This was such a good read. Thank you. I resonate deeply with it. I myself have been an aspiring author for some time now. When I started out, I wrote stories that were inspired by Enid Blyton, and filled with magical talking creatures. I wrote about women in their thirties who discovered they could see fairies. And then I went to a writing 'school' and suddenly all that mattered was ticking the right boxes, having 'the hook' and getting an agent. Then all the magic fell away, and my books were abandoned. Reading a post like this gives me hope and inspiration to write the stories that are inside me instead of trying to follow the rules. Thank you.
Hi Melissa, I'm so glad the essay landed with you. What you've described is exactly what the piece is about: the moment when the rules of the industry replace the instinct that made you start writing in the first place. Women in their thirties who discover they can see fairies is a wonderful premise (I'm in my 60s and I'm still looking for them), and the fact that a writing school talked you out of it tells you everything about what those places value and what they don't. The stories that are inside you are the ones worth writing. What means more to me than anything else is that the piece may inspire you to start writing again. Follow your heart and trust your feelings. All the best Vincent.
I can't tell you how this deeply resonated with me. Just yesterday, I was speaking to my mother about this - our connection to the past - how our ancestors and their lives are intrinsically part of us...and how it has been so important in my life to understand that and to contextualize me into the 'never ending story'. I have been doing research on my ancestors for quite some time now and that link to the past. I loved when you wrote "We are not separated from the past. We are made of it.....A story that started before we existed and that will continue, after we die." This piece was so beautiful and personal 🙏🩷
Thank you Margherita, what a lovely thing to say. I am so glad the piece resonated with you, and especially that it connected to the conversation you were already having with your mother. That is exactly what I mean when I write about not being separated from the past. Those conversations between generations are themselves part of the thread. Best wishes Vincent.
Although I wanted to write something meaningful, or even profound, in response to your insightful piece I have ended up thinking of only the one phase 'the ache, the longing' for something real and lasting. I realise in my own looking back there are lessons still to be learned, reflections, and in looking back to my own family history how many links there are which, like yours, can be linked together into what we have today. We also had an ancestor who was one of the Pre-Raphaelites, one John Hancock who was a sculptor, only in the last year someone has come to my younger brother with a vast history and examples of his work n and is now writing a book about him. He is no longer just a name on a family tree, he is a real person who lived, worked and died Thank you for your posts I really enjoy them and can relate to them..
Hi Lis. I'm so glad the essay resonated with you. The fact that you have your own Pre-Raphaelite connection through John Hancock is fantastic, and what you say about him no longer being just a name on a family tree, is exactly the feeling I tried to capture in the piece. That moment when a distant ancestor becomes a real person who lived, worked and made things with their hands, and you realise you are connected to them in ways you never expected. I'm fascinated to hear that someone is writing a book about him. Thank you for reading and I’m glad you enjoy my posts. Best wishes Vincent.
It's wonderful to read about William Morris on Substack! I wrote my senior literature capstone paper on his "The Story of Sigurd the Volsung," in great part because, with my English bachelor's focus split between literature and writing, I knew my contemporary writing professor (who was a fine woman in all other respects), would not have let me write about dragons.
There is a couplet of his from the very first stanza of "Sigurd" that, for me, captures the longing and inspiration of the past, the desire of lost values, you show alive in all these writers of fairy tales in this excellent piece:
"There dwelt men merry-hearted, and in hope exceeding great
Met the good days and the evil as they went the way of fate."
Wherever such a place with such people exists, in reality or in the great tales, I want to be there.
This was such a good read. Thank you. I resonate deeply with it. I myself have been an aspiring author for some time now. When I started out, I wrote stories that were inspired by Enid Blyton, and filled with magical talking creatures. I wrote about women in their thirties who discovered they could see fairies. And then I went to a writing 'school' and suddenly all that mattered was ticking the right boxes, having 'the hook' and getting an agent. Then all the magic fell away, and my books were abandoned. Reading a post like this gives me hope and inspiration to write the stories that are inside me instead of trying to follow the rules. Thank you.
Hi Melissa, I'm so glad the essay landed with you. What you've described is exactly what the piece is about: the moment when the rules of the industry replace the instinct that made you start writing in the first place. Women in their thirties who discover they can see fairies is a wonderful premise (I'm in my 60s and I'm still looking for them), and the fact that a writing school talked you out of it tells you everything about what those places value and what they don't. The stories that are inside you are the ones worth writing. What means more to me than anything else is that the piece may inspire you to start writing again. Follow your heart and trust your feelings. All the best Vincent.
I can't tell you how this deeply resonated with me. Just yesterday, I was speaking to my mother about this - our connection to the past - how our ancestors and their lives are intrinsically part of us...and how it has been so important in my life to understand that and to contextualize me into the 'never ending story'. I have been doing research on my ancestors for quite some time now and that link to the past. I loved when you wrote "We are not separated from the past. We are made of it.....A story that started before we existed and that will continue, after we die." This piece was so beautiful and personal 🙏🩷
Thank you Margherita, what a lovely thing to say. I am so glad the piece resonated with you, and especially that it connected to the conversation you were already having with your mother. That is exactly what I mean when I write about not being separated from the past. Those conversations between generations are themselves part of the thread. Best wishes Vincent.
Great piece!
Thanks and glad you liked it.
Although I wanted to write something meaningful, or even profound, in response to your insightful piece I have ended up thinking of only the one phase 'the ache, the longing' for something real and lasting. I realise in my own looking back there are lessons still to be learned, reflections, and in looking back to my own family history how many links there are which, like yours, can be linked together into what we have today. We also had an ancestor who was one of the Pre-Raphaelites, one John Hancock who was a sculptor, only in the last year someone has come to my younger brother with a vast history and examples of his work n and is now writing a book about him. He is no longer just a name on a family tree, he is a real person who lived, worked and died Thank you for your posts I really enjoy them and can relate to them..
Hi Lis. I'm so glad the essay resonated with you. The fact that you have your own Pre-Raphaelite connection through John Hancock is fantastic, and what you say about him no longer being just a name on a family tree, is exactly the feeling I tried to capture in the piece. That moment when a distant ancestor becomes a real person who lived, worked and made things with their hands, and you realise you are connected to them in ways you never expected. I'm fascinated to hear that someone is writing a book about him. Thank you for reading and I’m glad you enjoy my posts. Best wishes Vincent.
It's wonderful to read about William Morris on Substack! I wrote my senior literature capstone paper on his "The Story of Sigurd the Volsung," in great part because, with my English bachelor's focus split between literature and writing, I knew my contemporary writing professor (who was a fine woman in all other respects), would not have let me write about dragons.
There is a couplet of his from the very first stanza of "Sigurd" that, for me, captures the longing and inspiration of the past, the desire of lost values, you show alive in all these writers of fairy tales in this excellent piece:
"There dwelt men merry-hearted, and in hope exceeding great
Met the good days and the evil as they went the way of fate."
Wherever such a place with such people exists, in reality or in the great tales, I want to be there.
Thank you for writing this!
This was tender, lovely & very informative! I loved it. Thank you for sharing.