment you think ‘Hey do you know what I want to be?’ you have to believe that people are interested in, and will read what you have to put down on paper – even self indulgent stuff about what it’s like to be a writer...

Except, it’s pretty much expected that writers be crippled with self loathing and doubt. So you tell everyone, and yourself, that you are. And this really begs the question: would this be expected in any other profession? Would you want to see your advertising managers wringing their hands over their ability/parentage/schooling/work environment/lack of angst making them suck at what they do?

2.    That we are good at pretending to be modest

Ah writers, just one big paradoxical nightmare. Because while they are hiding their secret conceit, they are also busy convincing the guy in the pub that’s just asked them what they do for a living that they are in fact an undiscovered genius waiting to blossom.

3.    That we are writing

I’m reading, therefore I’m writing. I’m on Twitter, therefore I am writing. I’m going for a ‘head-clearing walk’, which means I am writing. Spoiler: Unless you yourself are actually putting words onto a page they should be on, you are not writing.

4.    That we have a plan

Sure, you might have a plan for your book/poem/next feature, but do you have a life plan? A ‘where do you see yourself in 5 years’ plan? Course not. The beauty/futility of writing, is you have to go wherever the writing takes you.

5.   That the world is stopping them writing

The only thing stopping a writer writing, is the writer stopping the writer from writing.  Right? Right. Write.

What is this?

This is a stream of musings on media, business, society and the people that make them up. 

Ziology was just a (not very clever) play on my surname, but I recently found out that it has also been coined by a couple of poets as a new wave of thinking. Though they have nothing to do with me or this blog, in a weird way, it's kind of relevant. They look to seperate the individual and their mind from media and other influences, I look to understand, and perhaps reinforce the connection.

I'm an observer, a people watcher - not just sat in a cafe watching them walk by, but watching what they create, publish and present to others. In my relatively short writing career, I’ve wondered what exactly I should tell people I am. Writer? Too vague. Journalist? I don't report, and I'm not nearly hardened enough. Creative marketer? Social media guru (eh?). I found that I really started make a connection on the realisation that whatever it is I do, I learn about people, write about people, and most importantly, write for people. Work business, media, even just sharing stuff online - they are all products of society, of human ambition, collective conscience and our constant desire to understand what we are all about. This blog is my clumsy attempt at articulating that. A lot of the posts you see here will be based on industry stuff, some will be more general, but I hope you find something of interest whatever your background is. We’re all people, after all.

Women's Day: Why bother?

1.  ‘Why is there an International Women’s Day anyway?' (followed by remark relating to driving and/or sandwiches)

So, dear newbie, as an introduction to the mystery of this Day For Women, come see the important work The Everyday Sexism Project is doing, and then laugh along at Destroy the Joint’s excellent lambasting of NotSexistBut tweets. You might see a few driving references in there - sorry yours didn’t turn out to be original. Eventually, we hope you will be raging alongside us against the twisted treatment of abused girls in the Maldives, and for girls across the world who are more likely to be raped than educated. Yes, we do focus on some serious shit here - I’d pack a couple of cheese and pickle if I were you.

 2. ‘Hopefully when women achieve equality we won’t need International Women’s Day.’

Ah, my well meaning friend. I see what you’re getting at, but hold your horses. Why, when things have been accomplished, should we not remember those who fought to make us this lucky? Today is the day to realise there is still so much work to be done across the world, and as relatively progressive as we are in the West, there is always room to go backwards (see above).

3. ‘It is sexist to celebrate women and their achievements purely based on the fact they happen to be female.’

Hey, buzzkill, this isn’t a reason not to join the party! It’s not patronising to recognise triumph. We can only accomplish so much with article after article about where feminism went/is going wrong, written in places where the people who really need feminism aren’t going to be reading. So many women and men from different backgrounds are taking part in global conversation today, and that’s what this is all about.

Because if we are to continue to tackle atrocity around the world, and not allow rape culture and everyday shittiness to continue to seep into our own societies, we need to be conversing with the ones who don’t believe that feminism is relevant to them. Far from putting women on a pedestal for the sake of being a woman, IWD is the chance to speak to those who think sexism is a thing of the past, and hear from the ones who in their gut of guts know that Something Still Ain’t Right. IWD offers something positive and accessible, with room for everyone to contribute. It is feminism gone mainstream. It aims to reach those outside in a number of different ways, and that’s worth celebrating.