Life of Riley: Four years ... and then some

Wednesday, June 9, 1999 - 10:00

Four years ... and then some

'Tis more than four years since I started writing these things.

— It's not, is it?

Yep. Four years ... and then some.

— Do you mean to tell me that you've waffled on and on each week for all that time?

It was fortnightly at first, then the column went weekly. So every week I sit down and stare into space looking for inspiration.

— While your public waits.

Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's hard. It depends on the politics to hand. But once you get an idea — that's the hard part — once you get an idea, then it begins to flow. You look for the wee small voice. Maybe it's a turn of phrase or an incident; other times it's a topic, so you look for an angle to attack it.

— The "creative process".

Phooey! It's problem solving, that's all it is. Turning A into B — where B is 500 words on a page of Green Left Weekly. Just so long as it's done by Friday night.

— So you serve up whatever you come up with?

Yeah. But it seems to work that way. I don't know if the columns have got any better, but they sure are easier to write. There's a bit of routine involved, so you crank them out, and sometimes they work well and sometimes they don't.

— How do you know the difference?

Oh, readers tell me. I get feedback. I hear about particular columns that get cut out and stuck up on notice boards or run again in other publications. I was especially pleased when one I did was republished in an edition of a local Landcare newsletter. And another on abortion was pinned up at a Catholic boys' college, leading to much fracas. You hear about these things. People send you notes. I get e-mail.

—Is that so?

So you know you're being read. When I'm out and about people say: "You're not the same Dave Riley that writes for Green Left Weekly are you?". And it makes you feel like Philip Adams ... so long as they don't want to have a go at you.

— They don't, do they?

Not normally. But I'd prefer to be incognito. You can be bolder and more adventurous that way. Gee, I write things down I'd never say. I'm shy and unassuming.

— No you're not.

Well, I used to be. I've just compensated for it, that's all.

— So what have you got for us this week?

This week? Well, it's funny you should ask — you just had it.

By Dave Riley

[To see a selection of past Life of Riley columns, visit the revamped Satire Workshop on the web at <http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dhell> and leave a message.]