In "Peanuts," Peppermint Patty struggled greatly at school. In one cartoon, she cries, "I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind!"
(Next frame)
"The answer is 12? I think I'm in the wrong building!"
......
The successful writer often is found in the wrong building, due to thinking just like Peppy Patty's.
Really.
Perhaps there is not only more than one building--there's more than one right answer, perhaps there's a whole parallel universe where there are different questions...and it's my job as a writer to make this alternate universe pop off the page and swell up to life-sized video/audio/feel-a-vision and smell-a-vision...oh, heck, tasty-vision, too! YUM!
Remember the last book you just lost yourself to? For me, re-reading the HOBBIT was just that--3-D touchy-feely-dreamy-ahhhhhness! Or, the novel so full of suspense or action that you just couldn't set it aside? I just read a coupla James Patterson's where it was hard to put the book down in order to get to bed by midnight. Successful author, he creates an answer that may not be in the heart of all mankind, but it resonates for plenty of us!
Let's think outside the box, outside the building, outside of ourselves...I wonder what it may lead us to?
PS: other blog posts are archived...scroll down and click on one of the months to see my older posts.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Dreaming.
"Life is the soil
our choice and actions the sun and rain
but our dreams are the seeds."
--[Uttered by someone more dreamy than moi!]
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--==-=-=-=--=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-
Dream-seeds. I thought those were what I remember to scrape out of the corners of my eyes right after lunch!
Dream seeds. Actually, arising from several inches behind the eyes, in that wonderfully creative cerebrum! Some dreams arise from sleep, some from "daydreams," and some from consciously picking a goal that may feel dreamy in its lack of clarity or its unattainability--then choosing to make it clear and defining the steps that'll make the dream attainable.
Dream seeds. Too often, they remain unplanted, or unwatered/cultivated/weeded...pick your point along the continuum of
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
too-comfy unfocused willing-to-plan getting-started blood-sweat-tears
no-energy this-is-hard moments-of-satisfaction job-well-done!
As the motivational speaker, Napoleon Hill said, "Patience, Persistence, and Perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success."
Writing, based on dreams...that's been cutesy/trendy in the past...but it only works if you take your idea and WORK it. I was just reading another blog about writing--the author claimed to rework, revise, and re-edit not many times, not multiple times, not scores of times, but hunnerds! Call me a skeptic--did he really count? That said, most good stuff is good because it wasn't easy, and the hard work will shine through.
Dream-seeds. Sure, a dream, a conversation, a picture, a vista may be the inspiration that gets any author started. After that, it's called--sitting down to the task and doin' it, kid! Let's go!
Friday, March 22, 2013
Reading, writing, and "The Dark Side."
I'm reading a book I truly dislike. Better yet, I just stopped reading it. I usually can plow through most everything I commence reading--only 2 or 3 books per year achieve this level of demerit...out of 125-135 books read per year!
When an author is so taken by their cunning turn of phrase, by the inclusion of "telling details" that put you right into the "dusty street with only the sound of the dry tumbleweed clunking off the abandoned storefronts," when they fail to develop plot or character--sorry, when I gave you forty pages worth of attention and my only feeling was of the need to recruit all my speed-reading tools...we're done. Really, have you ever met a knight who was never angry but always in "high dudgeon"? Makes one to wonder, what's low dudgeon? And, of course, the knight's armor is always "glinting with brilliance under the low wintry sun just rising over the gloomy ramparts of the evil duke's turreted castle." Pah!
Now, lest you think that this is merely a rant, my intent was to explore the world of writing from the dark side. Or, as I often told my kids, "They are setting you a horrible example--just do exactly the opposite and you'll be in good shape!" I truly learn a lot about writing from works that I consider sub-par. Okay, deplorable! (And, I wonder, WHERE was their editor, and how did such a poorly-written, flowery and vague, typo-ridden book ever meet up with a printing press?)
Characters that you hate, you cannot wait for them to get their just reward--that's a well-limned character. Characters who charm you, whom you hope won't step over that creaking threshold and into the cobwebbed darkness--again, you've bought into the author's world; success! When you get sweaty pits and you cannot put the book down--YES! THAT is the response to good writing, whether it's Dean Koontz, Shakespeare, or whomever. Characters who bore you, playing against other characters who have nothing to love or hate or laugh at, characters who trundle on through a story line that doesn't make you marvel at that last strange twist or wonder what's next...bah!
As Truman Capote is alleged to say of Jack Kerouac, "That's not writing, that's typing."
May our life's work be "writing" rather than "typing"!
When an author is so taken by their cunning turn of phrase, by the inclusion of "telling details" that put you right into the "dusty street with only the sound of the dry tumbleweed clunking off the abandoned storefronts," when they fail to develop plot or character--sorry, when I gave you forty pages worth of attention and my only feeling was of the need to recruit all my speed-reading tools...we're done. Really, have you ever met a knight who was never angry but always in "high dudgeon"? Makes one to wonder, what's low dudgeon? And, of course, the knight's armor is always "glinting with brilliance under the low wintry sun just rising over the gloomy ramparts of the evil duke's turreted castle." Pah!
Now, lest you think that this is merely a rant, my intent was to explore the world of writing from the dark side. Or, as I often told my kids, "They are setting you a horrible example--just do exactly the opposite and you'll be in good shape!" I truly learn a lot about writing from works that I consider sub-par. Okay, deplorable! (And, I wonder, WHERE was their editor, and how did such a poorly-written, flowery and vague, typo-ridden book ever meet up with a printing press?)
Characters that you hate, you cannot wait for them to get their just reward--that's a well-limned character. Characters who charm you, whom you hope won't step over that creaking threshold and into the cobwebbed darkness--again, you've bought into the author's world; success! When you get sweaty pits and you cannot put the book down--YES! THAT is the response to good writing, whether it's Dean Koontz, Shakespeare, or whomever. Characters who bore you, playing against other characters who have nothing to love or hate or laugh at, characters who trundle on through a story line that doesn't make you marvel at that last strange twist or wonder what's next...bah!
As Truman Capote is alleged to say of Jack Kerouac, "That's not writing, that's typing."
May our life's work be "writing" rather than "typing"!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Can you bear it?
Once upon a time, there were three bears:
a poppa bear,
a momma bear,
and a Camembert.
(Geo. Kaufman)
=-=-=-=-=-=--==--==--==-
Some days, I feel so witty (and pretty, and bright) that I cannot bear it. When I finally focus enough to start writing, the silliness sometimes needs to simply work its way out of my system...so I write silly stuff. Sometimes it remains goofy garbage; sometimes it morphs into something with lasting humor; sometimes it leads to a mordant insight that would never have emerged if I hadn't started down silly lane...akin to this moment.
More simply stated--ignore your mood, and follow your calling. Is it to love your kids? They don't care if you started the board game or the book with an attitude in your heart that was less-than-perfect--just do it. Is your calling to please your boss with your attention to detail? Again, NIKE--just do it...oh, and quit yer whining, that's just grump-fertilizer, making things worse. Buckle down and do it. If your calling requires a different attitude than what you're sporting now--hey, you get to choose your attitude. You respond to life's vicissitudes (gosh, I love that word, but don't get to use it much!) with a choice: will you be reactive or pro-active? You don't need me to tell you that there's really only one mature response to this question. Duh. Do it.
I subscribe to or visit a number of writing-related web sites. Most advice rattles on for several ppghs, but could be boiled down to this: Nike...just do it. No excuses/rationalizing, just shuddup, siddown, and get to work.
a poppa bear,
a momma bear,
and a Camembert.
(Geo. Kaufman)
=-=-=-=-=-=--==--==--==-
Some days, I feel so witty (and pretty, and bright) that I cannot bear it. When I finally focus enough to start writing, the silliness sometimes needs to simply work its way out of my system...so I write silly stuff. Sometimes it remains goofy garbage; sometimes it morphs into something with lasting humor; sometimes it leads to a mordant insight that would never have emerged if I hadn't started down silly lane...akin to this moment.
More simply stated--ignore your mood, and follow your calling. Is it to love your kids? They don't care if you started the board game or the book with an attitude in your heart that was less-than-perfect--just do it. Is your calling to please your boss with your attention to detail? Again, NIKE--just do it...oh, and quit yer whining, that's just grump-fertilizer, making things worse. Buckle down and do it. If your calling requires a different attitude than what you're sporting now--hey, you get to choose your attitude. You respond to life's vicissitudes (gosh, I love that word, but don't get to use it much!) with a choice: will you be reactive or pro-active? You don't need me to tell you that there's really only one mature response to this question. Duh. Do it.
I subscribe to or visit a number of writing-related web sites. Most advice rattles on for several ppghs, but could be boiled down to this: Nike...just do it. No excuses/rationalizing, just shuddup, siddown, and get to work.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Discovery
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking what nobody else has thought.
--Gyorgyi, Hungarian scientist.
..................
Discovery: what a writer tries to do every time we sit in front of an empty screen or piece of paper. We try to see what everyone else has seen and render it clearer and crisper, by finding a different angle, a twist in the usual interpretation, a way of wording things that has never been used in the history of humanity! THAT is discovery, my friends.
Discovery: what a writer tries to do when the germ of a story presents itself. Is the character highly life-like? A caricature? A fantasy? Is the plot going to be the main focus, in which the characters play? Or, will the strength of the characters be more important than the plot? Do I have a plan or an ulterior motive as I write? Or, as Stephen King says (in my words, but a pretty fair representation of his words): take strong characters; throw them into difficult straits; see how they react; repeat. King goes on to say, "I love writing--I can hardly wait to find out on't know how these characters are going to respond!"
Discovery: the same process can happen when we meditatively pray. That's too lengthy a topic to pursue here, so if you're interested, here's a document to peruse...and to chew on slowly. I'll love to hear from those of you who make your own discoveries!
--Gyorgyi, Hungarian scientist.
..................
Discovery: what a writer tries to do every time we sit in front of an empty screen or piece of paper. We try to see what everyone else has seen and render it clearer and crisper, by finding a different angle, a twist in the usual interpretation, a way of wording things that has never been used in the history of humanity! THAT is discovery, my friends.
Discovery: what a writer tries to do when the germ of a story presents itself. Is the character highly life-like? A caricature? A fantasy? Is the plot going to be the main focus, in which the characters play? Or, will the strength of the characters be more important than the plot? Do I have a plan or an ulterior motive as I write? Or, as Stephen King says (in my words, but a pretty fair representation of his words): take strong characters; throw them into difficult straits; see how they react; repeat. King goes on to say, "I love writing--I can hardly wait to find out on't know how these characters are going to respond!"
Discovery: the same process can happen when we meditatively pray. That's too lengthy a topic to pursue here, so if you're interested, here's a document to peruse...and to chew on slowly. I'll love to hear from those of you who make your own discoveries!
Friday, March 8, 2013
Surgical writing...and living.
We should not write so that it is possible for the reader to understand us,
but so that it is impossible for him to misunderstand us.
--Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintilianus), rhetorician (c. 35-100)
Clarity and concision--always? Sometimes? Gosh, scanning some books, espec modern writers, clarity is certainly absent. Even in non-fiction!
Okay, I'll grant, there's room for writing that has a certain smoky haze about it, and a touch of floweriness. But, woe betide the writer who falls in love with verbiage at the expense of pace. Sez me...and Stephen King, and Leonard Elmore...and anyone else who thinks Faulkner and Thos. Wolfe would have been better off if they'd encountered strong-willed editors. I recently tried to go back and read some Faulkner...it felt like trying to swim in molasses. (But, it was not sweet!)
Writing--like cleaning out your closets and dressers--you'll rarely suffer if you ruthlessly root out old, useless, over-adorned, or shopworn items. As we'd joke with the surgeons--"A chance to cut is a chance to cure!" and..."If in doubt, cut it out!" But, you may ask, "Since...to a boy with a hammer suddenly everything looks like a nail...what about a surgeon with a scalpel?" Probably best to trust that they've somewhat outgrown their boyish urges...altho a second opinion is often a good idea!
What if you weren't born with a ruthless gene? Employ someone who is so endowed...at home, facing bulging closets/bureaus/shelves/garage, that'd be a spouse or family member or friend. In writing, facing turgid prose, that'd be called a "first reader" or an editor...or both...and, as with surgery, second/third opinions may be just the right move!
Got an opinion to share? Want a second opinion yourself? ["Okay, and you're ugly, too!"]
Do me a favor...if you find this blog interesting, then kindly copy the address and forward it to somebody who shares your interest in reading, or humor, or blogging, or whatever. And/or, leave me a comment when/if I have hit a resonant chord with you. Thnx, David.
but so that it is impossible for him to misunderstand us.
--Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintilianus), rhetorician (c. 35-100)
Clarity and concision--always? Sometimes? Gosh, scanning some books, espec modern writers, clarity is certainly absent. Even in non-fiction!
Okay, I'll grant, there's room for writing that has a certain smoky haze about it, and a touch of floweriness. But, woe betide the writer who falls in love with verbiage at the expense of pace. Sez me...and Stephen King, and Leonard Elmore...and anyone else who thinks Faulkner and Thos. Wolfe would have been better off if they'd encountered strong-willed editors. I recently tried to go back and read some Faulkner...it felt like trying to swim in molasses. (But, it was not sweet!)
Writing--like cleaning out your closets and dressers--you'll rarely suffer if you ruthlessly root out old, useless, over-adorned, or shopworn items. As we'd joke with the surgeons--"A chance to cut is a chance to cure!" and..."If in doubt, cut it out!" But, you may ask, "Since...to a boy with a hammer suddenly everything looks like a nail...what about a surgeon with a scalpel?" Probably best to trust that they've somewhat outgrown their boyish urges...altho a second opinion is often a good idea!
What if you weren't born with a ruthless gene? Employ someone who is so endowed...at home, facing bulging closets/bureaus/shelves/garage, that'd be a spouse or family member or friend. In writing, facing turgid prose, that'd be called a "first reader" or an editor...or both...and, as with surgery, second/third opinions may be just the right move!
Got an opinion to share? Want a second opinion yourself? ["Okay, and you're ugly, too!"]
Do me a favor...if you find this blog interesting, then kindly copy the address and forward it to somebody who shares your interest in reading, or humor, or blogging, or whatever. And/or, leave me a comment when/if I have hit a resonant chord with you. Thnx, David.
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