A Writer's Moment: 'How to judge a heart'

A Writer's Moment: 'How to judge a heart':   “Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization.” – L. Frank Baum   Born in Chittenango, N...

'How to judge a heart'

 

“Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization.” – L. Frank Baum

 

Born in Chittenango, NY on May 15, 1856 Baum’s writing imagination not only led to the creation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz but 60 more novels, 83 short stories, 200 poems and countless scripts for the stage and fledgling movie industry.  A strong advocate for women’s rights and women’s suffrage, Baum wrote many books about and for women and girls, including a popular 10-book series Aunt Jane’s Nieces, which depicted teenage girls and young women as leaders and heroines. 

 

A newspaper editor for several years, Baum was working at the Saturday Evening Pioneer, in Aberdeen, SD, when he started writing his Wonderful Wizard books.  He credited his experiences on the prairies of drought-stricken South Dakota (and not Kansas, as in his tales) for his setting at the beginning of Dorothy’s journey to Oz.  Baum died from a stroke in May of 1919, just months before the release of his final novel Glinda of Oz, about the powerful “good witch” in Oz – made even more “knowable” by today’s popular “Wicked” movies.

 

Among his contributions to the lexicon – in addition to the idea that a magical land called Oz could be found “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” – were the names Dorothy, Toto The Emerald City, Glinda and the phrase ‘I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” one of the most recognizable in the English language.  Baum also created a thoughtful line about empathy in the Wizard’s advice to the Tin Man, who was seeking a heart so that he could feel emotion.

 

“A heart,” he said, “is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.”

A Writer's Moment: 'These make humanity'

A Writer's Moment: 'These make humanity':   “Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity. These are its sign and note and character.” – Robert Browning   Love can be a major in...

'These make humanity'

 

“Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity. These are its sign and note and character.” – Robert Browning

 

Love can be a major influence on writers’ works, but for Browning (born in May of 1812) and Elizabeth Barrett (born in May of 1806), love fired both their personal relationship and their writing.  Their love story and marriage led to some of the most important poems by both including her famous love sonnets, highlighted by “Sonnet 43” known by its popular name “How do I love thee?"  

 

For Saturday’s Poem here is, 

 

              How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with a passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

A Writer's Moment: 'Where to find your writing ideas'

A Writer's Moment: 'Where to find your writing ideas':   “The first time I can remember thinking that I would like to be a writer came in sixth grade, when our teacher Mrs. Crandall gave us an ex...

'Where to find your writing ideas'

 

“The first time I can remember thinking that I would like to be a writer came in sixth grade, when our teacher Mrs. Crandall gave us an extended period of time to write a long story. I loved doing it. I started working seriously at becoming a writer when I was 17.” –  Bruce Coville

 

Born in Syracuse, NY on May 16, 1950 Coville has authored more than 100 Children’s and Young Adult books.  But like every versatile writer, he tried his hand at a number of things – including toymaking, gravedigging, assembly line worker and then teaching elementary school – before turning to writing.

 

“I loved teaching,” he said.  And for a time he thought that was going to be his life’s work.   But writing was still on his mind, so he talked to his students about what they wanted to read, and it sounded a lot like what he also liked to read when he was a kid. “I read books that made me laugh but also made me shiver in terror. I wanted to make books that made other people feel the same way.”

After a few “false starts” he published his first children’s book The Foolish Giant, illustrated by his wife Catherine.  Translated into over a dozen languages, it is still popular among readers everywhere.  Many of his novels – led by multiple-award winners like My Teacher Glows in the Dark and I Was a 6th Grade Alien – have earned awards, and he has been honored with the Empire State Award for Excellence in Literature for Young People, given by the New York Library Association for his life’s work.

 

Keep looking everywhere for ideas is his writing advice.  “Ideas are all around you - everything gives you ideas,” he said.  “But the real source is the part of your brain that dreams.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Looking out to a rich, wonderful universe'

A Writer's Moment: 'Looking out to a rich, wonderful universe':   “Books were the window from which I looked out of a rather meager and decidedly narrow room onto a rich and wonderful universe. I loved th...