Autogeography

How much biography is in our writings? How much by our own perspective we are recreating an entire geographical space in a very personal way?

A very interesting perspective, here.

I am still pondering for my own opinion, made up of various mixed personal writing and literary experiences.

Herta Mueller, Nobel Prize in Literature

The profile of the Romanian-born German writer Herta Mueller, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in a family of ethnic Germans, she was both critical against the Ceausescu regime and other communist regimes in Eastern Europe, including the former East German writers who collaborated with the secret police. While she was not extensively published and discussed as an author in her home country- mostly through her positions against members of the cultural and political establishment - in Germany she is well known and appreciated and her works are translated in at least 20 languages. Probably now she will benefit of extensive laudatio and impressive articles.

How to Write?

Not necessarily the subject matter, it is always about the style and the capacity to express what you are thinking about. Because the first rule is to have clear in mind what do you want to write and why. Nowadays, audience is becaming more and more unclear, but still the simple exercise of imagining another one reading your work is useful.

How to Write, by Alastair Fowler is an easy guide about words and how to make them to send messages. Including from general considerations to a couple of tips how to introduce paragraphs, connection words, use of the metaphors. Plus, at the end, an extensive list of dictionaries and thesaurus to be used by any kind of writer, a professional or an amateur.

Writing could be a passion or a full-time job. The aim is to be read/understood by the other and in order to attain this at least a minimum of general requirements are needed. Understanding the needs to use certain rules - grammar and ponctuation, as the need of a logical organization of the whole material - is the first stage and don't have nothing to do with creativity. Unless you want to be a dadaist-suprarealist writer. And, whatever the language and the natural gift, reading and updating permanently, including with a technical and sometimes arid bibliography - as how to use the "full stop" - could be useful. And lots of exercise as well. Exploring various technical and stylistical potentiality of the words is a full-time rewarding activity. Probably, many writers consider humiliating and worthless to write an ad or a news in the newspaper, or a political discourse - even they are many doing this, and successfully. But, at least for fun and as an exercise of creativity is worthy doing this. Each side of the words is opening new ways to understand and thus, better use them.

For me, the section 24, about Practicalities, was interesting because made me think about various cultural and civilizational habits we share with our time or inherited from a professional lineage. This section it is about: where to write, when, how to warm-up, management of the materials, ordering papers and writing instruments. Each of this issue deserves at least one book in itself.

Ph.D. students experiences: UK

Two pieces of articles from the Independent, on the personal challenges encountered by a PhD student and the time pressure in finishing the research in the UK sooner than a couple of years ago.