Although I’ve not yet had my ‘big break’ as a writer (ha ha!), I’ve had a couple of opportunities come my way. Sadly, I didn’t quite grasp them wholeheartedly, and you could mark them down as “failures as a writer”. Today, for the first time, I’ll tell you the stories about the masterpieces that never were.
Diogenes Magazine
When the pandemic struck us all down in 2020, I was a part of the year group that was freed from their exam duties. I didn’t have to sit them – phew! What a relief.
Lockdown had fully set in by the time we discovered our exams were cancelled. This could signify only one thing: There was a full cohort of very capable future-students out there with absolutely nothing to do. I established Diogenes Magazine, and put out the call to my colleagues for potential articles.
And they truly delivered. I got over 10 fully-fledged articles back. My cousin, Holly (an English graduate), offered to help me proof and edit the articles. I even had the magazine drafted and laid out, ready to go to the (digital) printing presses. Like a coiled spring, we were loaded to launch – quite where to, I wasn’t sure. However, by the summer of 2020, my motivation dwindled. The slog of editing together all the articles dragged me down, and I took the articles down with me.
I never finished the magazine, and I really think I should have published it. It was my first failure as a writer, one that still sits as a file on my iCloud. One day, one fine day…
The Biggest of my Failures as a Writer: The Language of Symmetry and Benedict Rattigan
Oh do I regret this one. I still wonder which opportunities this could have led to.
When I originally started my blog (seriously) back in 2021, the best thing that could have possibly happened would be a philosopher getting in touch. Perhaps with words of wisdom, or offering for me to become their apprentice.
Well, something along those lines actually happened. Published philosopher Benedict Rattigan had somehow stumbled across my humble blog. What’s more, he deemed it decent enough to offer me his correspondence.
He told me he liked my spirit of making philosophy and everyday practice, accessible to all, and that in this sense I was a man after his own heart. Benedict told me that rather than doing the traditional press procedure, he’d reached out to specialist bloggers and journalists to see if they’d be interested writing about his new project, “The Language of Symmetry”.
I, of course, was very flattered to have been chosen. Benedict sent me through the documentation and information about the exhibition (held at the British Museum!!!), and his philosophy and ideation behind it. He said, essentially, I could write as much as I liked in whichever way I liked. In return, he would have name-dropped my blog as a source at a Q&A about the British Museum Exhibition at Oxford University, on a panel of leading professors in Philosophy and the sciences. Missed opportunity?
It certainly is, and I still rue it to this day. I could have been legitimately published, with a direct line to leading professors, writing about the topic I love most as a hobby. Ah, well.
The Blog of my Dreams
The failures to be a writer I outlined above genuinely have me rattled while writing this post. To preserve sanity, I’ll continue in a more free-form fashion.
My dream would be to be a blogger/online writer, strolling Vienna’s streets and publishing my philosophies and ideas for all to read (sickening, yes I know). If I could make a living out of this, I would have made it. I still hold out hope that will one day be possible.
The opportunity presented by Benedict Rattigan was, looking back, so perfect. A genuine missed gem. All I can do now is press forward, and turn this blog in to the blog of my dreams. Ready for if another opportunity like that presents.
I’d love to hear what people think about things, so please get in touch on the “About” page above. Or share a post, even if not this one, because you never know who might see it.
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