caithness writers vanish

[rich]

Whatever happened to the ORG section for Caithness writers?
Going to the site I find a telephone number and a snail mail adress for a gentleman in Scrabster.
Does this mean that aspiring Caithness writers have to go out and lick a stamp and pop the masterpiece in the mailbox and then wait on tenterhooks for the letter of rejection? And this in the ege of e-mail!!!!
I think that much literary material ends up on the increasingly excellent FIELD CLUB section.
But for example surely the account by Ms. Smith of a Farm Flitting in the 1950s belongs in the lit. section to show aspiring writers how to write about Caithness in a lively fashion!
I seem to remember there was once a thriving literary section, if somewhat weighted down by sentimental verse of great technical incompetence.
How can this situation be remedied?
Or do we care?

[Lavenderblue2]

Whatever happened to the ORG section for Caithness writers?
Going to the site I find a telephone number and a snail mail adress for a gentleman in Scrabster.
Does this mean that aspiring Caithness writers have to go out and lick a stamp and pop the masterpiece in the mailbox and then wait on tenterhooks for the letter of rejection? And this in the ege of e-mail!!!!
I think that much literary material ends up on the increasingly excellent FIELD CLUB section.
But for example surely the account by Ms. Smith of a Farm Flitting in the 1950s belongs in the lit. section to show aspiring writers how to write about Caithness in a lively fashion!
I seem to remember there was once a thriving literary section, if somewhat weighted down by sentimental verse of great technical incompetence.
How can this situation be remedied?
Or do we care?

There is indeed a thriving Literature Section here Rich - I don't know how you missed it - I agree with you that Mrs Smith's Farm Flitting and other great stories to be found in CCWS should maybe be included in this section along with the beautifully written sentimental verse, humerous verse and Caithness dialect verse.

I do hope you'll come and join us.

LB

[Moira]

I care Rich.

The literature section of Caithness.org has been alive & well for a long time. PM me your contribution(s) - I'll be glad to post them for you.

[canuck]

rich, my haiku groans,
but young rob makes his verse sing.
Literary lives!

[Moira]

Rich is well defined
Even chips on both shoulders
Can we redeem him?

[canuck]

rich just needs a light
To guide the way these dark nights.
He'll flood the pages soon.

[Sporran]

Whatever happened to the ORG section for Caithness writers?

I seem to remember there was once a thriving literary section, if somewhat weighted down by sentimental verse of great technical incompetence.
How can this situation be remedied?
Or do we care?

I'm afraid I'm rather offended that you think our still thriving literary section consists of verse of great technical incompetence, rich! If you took the time to read through our many pages, you would see that quite a few of us are not as technically incompetent as you suggest. Quite the opposite, in fact! Trinkie, Tubthumper, Lavenderblue2, Angela, Wifie and myself do a pretty good job with our efforts, if I may say so. And although it's been a while, we've been treated to some wonderful sonnets penned by Gleber2.

[trinkie]

Hallo Rich and welcome, I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before .

I agree with some of what you have said. To begin with I have often thought that this page has been wrongly named –‘ Literature’ – no, it should be ‘Ceilidh for beginners.’

The Literature page was started last year with great enthusiasm, but now several of our good members have not been able to participate for one reason or another, and that’s a pity for we hoped to learn from them.
Some of us try to keep it going, because we enjoy the sharing of our stories.

I’ve read your beautifully written bit carefully and must say your writing skill is competent, I envy you here; but the content was cold and unkind. Did you mean to hurt ? In Caithness we speak / write not from the head, but from the heart. Those of us who have stories to share do so willingly but in our own way, in the words of John Clare ‘We wear our rustic garb with pride.’

Don’t confuse language, just because we express ourselves in a different way doesn’t mean we have nothing to say. Wordsworth loved to listen to the country folk telling their stories and sharing their thoughts in their own tongue – he envied them. I would have quoted something here, but alas, my W.W. book is on the top shelf and I have been forbidden to use the rickety old ladder again !

There is a mountain of Good Literature out there so you really don’t have to read what we are writing here, but if you wish to, then you are welcome. I have waited for a long time to find the courage to write my stories because judgemental folk like you have caused me to hold back. Now, I have reached the age where I really don’t care. You should not use your expertise or education to put others down – you should know better. Next time you wish to be critical here then do so in a less hurtful way. We are friends doing our best, this is not some kind of Literary Exam.

If you cant sing well, should you not sing?
If you cant paint well, should you not paint?
If you cant write well, should you not write?
Whatever happened to ‘Practice makes perfect?’
DON’T HOLD ME BACK, I no longer have time to spare.

Now I must ask you to write again and say you are sorry for being so unkind – and I bet your mother would happily slap your knuckles for using your good education in such a Big Headed way ! Perhaps you have been out of Caithness for too long .

[Lolabelle]

Hallo Rich and welcome, I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before .

I agree with some of what you have said. To begin with I have often thought that this page has been wrongly named –‘ Literature’ – no, it should be ‘Ceilidh for beginners.’

The Literature page was started last year with great enthusiasm, but now several of our good members have not been able to participate for one reason or another, and that’s a pity for we hoped to learn from them.
Some of us try to keep it going, because we enjoy the sharing of our stories.

I’ve read your beautifully written bit carefully and must say your writing skill is competent, I envy you here; but the content was cold and unkind. Did you mean to hurt ? In Caithness we speak / write not from the head, but from the heart. Those of us who have stories to share do so willingly but in our own way, in the words of John Clare ‘We wear our rustic garb with pride.’

Don’t confuse language, just because we express ourselves in a different way doesn’t mean we have nothing to say. Wordsworth loved to listen to the country folk telling their stories and sharing their thoughts in their own tongue – he envied them. I would have quoted something here, but alas, my W.W. book is on the top shelf and I have been forbidden to use the rickety old ladder again !

There is a mountain of Good Literature out there so you really don’t have to read what we are writing here, but if you wish to, then you are welcome. I have waited for a long time to find the courage to write my stories because judgemental folk like you have caused me to hold back. Now, I have reached the age where I really don’t care. You should not use your expertise or education to put others down – you should know better. Next time you wish to be critical here then do so in a less hurtful way. We are friends doing our best, this is not some kind of Literary Exam.

If you cant sing well, should you not sing?
If you cant paint well, should you not paint?
If you cant write well, should you not write?
Whatever happened to ‘Practice makes perfect?’
DON’T HOLD ME BACK, I no longer have time to spare.

Now I must ask you to write again and say you are sorry for being so unkind – and I bet your mother would happily slap your knuckles for using your good education in such a Big Headed way ! Perhaps you have been out of Caithness for too long .
Well Said Trinkie! :)

[Lavenderblue2]

Well said Trinkie and Sporran!

Your courage is much greater than mine – I was incensed when I read the unkind comments written by Rich but being one of the less eloquent contributors to the Literature page I did my best to show my displeasure…

Here’s hoping Rich will show us what he is capable of in the near future.

LB

[girniegoe]

I'd like to echo the "Well said" - you all do a sterling job!

But PLEASE don't allow the fact that "rich" may have been away from Caithness as a reason for his thoughtlessness/arrogance - believe me the majority of us who have stayed away have not become like that. Perhaps "rich" was always like that - anyway being a lurker/browser myself with little talent I look forward to him redeeming himself in the near future!

[trinkie]

Thank you for your kind words..... No of course I dont think you are all like rich......Likely he got out of bed on the wrong side.

I hope you enjoy the poems and Happy St Andrew's Day to you,
trinkie

[Moira]

Rich - I think I have misread you on this occasion. In which case I do humbly apologise. You don't always make yourself clear. Perhaps that is deliberate - I have no idea. Your posts here always sound pretty negative as regards Caithness.

I received the following link here today :-
http://www.caithness.org/community/arts/caithness_writers_group.htm

Was this what you were referring to?