Tag Archives: Writing

[20 May 2012] This Week’s Lessons in Reading and Writing

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  • My ideal non-fiction to fiction reading ratio is 4 to 1.
  • There are certain writers-as in certain foods-I just do not like. But it is still important to take them for a spin every couple of years to see if that has changed. You never know, I love mushrooms now.
  • I can go a week without reading a magazine-any magazine-and not explode.
  • The only way that I will devote time to fiction crafting is to firmly write it in, using indelible marker. Works every time. You’d think I would do that more often.
  • I should pay more attention to contemporary fiction (that actually has a contemporary setting.).
  • No matter how organized I am in other areas of my life (which is to say, I am usually HIGHLY organized) it is hard to apply that to my business for any extended period of time.

AND A LESSON RE-LEARNED:

  • Know your strengths and use them to move or alter creative boundaries.

Daily Diversion #9: Emily Dickinson

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I'm nobody, who are you?

I’m nobody, who are you?

This literary paper doll was a birthday gift from my mom about 5 years ago. She lives on a shelf in my studio, staring at me from behind a glazed ceramic urn full of Tardis dessert flags.

Beauty is not caused. It is.

Beauty is not caused. It is.

Her deceptively simple poetry quickens the mind, the heart, the blood, the creativity that dwells within us all, hidden yet frantic to escape.

 

Shopping for the Bookworm: New England Transcendentalists Edition

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For some reason, I have been thinking a lot about the New England Transcendentalists. Maybe it is the image of Margaret Fuller that stares down at me from one of my inspiration boards. Whatever the cause, it is a fine subject to be preoccupied with on a lovely Spring day. In honor of today’s one-track thought process, I’ve collected an inspiring and eclectic group of NET-inspired goodies. Enjoy!

This shop is so full of literary-themed profiles that every visit requires a gargantuan exercise in restraint. I want them all, I went them all now! Continue reading →

Daily Diversion #8: An Old Man’s Gift (The Ford Times)

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I do the blogging for a local gallery chain. We carry a lot of Charley Harper pieces (as in, the most in the world). Nine months ago, this would have meant absolutely nothing to me. Even though I’ve moved (mostly) in and (occasionally) out of the art world for the bulk of my adult life, I had barely heard of him before starting this gig. Back in “the day”-in this case the 1950s onwards-he did a lot of illustrations for a  magazine called the Ford Times, which I had definitely never heard of. Even though I love old periodicals. (I think I can be forgiven for not reading old copies of a lifestyle magazine put out by the Ford Motor Company, right?) Anyway, I will try to wrap this up in a neat, figurative bow because, well, this is a diversion piece. As we know, in my universe, that constitutes a few sentences and a photograph or two. Moving on….

Ford Times, November 1958

Ford Times, November 1958

I met a delightful old man yesterday afternoon. After he found out that I sometimes write about Charley Harper, he gave me this excellently preserved copy of the Ford Times. Although I have seen most of the prints made from these illustrations, I had never seen the magazine before. I had no idea that it was so small! I thought that it was a full-sized periodical.

Top: Flamingo by Charley Harper Bottom: Purple Gallinule by Charley Harper

Top: Flamingo by Charley Harper Bottom: Purple Gallinule by Charley Harper

He didn’t just gift me with any Ford Times issue, but one that featured some of the images I have written about. I love the flying flamingo in the background of the top illustration.

Tents with New Ideas

Tents with New Ideas

This layout makes me want to go camping, badly. But only if I can have that awesome car and the sweet tent, which actually makes setting up camp look fun! This story alone made my day (I’m weird like that). Thank you, Mr. Old Man! Your gift is in good hands.

[Alternative Muse of the Month] Let’s Talk About Katherine Mansfield’s Miss Brill, or: Why Writers Deserve Silly, Media-Created Nicknames, Too

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I dream of a world where people care enough about writers to give them silly, unnecessary and catchy nicknames. Move aside JLo and LiLo, because here comes JAust (pronounced joust, because it just sounds better). Are you sick of Brangelina and, Lord help us, Kimye? Fear not, because SylT is here to make it all better. (For the record: I refuse to acknowledge the talented but dickish Ted with more than a perfunctory T.) I could do this all day (and probably will in some future post, because this is kind of fun, yes?) but I’ll stop after one more, the subject of this piece: KathMans. Continue reading →

The Dead Writers Round-Up: 17th-20th May

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  • Dorothy Richardson was born on 5/17/1873. “If there was a trick, there must be a trickster.”
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne died on 5/19/1864. “The only sensible ends of literature are, first, the pleasurable toil of writing; second, the gratification of one’s family and friends; and lastly, the solid cash.” Continue reading →

A Year in Books/Day 135: Writing Dramatic Nonfiction

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  • Title: Writing Dramatic Nonfiction
  • Author: William Noble
  • Year Published: 2000 (Paul S. Eriksson, Publisher)
  • Year Purchased: Probably circa 2000 or 2001
  • Source: Unknown
  • About: It’s nice-and occasionally necessary-to be reminded of the fundamentals. Most of us know that only by understanding the rules are we capable of breaking free of them. After awhile, it is easy to forget the basics; when the basics have been forgotten, it is all too easy to drown in your own hollow virtuosity. Beautiful but empty. It is smart to have instructional books like Writing Dramatic Nonfiction as part of your professional arsenal. Even if  rarely consulted, their very existence on your shelf is helpful. Whenever I look at the reference section in my studio, I am reminded that writing is not all style and instinct; it is a trade, a profession, a chore. It requires labor, skill, stamina. It is hard, technical work. This particular book is middle-of-the-pack. It doesn’t contain revolutionary advice; it will not change your life. You likely won’t find yourself turning to it again and again, until the pages are wrinkled and dirty, but it is solid and workmanlike; it serves the purpose of making you think, logically and clearly, about constructing your nonfiction using the pacing, demands and artistry of fiction. Noble deconstructs some of the most powerful passages from the nonfiction writings of Hemingway, Dillard and Capote, among others. That is what makes it worth the cover price.
  • Motivation: Oh, I’ve no idea. I honestly don’t remember how this book came into my life (which is extremely rare). Whether by accident or design, it doesn’t really matter. I’m a professional writer so it only makes sense that I own books about writing.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 30: “But the point is this: nonfiction or fiction, we can begin our conflict on the first page, and it will work just fine.”
  • Happiness Scale: 7

A Year in Books/Day 133: The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen

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  • Title: The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen
  • Compiled by: Dominique Enright
  • Year Published: 2002/This Edition: 2005 (Barnes & Noble Books)
  • Year Purchased: 2005
  • Source: Barnes & Noble clearance rack
  • About: I own nearly two dozen Jane Austen-related books, so it comes as something of a surprise that this is the first one being featured in my P366. I’m not sure how I managed to overlook them for so long but, fear not! They will get their full, fair due in future. I think that this nifty compilation volume is a natural starting point: the great writer is presented at her wittiest and liveliest, with excerpts taken from both her novels and personal correspondence with her sister Cassandra. It’s a truthful approach, as we are not spared the waspishness or vanity of the private woman or, far worse, forced to endure the sugar-coated spinster trope prevalent in so many biographies. Set beside snippets from her fiction, we are given a double-barrel blast of the “real” Jane (so far as such a thing can be accomplished): a powerful, candid wielder of arrow-sharp words and wit, a master of language perfectly controlled and aimed.
  • Motivation: Acerbic, perceptive and highly literate, Jane Austen is one of my favourite muses and guiding lights. Shocking, I’m sure.
  • Times Read: A few
  • Random Excerpt/Page 110: “I do not like the Miss Blackstones; indeed, I was always determined not to like them, so there is the less merit in it.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10
    Jane Austen, Watercolour and pencil portrait b...

    Jane Austen, Watercolour and pencil portrait by her sister Cassandra, 1810 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     

Voices from the Grave #19: Ernest Hemingway

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This week’s Voices from the Grave is a bit different: Hemingway isn’t reading anything. In fact, we don’t hear his voice at all. It’s :53 of stock footage of the American writer, with a voice-over by a nameless narrator. It is interesting in its own time-capsule-esque way.

The sportsman we have seen standing by the giant fish, the fallen lion.