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The ALEX VAN STARREX Website

BOOKS & WRITING INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Since reading takes up such a large amount of my time, it seems a shame to devote such a small amount of space to it on my website. I'd love to regale readers with descriptions of my favourite authors and books, but have neither the time nor space. Look forward to my book for further pontification on such matters as:

- the history and development of languages; book
- the role of words in human thought processes;
- the tyranny of the written word; and
- the esoterics of literary style.

In the meantime, there should be plenty of literary links here to keep you happy.

CREATIVE IMPETUS

Provided that we actually have something to say, writing often seems a more effective way of conveying information. Unlike normal speech, writing allows ideas to be set out in both a logical sequence and a complete, holistic form. Writing also reveals much about the character of a person - including thought processes, personality and interpersonal style.

But what drives a person to start writing - especially in volume? Personally speaking, I can indicate a number of events that took place in my formative years:

- walking around a graveyard that was opposite my Primary School, and wanting to know more about the people buried there;
- failing to win the dux of at that school (despite topping the school in at least 3 subjects, and beating the nominated dux in all subjects bar one - English) because I'd failed to produce a "novel" for printing;
- feeling something of an existential chasm between myself and other people my own age, as a mid-teenager;
- being suspended from High School (for "pseudo-intellectual arrogance") for producing a series of provocative (and popular) English essays; and
- having to consume so many textbooks at University, and feeling compelled to have my own ideas published.

As for others, the circumstances will change according to the person. The most intriguing writer of the 20th Century whose output I have critically analysed has been Henry Miller, whose has links featured on my Favourite Writers page. The balances between fiction and reporting, life and imagination, of course are present not only in our writing, but in our thoughts as well. But that is another topic.

MY LITERARY CAREER

I've dabbled in the art of writing from time to time over the years. My endeavours in this field haven't met with the greatest success, however - mainly because I write in a fairly verbose and pedantic style (if the reader hasn't already noticed). Neverthess, here are the published and unpublished 'highlights' of my literary career - leaving aside correspondence, university essays and job-applications:

- 1974-77: Contributed graphics and written work to my annual High School magazine, 'Kalori';
- 1976: Wrote a letter to local music magazine 'RAM' - printed as 'Letter of the Fortnight';
- 1977-79: My first attempt at writing a fiction novel - aborted and turned into a short story; hackwork
- 1977-78: One and only concerted effort to maintain a diary - I nearly went mad keeping it;
- 1980-84: My 'mystical years': semi-lucid notes and writings on the meaning of life and existence;
- 1985-92: Filled several small notebooks with ideas and stories written in pubs around Sydney;
- 1989-92: A series of printed/published software reviews and articles on Amiga computing;
- 1990: My selection of 'desert island discs' is printed in Brashs free magazine 'music 90';
- 1990-91: Several stories and articles written for 'Hotdisk', an ill-fated adult disk-magazine;
- 1990-96: Introductory and other text-files written for most of my AVS-Amiga disks;
- 1994-98: I maintain increasingly detailed accounts of my love-life (an exercise now abandoned);
- 1997-98: I produce a series of cursory miscellaneous notes intended for an autobiography.
- 1993-??: A book starts to develop, from a growing pile of copied texts, notes, original ideas;
- 1998-??: My writing moves online - courtesy of my website, newsgroup postings, penpals and emailing.

In addition, an annotated story of my AVS-Amiga years could easily be prepared and published, if the right level of interest is shown. The behind-the-scenes activites and correspondence involved with this venture would have to be seen to be believed.

ONLINE LITERATURE

Many complete books (mainly 'classics' and other literary works) are available online - though these are mainly older works, due to copyright restrictions.

OZLIT BOOKS & WRITERS - search OzLit's Databases for any Australian Book or Writer. NB: Default also gives a bibliography from the Links Database.


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URL: http://homepages.tig.com.au/~avanstar
EMAIL: avanstar@tig.com.au
© 1998 Alex Van Starrex