1.
What can we learn from BS Johnson?
Dave Briggs

2.
Aims
• To gain knowledge about
BS Johnson, his life and his
work.
• To practice skills of
assessing different ways of
telling stories and
innovating in the way work
is done.
• To reflect on the attitudes
we have towards our
work, whether we have
fixed ideas about how it is
done and the ways we
could innovate ourselves.

3.
Objectives
• Understand the
concept of a story, and
a novel
• Gain an understanding
of the life and work of
BS Johnson
• To take away ideas on
how Johnson’s
approach to his writing
can help us in our work

4.
What is a novel?
• BS Johnson was a novelist.
• However, he said that “telling stories was
telling lies”.
• He believed that films and TV did made-up
stories much better than novels.
• Therefore, all novels should be based directly
on the author’s real experience.

5.
Discussion exercise
• Think about the books you like to read.
• Which would you call novels?
• Why would you describe them as novels?
• Can you think of a story in a book, that isn’t a
novel?

6.
About BS Johnson
• Born in 1933 in London
• Started work at 16 as a
clerk
• Learned Latin at night
school and went to
university
• Became a teacher, and
then a full time writer

7.
BS Johnson’s work
• His novels were
increasingly
experimental in
terms of form and
typography
• He also wrote
plays, films and
television
programmes

8.
Form
• Form is the way the story is
written. For example:
– Traditional ‘realist’ novel
– Film scripts
– Diaries
– Letters
– Stream of consciousness
– Different perspectives
Typography
• Typography is the way the
story is printed. For
instance:
– Use of fonts
– Size of writing
– Use of white space
– Use of colour
– The shape of the paper
– The way the book is bound

9.
Johnson’s novels
• Travelling People (1963)
• Albert Angelo (1964)
• Trawl (1966)
• The Unfortunates (1969)
• House Mother
Normal (1971)
• Christie Malry's Own
Double-Entry (1973)
• See the Old Lady
Decently (1975)

10.
Discussion exercise
• Look at the worksheet with different stories
listed.
• What form could they be written in?
– Remember, form is the style of writing, such as
letters, diaries or film scripts etc
• What typographical innovations might be
used?
– Remember, typography is things like
fonts, paper, binding and so on

11.
About BS Johnson
• At the age of 40, in
1973, he committed
suicide.
• He didn’t feel he was
achieving the critical
or commercial
success he should
have been.

12.
Summary
• Ultimately, Johnson
failed on his own
terms.
• But we are still
talking about him!
• Also, he tried to do
something
new, didn’t settle for
the accepted
methods.

13.
Final exercise
• Check your
knowledge with the
quiz
• Think about the final
question – what can
we learn from BS
Johnson in our own
lives and practice?

14.
Any final questions?
Dave Briggs
dave@kindofdigitial.com