A Writer's Moment: 'Removing those other possibilities'

A Writer's Moment: 'Removing those other possibilities':   “The best thing that can happen to people entering creative professions is the dwindling of all other possibilities.”  –  Dennis Lehane ...

'Removing those other possibilities'

 

“The best thing that can happen to people entering creative professions is the dwindling of all other possibilities.” –  Dennis Lehane

'Born in Boston on this date in 1965, Lehane has had striking success with both his novels (15) and screenplays (more than two dozen, including for hit series like The Wire and Boardwalk Empire).  His most recent success is the 2025 Apple TV series Smoke.  Many of his own novels also have been made into successful films, led by the multiple award-winning Gone, Baby, Gone and Mystic River. 

 

Lehane said his initial plan was not to be a writer, “But from the moment I took my first writing workshop, I was a writer,” he said.  Since achieving literary success he also has taught writing, including being a writer-in-residence at Eckerd College (Florida) where he has co-directed the Writers in Paradise Conference.  

 

“I love to write,” he said, “so it rarely seems like work - even when it gets arduous.”

A Writer's Moment: Writing 'Across the Generations'

A Writer's Moment: Writing 'Across the Generations':   “Writing basically breaks down to relationships between people and that is what you write about.”  – Leon Uris   Born in Baltimore on ...

Writing 'Across the Generations'

 

“Writing basically breaks down to relationships between people and that is what you write about.” – Leon Uris

 

Born in Baltimore on this date in 1924, Uris started reading at age 3, writing by age 4, and writing creatively by age 8.  But it wasn’t until after he came out of World War II (he enlisted at age 17 and spent 4 years in the Marines) that he started his successful career, working for newspapers and also writing short stories before publication of his first novel Battle Cry in 1951.   The book also was made into a popular 1955 movie.  

 

Known for his deep research, Uris wrote a dozen bestselling historical novels, including the mega-bestsellers Exodus, The Haj and Topaz, all made into successful movies.  And he wrote several historical and political nonfiction works, often to provide deeper context for the historical events depicted in his novels.

 

Uris wrote continuously for 50 years until he was struck down by kidney failure in 2003.  He said he always was proud that what he wrote in 1950 was just as much read as the writing he produced 30 or 40 years later.   

 

“You can try to reach an audience, but you just write what comes out of you and hope that it is accepted,” he said.   “You do not – and should not – write specifically to a generation.” 

A Writer's Moment: 'The old remember; the young listen'

A Writer's Moment: 'The old remember; the young listen':   “If the very old will remember, the very young will listen.” – Chief Dan George    Born in British Columbia in the last week of July in 1...

'The old remember; the young listen'

 

“If the very old will remember, the very young will listen.” – Chief Dan George

 

 Born in British Columbia in the last week of July in 1899, First Nation actor, poet and author George is perhaps best-known for his semi-autobiographical book My Heart Soars, a line he also frequently uttered in the movie Little Big Man.   George authored many books, poems and songs, and for Saturday's Poem, here is his thoughtful,

                                      To A Grandchild

Heed the days
when the rain flows freely,
in their greyness
lies the seed of much thought
The sky hangs low
and paints new colors
on the earth.
 
After the rain
the grass will shed its moisture,
the fog will lift from the trees,
a new light will brighten the sky
and play in the drops
that hang on all things.
Your heart will beat out
a new gladness
- if you let it happen.
 
In the midst of a land
without silence
you have to make a place for yourself.
Those who have worn out
their shoes many times
know where to step.
It is not their shoes
you can wear
only their footsteps
you may follow,
- if you let it happen.

A Writer's Moment: 'Your writing enemy'

A Writer's Moment: 'Your writing enemy':   "'Shun security,' I advise aspiring novelists when they complain to me that they are stuck.  'Get disoriented.'  Ma...