The writing process: ANIMALS OF CHRISTMAS

The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

 

--Aristotle. (anticipating modern art by a coupla millennia!)

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     Being neither Aristotle nor a modern artist...hmm, why do I like this quote? Because...oh, before I go there--if you have a thought or a response to this quote, why not pause for a moment and phrase it in terms of a comment at the bottom of this posting?

     Okay, I like this quote because it indeed applies to art, but also poetry and prose, where significance is the goal. Not for my writing to be significant (although that'd be nice!) but for my ability to enhance or clarify the significance of the underlying truth. Great poetry explores truth from unique angles, offering the reader a different way of looking at, or through, reality. Story-telling is expected to be entertaining, of course, but if the characters don't bump up against some profound truths now and again, well, what kinda story is it that doesn't involve love or death or heroism or the clash of ideals and reality?

     I wrote THE ANIMALS OF CHRISTMAS to be, primarily, entertaining. Along the way, as should have been no surprise to me...the characters started to take on life of their own. The animals revealed their unique insights into events around the time of Jesus' birth. Was this intentional, like writing an allegory or a moralistic tale? Not at all, I just set out to have a whopping good time writing stories for my grandkids' enjoyment. But as I mentioned--encounters with truth will occur--and that's what happened in these stories.

     In the next few posts, I'll talk about my writing process. Inspiration and perspiration, Spirit and serendipity--big themes for me.

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Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.

 

Winston Churchill

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!"

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

T. S. Eliot

 

 

 

Only those who go too far

risk getting their hand slapped

repeatedly.

D.S.

(ouch!)

 

Gone too far? Been told you were just being ridiculous--that the chances of your success were slimmer than none?

 

Good, welcome to the world of endless possibilities. Whether in art, poetry, fiction, or entrepreneurism--there is no end in sight.

 

Push your boundaries, clamber out of your "comfort zone," turn off the television (please!), and go and make and do and become! Bored?--it's only because you're not trying very hard. Seriously. Turn off the endless chattering media and engage with people and things first-hand. Or, at least, dialogue via the media--dialogue doesn't mean forwarding the latest joke or pic or gossip, though. It's nice when someone thinks of me that much, but it is in a personal reply or comment, that is when the magic of friendship starts.

 

So, when was the last time you tried something that wasn't routine, cut-and-dried, been-there-done-that? Studied a new subject? Read a non-fiction book that was outside your normal world? Tried a new craft or hobby or musical style or instrument? Painted with watercolors or oils or sketched? Spent time outdoors identifying rocks or birds or plants or trees? Tinkered with a something: a recipe, a gadget?

 

Keep in mind that Patent Office worker, who suggested shutting down the department, "...since everything worth inventing already has been"?

 

[Even better: the quote is likely bogus in its initial attribution: somebody in the patent office said words to that effect some 60 years earlier! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Holland_Duell ]

 

So, there are endless possibilities out there...and sometimes it is merely a wandering path that'll help you stumble onto a gem. Some endless possibilities are only met by those who, like Thomas Edison and Ben Franklin, don't hear the words "NO" and "you cannot."

For a writer...endless opportunities await both the aimless and the industrious--oops, they gotta overlap a whole lot if one is actually gonna write and not merely have Technicolor daydreams.

Oh, then there's the whole opportunity to not invent one's own reality, but to (thinly or not-so-thinly) fictionalize the truth. What a wonderful world...where people will actually PAY to buy a work of fiction.

 

Hope you'll pay to buy mine! Coming soon, to a website near you...THE ANIMALS OF CHRISTMAS! Buy direct from the publisher.

 

Oh, there's a dialogue box below. Don't use it...spontaneous personal combustion may occur.

 



Length, Width, and Depth...

You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.

--H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956).

 

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I was talking with a (rising) high school freshman today, and told her that I was still excited about reading more history books. Kudos to Dr. Askew @ Gordon College many moons ago--he was such a great teacher that Elizabeth would sit in on his lectures when she visiting.

Something that has emerged among authors of history books aimed at the lay audience is to organize about a theme. A favorite was WATER, by Stephen Solomon, 2010. He looked at societies (ancient thru modern) that harnessed rivers for irrigation, by canals for transport, mills for grain and machines, sea for transport...it made for a fascinating framework upon which to hang a 500 page history of the world. Simply stated, water for food, transport, and machines provided simple yet major themes that naturally run thru human history.
...also: Jared Diamond's

Guns, Germs, & Steel...and his COLLAPSE.

Freese, Barbara..............

Coal: a Human History.

.....dittoes for major theme.

[Sorry, as I'm pasting in titles and authors, the formatting is going nutso.]

I asked myself why history was never taught like this in el-hi schooling? Sure makes it more interesting, as well as more digestible!

Any historical titles that've fascinated you lately? Or other non-fiction? To me, writing fiction that holds one's attention feels easier than penning superb non-fiction that grabs the reader...hmm, now that I think it over, since I've written both genres, I guess both are amenable to humor, asides, literary devices like alliteration and figurative language, varied pace, and varying points of view.

Love writing this blog...it helps me think about things from a different perspective....that whole breadth/depth/length (which, multiplied, equals volume, btw!)Thnx for reading and commenting. Right. Just click on the leetle yaller pencil icon below and scribe away. Remember that older blog entries can be accessed in the right-hand column, labeled by month.

Surprise?

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A NICE BLEND OF PREDICTION AND SURPRISE SEEMS TO BE AT THE HEART OF THE BEST ART.
--Wendy Carlos, composer.
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  Sometimes it's just the very idea that is the surprise--what on earth made Andy Warhol come up with the idea of a painting of a Campbell's soup can?
   Sometimes the surprise is held close to the chest till the bitter end: witness Dame Agatha's mysteries (if you've never read Agatha Christie, pick one up, and travel back into a slower, quieter, antiquated time...a time when murder was sneaky and the unveiling was slow.)
   Sometimes a surprise pops up early, or in the middle of things: Haydn's SURPRISE SYMPHONY! (a quiet recording, so turn the volume up...the one and only surprise is at about 32 seconds. Papa Haydn's sense of humor was simple but irrepressible!)
   A good story is filled with little surprises, balanced by little predictabilities: don't you love it when a character is highly idiosyncratic--okay, when they're just plain odd, with several verbal or behavioral tics? Trumpkin, the dwarf doesn't ever offer the same exclamation twice, but he is always alliterative, e.g., "Tubs and tortoise-shells!", "Beards and bedsteads!", and the like. Predictable, yet fresh each time...I love him!
   How true of life, with its predictable routines, but routines that are only a breath away from disruption. One phone call, one misplaced sock, a missed call, and the day is irretrievably altered.
   Been surprised lately? C. S. Lewis was "Surprised by Joy." The other day, I was surprised by a prematurely dying battery in my scooter...except, that still, small voice had whispered, just as I was zipping out the garage, "Hey, Davio, why dontcha bring along your battery charger/cable, just in case." One mile later, I was asking a new friend if I could plug in and recharge. Thanks, Still, Small, Voice...I'll try to listen to you with keen attention, altho I sure can be a doofus when it comes to listening!

Day One--Writing About Writing

In this blog, I'll be taking on a number of topics, including: A look under the writer's hood; books that I love, and, today: WRITING ABOUT WRITING...

Now, writing about writing, that seems absurd, at first glance. Okay, I took a second glance, and it's still absurd: why not just write?

Since everyone and their uncle...okay, everyone and her aunt?...okay, then, half of everyone I know seems to want to be a writer, how will I keep this from re-reiterating that which is iterated to a fault? Perhaps I can interest the other half (would that be my better half? Half of everybody else's better half?)

Who doesn't enjoy reading a good joke, just a simple one that gets to the point with sufficient speed to satisfy? That is just plain fun...but, isn't it better if, instead of proceeding like an arrow to the mark, the teller stammers a little, totters on his bad leg, caroms off the wall once or twice as he tries to follow the footprints of the punch line there in the dusty reaches of his memory. Oops, right, ..."And the dog looked up at his owner and asked, So, if you wanted an answer, ask a question, don't say, 'Speak!'"

Sorry, I'm wandering...but, it's a rather intentional pursuit of my stream of conscience, since that is sometimes the way I write fiction. Non-fiction, different approach entirely...I'll work from an outline, I'll summarize and cite and rewrite after the fact, but fiction...well, I like the Stephen King approach: "Take strong characters, throw them into a situation, and see how they react."

Part of the discipline of writing is just that--discipline--and this blog is one of the disciplines of a writer who is determined to entertain, amuse, and intrigue his audience, all the while honing the creative craft. I will be writing about my inspirations, my role models, and will include occasional snippets or links to things I've written. I intend to spice up every day with an interesting quote...today's is from Stephen King (fellow Mainah and a truly great writer, although I don't always love his genre or his potty-mouth!) Do let me know if you never want to read it again, or if it resonates in any way with you and your life, eh? Unlike some publications, this is not printed on pretty colored paper, and thus will not be as appealing, visually, as a liner for your cockatiel's cage. Functionally...hmm, less absorbent, too.


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Other than writing to please yourself, I'd advocate only one thing: to write every day. The basic fact of novels…is that even the short ones contain a lot of pages. Stephen King.
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[additional postings, which are less goofy, can be accessed by clicking on a month in the column on the right...and, if you'd like to subscribe...the very bottom of this page offers the opportunity to subscribe via email, so that you'll receive a notification every time I post a new page. Of course, you could then delete the email, or fwd it to all your enemies, or label it spam or canned ham...so many options!]