Creative Lives Interview with Journalist, Public Speaker and Author Robert Eddison

Robert Eddison is a national journalist and public speaker known as ‘the one line sage’. Robert has recorded every original thought he has had since June 1997. They now run to many thousand and take the form of witty, and often profound, one-line observations on an awesome variety of (150) different subjects, ranging from childbirth to political correctness. Publications in which they have most recently appeared include the Week, Mail on Sunday and the Times. Well known around the world for his witty one-liners, Robert has amassed a huge following on social media. You can follow Robert on Twitter and find out more here: www.roberteddison.com

It’s a pleasure to welcome Robert to the blog to discover more about his work-life.

Photo by Bookblock on Unsplash

How did you pursue and achieve your current creative job?

Interpreting the word “job” here as an “all-consuming hobby”, I spotted four stand-alone one-liners in my first produced stage play: Commanding Voices, which turned out to be aphorisms. It struck me that, rather than write another play to produce a few aphorisms, it would be quicker to originate them independently of any other form of writing. I’ve ended up coining seven original one-liners each day and am currently posting thirty a day on Twitter and two a day on Instagram.

 

What are the advantages to working in traditional media today over tech or do you see a marriage in that in your work?

I think technology is more isolating and risks making only virtual, not real, friendships. Working and socialising in the mainstream media gives greater opportunity for face-to-face networking. Virtual communication is one-dimensional and reinforces the writer’s historic isolation, shut away in the traditional ‘dark room’. Proof of concept is the couple who corresponds online for months, only to find they don’t hit it off when they finally meet in the flesh.

 

What are the biggest challenges you face as a creative?

Getting people to share my holistic vision of Wisdom & Wordplay. It was only after my book shot up the rankings and became an overnight bestseller on the day of the launch that they finally bought into my vision. My hand was quite tired after I’d been signing books for a solid forty minutes after my interview with the Foreign Secretary’s father, Stanley Johnson.

 

How do you deal with the inevitable ups and downs of leading a creative life, constantly pushing your art out into the world?

I didn’t – until last year, as I’d never thought of monetising my private hobby of twenty years, any more than most people think of monetising their private diaries. I’d assumed that, on death, myaphorisms would be chucked into the nearest bin, along with my love letters.

 

Can you share any tips for building confidence?

With Wisdom & Wordplay having become a runaway bestseller and hopefully capturing the UK and American pre-Christmas markets, my confidence has definitely enjoyed an adrenaline boost. But the innate self-confidence that I’ve painstakingly built up over the years did not come easily. My main tip would be always to see the glass as half-full.

 

What are your career highlights to date?

As mentioned on the back cover of my book, my career was kick-started by:

• a European scholarship from Cambridge
• a university lectureship
• a lecture tour of America
• a major interview with the late Margaret Thatcher for the London Times
• published feature articles in most British broadsheets and red-top tabloids, including the Observer, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Spectator, New Statesman
• Also published in Canada’s Globe and Mail and Toronto Star
• Periodic freelance broadcasting for the BBC
• Long-time Trustee of OCD Action
• Director of the International Association for the High Ability (IAFHA)
• Official Representative of Blind Veterans UK
• Periodic Chair of Mensa discussion dinners

 

Who inspires you?

Those who inspire me include:

• Oscar Wilde
• La Rochefoucauld
• Albert Einstein
• Winston Churchill
• Nelson Mandela

 

What’s the greatest advice you’ve been given?

To have the courage to be true to yourself.

 

What are your hopes and aspirations for the future?

• For my bestselling first book: Wisdom & Wordplay to go viral worldwide.
• For the Eddison Foundation at my old Cambridge college, Trinity, to promote a love for the English language and arrest its decline.
• To live a long and healthy life.
• To leave a durable legacy that puts Oscar Wilde in the shade.
• To continue enjoying the friendship of gifted and creative people.

 

Define success

My definition includes:

• Being comfortable in your own skin.
• Continuing to avoid stress when under pressure.
• Finding, and retaining, inner contentment.
• Having enough money to achieve my goals.
• Finding fulfilment through publishing many sequels to Wisdom & Wordplay.
• Finally, to be in constant demand as a respected and amusing public speaker and broadcaster.

 

Robert Eddison’s Wisdom & Wordplay is available to buy from all bookshops including Waterstones and online via Amazon and as an eBook for £8.99. www.roberteddison.com Join Robert’s 34,000 followers on Twitter @roberteddison1 for a daily dose of his Aphorisms!