A Writer's Moment: 'The Only 24-Hour Art'

A Writer's Moment: 'The Only 24-Hour Art':   “The time to read is any time: no apparatus, no appointment of time and place, is necessary. It is the only art which can be practiced at ...

'The Only 24-Hour Art'

 “The time to read is any time: no apparatus, no appointment of time and place, is necessary. It is the only art which can be practiced at any hour of the day or night, whenever the time and inclination comes, that is your time for reading; in joy or sorrow, health or illness.” – Holbrook Jackson

 

A native of Liverpool, England, George “Holbrook” Jackson was born on this date in 1874 and while he initially followed a path toward a business career, he veered off sharply in his mid-20s and followed a new path toward editing and writing.  Ultimately, he earned the reputation as one of Britain’s – and perhaps the world’ for that matter – leading bibliophiles.

 

Starting with his 1899 book on the works of Edward Fitzgerald, he wrote some 50 books about books, book collecting, bibliographies and typography.  And, as a journalist, he also authored hundreds of essays on those topics and co-founded (with famed poet Ralph Hodgson and designer Claud Lovat Fraser) the Flying Fame Press in 1913.   

 

Jackson also held an editorial post on T. P. O'Connor’s T.P.'s Weekly, a newspaper with a strong literary emphasis. He took over as editor in 1914, later purchasing the publication and converting it into his own literary magazine.  Jackson, who died in 1948, was lauded for his extensive library, often used by other writers for research and reference.  “Your library,” Jackson once said,  “is your portrait.”

 

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A Writer's Moment: 'Words . . . The Most Powerful Drug'

A Writer's Moment: 'Words . . . The Most Powerful Drug':   “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug ever used by mankind.” – Rudyard Kipling A prolific writer, Kipling was born this day in ...

'Words . . . The Most Powerful Drug'

 “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug ever used by mankind.” – Rudyard Kipling

A prolific writer, Kipling was born this day in Bombay, India.  Educated in England, he started his writing career with a series of essays called "Departmental Ditties." But it was his epic novels and short stories that brought him lasting fame. Kipling is probably best known for The Jungle Book as well as Captains Courageous, and, of course, his “Just So” stories.  He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

  

Considered one of the greatest English writers, he ironically wrote most of his pieces while residing in America – particularly Brattleboro, Vermont, where he lived for many years after his marriage to American Caroline Balestier in 1892.  While most of his works were either about India or Britain, he continued to live and write in the U.S. until his death in 1936.

 

Renowned for his work ethic, Kipling had simple advice for would-be writers.  “Remember,” he said, “Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful,’ and sitting in the shade.”

 

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A Writer's Moment: Adding In 'Both Qualities and Flaws'

A Writer's Moment: Adding In 'Both Qualities and Flaws':   “Write something and leave it aside so you've practically forgotten it as much as possible, a month or so, then come back and read it ...

Adding In 'Both Qualities and Flaws'

 “Write something and leave it aside so you've practically forgotten it as much as possible, a month or so, then come back and read it as if you're reading it for the first time.” – Christine Leunens

 

Born in Connecticut on this date in 1964, Leunens grew up reading and writing and (in her own words) "obsessively bookish."  Being a writer was almost always in the back of her mind.  But after moving to France as a teenager to study for a year in Montpellier, she was offered a modeling contract in Paris and changed her career path overnight.  

 

In 1990, she returned to writing, starting with plays, then screenplays, winning an award for Best Original Screenplay from the Centre National du Cinéma.  Her first novel, Primordial Soup, skyrocketed to the top of most bestseller lists, described by The Sunday Times as a "remarkable debut novel.”  And her next book made even bigger waves.  

 Caging Skies, about a member of the Hitler youth in Vienna who "discovers his parents are hiding a young Jewish woman behind a false wall in their home," became both an international bestseller and the basis for the Academy Award-winning (for Best Adapted Screenplay) film, Jojo Rabbit.

 

Leunens has earned multiple writing prizes while returning to college for both masters and doctorate degrees in writing.   Now living in New Zealand, she is nearing completion of a Franco-New Zealand historical novel, set in Auckland and Paris.

 

“For my characters to have depth, they have to be human and complex, have both qualities and flaws, do the right things at times, and at others, things they'll regret having done and not necessarily know how to undo.”

 

 

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A Writer's Moment: Taking Those 'Interesting' Pathways

A Writer's Moment: Taking Those 'Interesting' Pathways:   Driving a snow-packed road – with a crosswind buffeting the car with an urgency that indicates it doesn’t like the idea that you’re fillin...

Taking Those 'Interesting' Pathways

 Driving a snow-packed road – with a crosswind buffeting the car with an urgency that indicates it doesn’t like the idea that you’re filling up part of the space through which you hope to pass – has a way of “heightening” one's senses.

I always start such trips with the feeling that this time the snow, ice and wind are not going to be an issue; that I’ve learned from my past and know what I have to do.  But Mother Nature always has a new twist or a few new tricks to make sure that the experience is not a repeat, but rather a new “opportunity” for those who want to test her.

So even if you’ve made the trip dozens of times before, it always ends up as a whole new adventure.

Writing often is that way, too, especially when you’re using time-tested techniques or concepts.  You start out thinking you’ve already been along this path, and this will just be an easy opportunity to fill up space en route to your new story’s destination.  But, lo and behold, en route a new pathway emerges and you find yourself drawn in that direction – “just to have a peek.” 

And the journey, while sometimes a bit harrowing, is almost always worthy of the effort.  Like safely driving through a storm, once you arrive you’re glad you made the trip.   Happy writing.

 

Reaching your destination can sometimes

involve a harrowing trip along the way

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