Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Jerks and Quirks

Jerks and Quirks

Hesiod was a Greek and a contemporary of Homer. He had some interesting things to say some of which have always struck me as profoundly relevant. One of these was that he put people into three categories based upon their mind’s capacity for excellence.

In a tier one mind excellence is coaxed to life…this is someone like Einstein or Kipling, or Dumas…someone who could conjure it up from the nether world.

In a tier- two mind excellence is recognized for what it is….This order of mind might not be able to think it up but knows it when it sees it. For everyone here at writing.com this something you need to aspire to. While it is rare it is not totally beyond the realm of achievement.

The third- tier mind is neither of the above….it is the most common.

When Hesiod pointed this out to the world nobody paid much heed until Machiavelli came along. He was so impressed; he stole the idea and stuck it in “The Prince”…without attributing it… (Bad Boy!)

Thus we know for sure that Machiavelli had at least a tier-two intellect.

So what does this have to do with writing.com…?

The answer is that most writers here believe, while they won’t admit it…that they have a tier-one mind. They think that everything they write should be etched in stone on Mount Sinai. The reason I say this is the idea they have that what they write should not be amended by any finger but Gods or their own. They think the holy grail of authorship contains the material that spills from their minds and while they purport to be open to criticism they’re just “bullshucksin” themselves and everyone else. “If I wrote it,” they reason,” it don’t get a better, and I want everybody, (Especially Percy) to keep their grubby hands off.…”

I would like to believe that women are worse than men in this regard but it isn’t true….with women it simply takes a different form… If you slip a shard of truth beneath that vulnerable rib what you get is the old “How dare you…” maybe not in those exact words but the tone is unmistakable. A woman sees their writing through the same lens as they see their children…”Don’t you be bad mouthing my kids you nasty old curmudgeon” they rile inwardly as the hackles rise on their backs.”

A man pretends to handle it better…”Who the heck does this jerk think he is,” they mutter to themselves as they pen…”Thanks for sharing your point of view,” while in the back of their minds they swear to get even.

In both cases this can be traced to a deep down belief that they were blessed with a tier one intellect and any criticism is an affront to the truth…”why does that moron Percy fail to appreciate who I am?” The reason I say this and the proof I offer is demonstrated by a strong unwillingness to amend their work in the face of overwhelming evidence that change would be an improvement….that what they are writing, weighs in at less than thirty percent of its potential. “If Percy says I should use the word “fraught" when I wrote “full” and Percy is a jerk… then why should I listen to him?”

When a writer takes this attitude it offers proof that they don’t even operate at the second tier. Either they don’t know the best when they see it or they’re too stubborn to admit it. One can’t assume….dear me not…that just because someone knows the best they are going to apply it…I have seen too many examples in my life of people who knew better and chose to do otherwise.

I am working on some review techniques that I hope will be useful in the development of an advanced writer who is striving to achieve a tier-two capacity and genuinely strives to make the output of their writing, “All it can Be.” (Can you tell I was in the Army Once?) These techniques promise to shine a light on potential areas of improvement that transcend…”you ‘appear’ to have forgotten a quotation mark here and you ‘might consider’ a comma there.” Now these techniques are not for everyone…like I say one must be an advanced writer, with a modicum of emotional cladding. Someone who can deal with the notion that while they might consider Percy a “Jerk…” he might be able to offer some insights on the road to becoming a better writer