Writing's A Hobby, Not My Profession

This morning early I read a piece written by a person I respect and in it he posed these questions:

"How would the masters of olde deal with the media of today and tomorrow? What would they do? Would Shakespeare post his sonnets in a blog? Would Leaves of Grass be a podcast? How about the music video Inferno by Dante?"

Those are intriguing questions.

I have no answers for those specific questions but I do have some thoughts regarding the so-called "Masters of olde" and about what I believe the concept of "Great Literature" to be.

Great literature is a collection of thoughts and ideas recorded by men and women who felt compelled to describe their personal observations of life as they perceived it. And to do so in their own way, each according to his individual ability.

That though is merely my opinion as to what constitutes great literature. It is not necessarily the opinion of learned professors and historians who decree which writings will be preserved and which will fade into obscurity.

For instance, the Works Of Shakespeare are revered and fawned over by scholars and lovers of artistic expression all over the world, so this collection then is properly proclaimed as being Great Literature.

I disagree. But who am I?

Who am I? Well, I am the reader. But I am the reader that says, "This stuff is old and out-dated and no longer meaningful to me so I will only read it if and when I am forced to do so."

Current convention certainly does not proclaim the Works Of Stephen King as being Great Literature. And yet millions of readers buy this man's many books. And actually read them. And re-read them. And enjoy reading them.

As do I.

But then, as I asked above, "Who am I?"

I have more to say on this subject, but a blog entry should be short and directly to the point, so it's probably best to wait until another day to do so.

Note:

In my personal journal today I posted a glimpse at a few bits of writing from my past, proving that writing is my hobby, not my profession.

Please do not hesitate to comment on what I have written here. Reading and absorbing the thoughts, ideas, and opinions of others, such as you, is how I (and other readers) learn.

Thanks for reading . . .