Storytelling

Every major work of the master (Auguste Rodin) told a story and laid bare the human heart...it is up to the artist to use language that can be understood, not to hide it in some private code.

 

Heinlein. STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.

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"Tell me a story," demanded the child.
"But I just told you one," said the weary parent.
"I know--I want another one!"

Been there/done that?
As the petitioner, or the petitionee?

Didn't we all asked for stories at some time or another...do you remember?...and, in fact, as adults, we continue to ask...oh, not as openly/honestly as a kiddo, but, listen:  We watch advertisements that follow a story line, as Mercedes attempts to present the tale of Santa checking his naughty/nice list; the Olympics are now a series of human-interest stories (like it or not, that's what the powers that be have determined, driven by polls, focus groups, and feedback.) Political elections are much less about facts and stances than about story. Shows about dancing/singing/surviving/dating work hard to find a theme, a story line that makes the players much more than mere dancers/songsters/etc.

When my wife and I watch college football, each school runs a 1 or 2 minute video, touting the virtues of their training/heritage/geography. Many schools show a picture of some pretty buildings, a variety of handsome students, someone in a study carrel, one or more sporting events, and so forth. Notre Dame instead tells a story of one student or prof who is pursuing something important...for instance, the fight to eradicate tuberculosis, a global nemesis.

We are unfailingly moved by these ads--why? Because they tell a story!

We read stories, fiction or non-fiction...but, when I rave about a work of non-fiction, what do I say? "It read just like a novel...wove a nice story that captured and retained my interest."

I think that's why, while I can enjoy (some) modern art, it is representational art that engages me, because there's a good chance that there's a story being told. [I know, there's story behind abstract art--and, when we know that story, the art offers us much more for our mind to wrap around.]

Hey, tell me a story? [Well, go tell a kid or a grandkid... or write me a comment, below!]

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Tell me the stories of Jesus

I long to hear,

Things I would ask Him to tell me

if He were near...

Getting older...or...not?

 

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.

 

Madeleine L'Engle, writer (1918-2007)

 

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What an insightful quote from dear Madeleine! I am always on the prowl for words of wisdom or delight or zaniness. These words from L'Engle remind me of why I, too, write fiction for kids: writing and reading whisk us away on a magic carpet ride to time and place unknown, formerly known, or yearned for.

Been there?... remember that evocative story that elicited yearnings to deep? You tried to explain but simple words didn't suffice. We are reduced to sighs of pleasure or expansive similes: "Reading Narnia is like...ahhh...falling into a warm soft cloud of melted chocolate and it's always summer and there are no taskmasters...ahhhhh!"

Better yet, referencing THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH...(paraphrasing rather than quoting): Mr. Bultitude did not experience pleasure as we do. No, pleasure was. But, here is the point: pleasure for Mr. Bultitude did not exist as a dry, hard fact, but as a vast, oceanic breadth and depth of joy in which Mr. Bultitude's every cell quivered in resonant delight.

THAT kind of feeling is what I (and probably every writer!) wishes to produce for each and every reader. I hope that my ANIMALS OF CHRISTMAS might take some folks there--early reviews are coming in and sounding good.

I hope that my next book will be even more evocative...stay tuned for future developments.

What have you read recently that was an:
1. I COULD NOT put this book down?
2. Ahhhhhh!

Variety: spice of life, or dangerous addiction?

I was going to start with a different question, but it prompted yet another question (dontcha love it when your mind just won't take "no" or "enough's 'nuff" for an answer?)...

so, whattaya think? Is variety truly the spice of life, or is it an endless quest for tantalization?

Okay, now that you've had a chance to think about that...the orig question(s):

Do you like to stick with just one genre of reading? What invites you to try something different? I need to know these answers, as a writer whooz trying to figger out ways to unobnoxiously, in fact, to charmingly and winsomely market my works...I'd deeply apprec yr comments.

Oh, and that bridges to another critical query--what moves you when buying books as gifts?

Okay, that's enough questions. My answers:
1. I think some variety is indeed the spice 'o life...but, a spice is not nourishing, it's just a little accentuation added to the principal ingred!
2. Ergo, our consumeristic culture, our crazed media, all are so addicted to variety, to change, to "new and diff and exciting," that they're selling mostly condiments and accretions.
3. I read several diff genres because I wanna be a Renaissance man, schooled in everything!
4. Gift buying--I'm the shopper who looks at something and says, "Aha, that is perfect for X-relative/friend." And if it's not gonna be warmly embraced, then buy something they can eat or drink or use up. But gifts for the sake of gifting? Bah, humbug.
5. Best Books ever...sez who? http://thegreatestbooks.org/

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY, part 6: The Grand Finale. Or, not?

 

“Writing a book is an adventure.  To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public.”

    --Winston Churchill--

 

Well, Sir Winnie is right. Again.

 

Once I've done my second or third reading, looking for grammar, spelling, and sentences that just go "thud," I mail the thing off.

 

A crazed entity called an editor then makes changes. So far, most of the changes have been wrong. That's right: mistaken, erroneous, faulty, specious, spurious, and defective. Words were struck from the text (okay, I confess--I can be wordy) without adjustment of verb/noun/adjective, so the residue, whilst shorter, is grammatically incorrect. Or, a stray comma or period was introduced after an edit.

 

One editor (at a thankfully now-defunct press) took on the following that I had penned for JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF GOD (still available from me):

 

"Jesus said:

      --love one another,

      --serve one another,

      --now, go and do this."

 

The newly edited version read:

 

"Jesus said to love one another. Jesus said to serve one another. He then told us to go and do this."

 

You tell me...is that "editing" in any positive sense of the verb? Apparently, he never moved beyond his third-grade teacher's dictum to always write in complete sentences.

I told the editor, "A love a affair with the complete sentence is a good thing. Generally."

 

The same editor  perfectly reversed the meaning of another sentence in that book. I didn't think it was a badly-composed sentence, but there was something that pushed a button for the editor, and they "edited." I steamed and stewed, ranted and raved, fussed and fumed. After this "editing," I replied with a four-page, single-spaced list of my corrections to the editing...perhaps 20% of which was response to constructive change...that's right, about 80% was clean-up of their introduced errors. I've still got the letter, it steamed me so!

 

So, what's the process...when there's one of these "edits" every page or two?
--do a side by side comparison, both documents open. Find what was changed/deleted/added/questioned.
--Ah, yes, questions--thank you, thank you--when they're asking questions, there's usually a good reason, and a need for me to clarify, simplify, expand, or delete.

--Next, repair any damages, or rework as they suggested...then, thank them for pointing out the need for clarification, as moi always knew what moi intended but it wasn't always gonna be clear to the reader.

 

Submit the changes. Review their next draft, where some of my edits were accepted, and some not. Come up with arguments to support my grammar...oh, editors don't seem to like commas. Strange, because sometimes a panda merely "eats shoots and leaves," but you'd better watch out if it "eats, shoots, and leaves." And, grammarians are divided about the usage of the second comma, "eats, shoots, and leaves." I think it sets off the action better than, "...eats, shoots and leaves." 

 

By the time I get through arguing over commas, colons, (oh, I do try to not overuse the semicolon--being a bit of an academic pedant, it's easy to overdo), and sentence fragments, I'm at a rolling boil. I try to sit on my replies for 24 hours so that the cloud of steam has a chance to blow away. Not a bad strategy for any angry letter, response, or rebuttal.

 

So, by the end of the process, I am one with Sir Winston: cast the beast loose! I care not to ever lay eyes on it again--begone wi'ye!

 

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PS: Of course there are great editors out there. Sadly, I've not yet worked with one.

PPS: David, beware hubris.

PPPS: I am...I'm just a fussy word-smithing grammarian from the outset. So, unless the editor is a FUSSIER word-smithing ultra-grammarian, I'll be arguing.

PPPPS: David, beware hubris.

 

 

 

 

Fantasy? Fantastic!

Fantasy.

What do you think of when you read that word?

Faeries? (of the classical sort?

...or, Tinkerbelle?

Hobbits, orcs, ents?

Talking carnivorous plants (Little Shop of Horrors)?

Space aliens who are thwarted only when reluctant heroes ally themselves with the village idiot (Dreamcatcher, S. King)?

My mind goes straight-way to Tolkien and CSLewis. Okay, shows my age, I know. Madeleine l'Engle just wasn't that popular when I was in those formative years as a reader. The greats of sci-fi were popular, so I read lotsa Asimov, Pohl, Bradbury...but, where does sci-fi stop and fantasy begin? I didn't catch up with Tolkien and Lewis' fantasies until college, courtesy of a close friend who became even closer over the yrs (she made a darn fine mother of our children...and she and I still read a lotta the same stuff together!)

Last month, I read: a mystery, a poetry collection, a romance, 2 biographies/memoires, 2 literary novels, a non-fiction (THE YR 1000: history of England), and two thrillers. In my mind, the wider or more old-fashioned definition of fantasy embraces almost all of these works--they are the works of the writers' imaginations--even the non-fiction still requires inventiveness and aptitude with phrases and creative ways of presenting history that made it that book a fun, lively read--so fun, I read several ppghs aloud while Elizabeth (pretended to?) listened as she cooked.

Do you like to stick with just one genre of reading? What invites you to try something different? I need to know these answers, as a writer and marketer of my works...I'd deeply apprec yr comments.

Oh, and that bridges to another critical query--what moves you when buying books as gifts...but, more on that for another day.

Again, pls take a sec to comment, below. Thnx, D.