The joy of 26

What cheers me most about 26 Treasures is the evident joy that people get from writing. Oh, I know there can be agonies along the way as you struggle to find the right idea or the right word. Sometimes, as John Fountain describes in his ‘creation story’, it wakes you in the middle of the night, taking you by surprise. Sometimes, as Andy Hayes describes, it’s literally part of a journey, you carry the writing in your head and it’s shaped by encounters along the way. It can be disturbing, it can be hard work, it can cause personal agony.

But it remains a joy. We can’t quite achieve the same uplifting of our spirits without going through this process that turns thoughts into words that others can read.

We’ve a wonderful spectrum of writers among the 26 whose 62-word pieces will appear on this site on 18th September; from the most respected poets to seasoned business writers to novelists to young writers still trying to find their own niche in this world of words. But I’m sure each of them recognises the sense of joy experienced through writing.

It’s what keeps us going, constantly returning to the need to put down the right words in the right order in a way that is individual and distinctive. Whether it’s Andrew Motion almost whooping “roll over John Keats” when told he’d been paired with the bust of Homer; or Beth Norris just thrilled by the new experience of seeing her words made public. We recognise the emotion. So much so that I’ll end with what Beth wrote to me: “Seeing my writing on this website was the highlight of my year. My old Nan did a dance around the living room!”

It’s all too easy to get blasé. We need to keep fresh that joy of writing and being read. So let’s celebrate it and tell everyone we know about 26 Treasures.

John


Tim Rich took that photo above (c)