Literary Birthday – 23 March – Alan Bleasdale

Happy Birthday, Alan Bleasdale, born 23 March 1946.

Six Quotes

1. All I ever wanted was to be good. Not to do good. But to be good. At something. To be a really good footballer. Or a really great teacher. And then, when I started writing, I wanted to be the best writer I could be. And I think that this is why I have tended to hide away. Because I never wanted to be famous. All I wanted was to do something well.
2. CHARACTER AND STORY; you’ve got to have good characters and you’ve got to have a really good story. If you haven’t got them then you’re in trouble.
3. You have to be merciless in your questioning of yourself and your story – don’t just sit there and think, ‘well this is good’. You need to walk away from it for a while and then come back to it: and then you will find out what’s wrong with it, because you add that distance to it.
4. Having children is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain.
5. I think when the full horror of being fifty hits you, you should stay home and have a good cry.
6. There is a woman at the beginning of all great things.

Alan Bleasdale is an English novelist who has written for radio, stage, and screen. His works include Boys from the Blackstuff.

by Amanda Patterson

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