1-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: When did your career as a writer start? And why did you choose being a writer?
Chris Aziz: I didn’t choose to be a writer. Writing chose me. Ever since I could string a sentence together I’ve have written. I’ve never had any choice about it.
2-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine:Do you find writing as a profitable career in the UK?
Chris Aziz:Not at all. Unless you are JK Rowling, UK writers generally don’t earn what they deserve. A study, conducted by Queen Mary, University of London, showed just one in ten authors in the UK can afford to earn a living from writing alone – a drop from 40 per cent just a decade ago. A typical professional writer it found, earned just £11,000 annually; less than the minimum wage. Writing is rarely profitable in the UK, unless your book gets made into a film or television series. Big book deals are rare these days. Earnings from journalism have also dropped abysmally. Newspapers are folding and earnings from writing for the internet are derisory. Usually, if you write fiction, you have to have a day job.
3-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: When you traveled to Egypt and worked with many writers, what was your opinion about them?
Chris Aziz:I felt that, unless you are an international writer like Alaa Al-Asawny, it is very hard. You need courage to write anything of any meaning in Egypt right now. There is no lack of talent. In my workshops I met people who were so enthusiastic, gifted and keen to write no matter what. I really admire them. There is no point in being a writer if you are going to censure yourself. I felt that the writers I met were struggling with many constraints, imposed either by themselves, their lack of belief in themselves, or externally.
4-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: What started the idea of writing workshops? How can a writing workshop add benefit to a non-writer?
Chris Aziz:A writing workshop is not just about writing. It’s an exploration of the imagination, of getting in touch with your own unique creative process, whether you are a writer or not. Eventually it spills over into all aspects of your life and certainly benefits any other work that you do. The imagination is like a muscle and you have to exercise it for it to work. Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
5-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: What are the characteristics of a professional writing instructor?
Chris Aziz:You have to love words, the power of them, the wonder of them….be well read, with lots of writing experience (of all kinds), know what makes a story work and understand that the creative process doesn’t respond to rules. Be passionate about the worth of writing and reading and encourage your students so that you get the best out of them.
6-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: What did you learn most from your students?
That everyone has a story and that some have a natural talent, and others have to work hard to develop theirs
that it is humbling to witness the passion and commitment of my students
that it takes courage is in some cultures/societies to tell stories that reveal a truth, to tell what you think, and what you imagine – especially for women.
7-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Have you ever dealt before with the HR, either in the UK or in Egypt? What is your opinion or criticism?
Chris Aziz:A long time ago, what is now called HR was known as the Personnel Department. Its focus was on recruitment. For sure, things have changed a lot since then as they have everywhere. The rise of technology and social media has completely redefined the role of Human Resources around the world, along with other aspects of business, and data-driven recruiting is increasing. I hope this doesn’t mean a loss of the emphasis on people themselves and relationships. People are just becoming binary numbers behind a piece of glass. How can that benefit HR?
8-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: What’s your opinion regarding unemployment in the UK? And what suggestions do you have?
Chris Aziz:Unemployment in the UK is a major political issue. We are not alone. It’s a global problem. Young people are especially affected. Global recession, financial mismanagement and corruption are all contributory factors. In the UK, closure of some industries and the outsourcing of production and services to cheaper countries ie China and India has increased unemployment. In Egypt I met a lot of bright and intelligent young entrepreneurs with great ideas, but they are not encouraged. So much of the country’s potential is being wasted. As a result, the chance of Egypt becoming a competitive player in the international market is remote. In the UK we must stop outsourcing, and invest more money in entrepreneurial talent and training, and reinvent the working day. Job shares, flexible working hours, apprenticeships etc might help, but I’m not an economist! It’s a very complex issue.
9-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: What is your practical advice to young writers who want to build a powerful career?
Chris Aziz:It depends on what sort of writing, but one thing common to them all is: study your market. If you don’t know your market, how do you know how to target it, and what to produce. Sounds coldly business like, but that’s how things are these days. If you want to be a journalist, decide what type of journalism you want to specialize in, research online and print publications for those that might be interested in your articles. The same goes for publishing. Research the companies that will take your genre. Don’t take rejection personally. Develop a thick skin, and don’t give up.
10-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: You have worked for several magazines and newspapers. How can HR give better support to the writers and journalists?
Chris Aziz:I have always been a freelance journalist. But for employed writers and journalists, I would suggest in-house courses for them to build on their skills. In the last 15 years I have noticed a real decline in written communication (in English,) in both print and digital media; spelling mistakes, bad grammar, incomprehensible text, badly researched. A publication or company loses credibility if it is not articulate and does not set good communication standards. Universities and colleges churn out media graduates in the UK, but the standard is largely poor from what I can see. HR can take up the slack.
11-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Who is your fictional role model in books, and why?
Chris Aziz:I have several, but for today I’ll choose Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. The book tells of Valjean’s life-long struggle to lead a normal life after serving a prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his sister’s children during economic depression. He represents Hugo’s leftist sentiments at a turbulent time for France. Anti-revolutionary mobs once attacked his house shouting, ‘Down with Jean Valjean!’ which shows how ‘real’ a fictional character can become.
Jean Valjean never abandons his humanity despite adversity and the harshness of the world around him. He reflects Hugo’s unquenchable belief in the spiritual possibilities of mankind and how the struggle between good and evil in the soul of one man reflects society’s struggle toward a greater good. I chose him because the world desperately needs more men – and I mean men in particular – like Jean Valjean.
HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Chris, thank you so much for your writing efforts in Egypt and beyond, and for this great interview.
