A 'Huge Effect On Life & Society'

“In the end, does it really matter if newspapers physically disappear?  Probably not:  the world is always changing.  But does it matter if organizations independent enough and rich enough to employ journalists to do their job disappear?  Yes, that matters hugely; it affects the whole of life and society.” – Andrew Marr

 

Born this day in 1959, Marr is a British commentator, broadcaster and journalist who is former editor of The Independent and now political editor of BBC News.

 

He reflects a worry shared by many of us who have started as or continue to serve as journalists – that our newer generation of readers is forgetting about the valuable role that journalists have in our society, and that funding for newspapers as we long have known them is rapidly disappearing.

 

“The business of funding digging journalists is important to encourage,” he noted.  “It cannot be replaced by bloggers who don’t have access to politicians, who don’t have easy access to official documents, who aren’t able to buttonhole people in power.” 

 

Keeping that thought in the conversation is important for everyone who writes.

 

 

 

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A Writer's Moment: Bringing Each Story Into The Light

A Writer's Moment: Bringing Each Story Into The Light: “Something happens between a novel and its reader which is similar to the process of developing photographs, the way the...

Bringing Each Story Into The Light

“Something happens between a novel and its reader which is similar to the process of developing photographs, the way they did it before the digital age.  The photograph, as it was printed in the darkroom, became visible bit by bit.  As you read your way through a novel, the same chemical process takes place.” – Patrick Modiano

 

Born on this date in 1945, French novelist and 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Modiano’s analogy of the development of the novel “before our eyes” is a remarkable one that also gives us a look into his writing style.  He lets the picture slowly unfold, sometimes leaving us startled, sometimes satisfied, sometimes angry, but always interested in what’s coming next. 

His novels delve into the puzzle of identity in ways seldom seen.   And, he tackles a time in France – the German occupation during World War II – that evokes both heroism and shame depending on from whose point of view his tale is being told. While Modiano’s works have been translated into more than 30 languages, most had not been available in English before he was awarded the Nobel.

 

While he has had a huge body of work, he said writing, especially novels, has never been an easy process.  “I quickly realized that it is difficult to get started when writing a novel,” he said.  “You have this dream of what you want to create, but it is like walking around a swimming pool and hesitating to jump in because the water is too cold.”

 

 

 

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A Writer's Moment: Reading And Writing Good Stories

A Writer's Moment: Reading And Writing Good Stories: “ When I read good stories, I want to write good stories too.” – Sharon Creech Born in Ohio on this date in 1945,...

Reading And Writing Good Stories

“When I read good stories, I want to write good stories too.” – Sharon Creech

Born in Ohio on this date in 1945, Creech grew up outside of Cleveland but also spent a lot of time during her formative years visiting family in Kentucky where her time there helped shape both characters and setting for a number of her award-winning books.  Among those are Walk Two Moons, winner of the Newbery Medal, and The Wanderer, a Newbery Honor book and also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.  She won the British Carnegie for her book Ruby Holler and was the first American to win both the American Newbery Medal and the British Carnegie.

       The author of two dozen books, she first grew interested in writing while in college and then taught English and creative writing in Switzerland and England, writing her first children’s book while in the U.K.  After living and working abroad for nearly two decades, she returned to the U.S.in 1998 and has concentrated on her writing full time since then.   Also an award-winning poet, she also has had several books published in verse.

 

“I enjoy receiving and giving realistic fiction, for both children and adults, with strong characters, beautiful language, and humane visions,” she said.  As for the range of her work, she noted,  “Read a lot, live your life, and listen and watch, so that your mind fills up with millions of images.”

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A Writer's Moment: Intensifying Life's Experiences

A Writer's Moment: Intensifying Life's Experiences: Good fiction reveals feeling, refines events, locates importance and, though its methods are as mysterious as they are varied, intensifies ...

Intensifying Life's Experiences

Good fiction reveals feeling, refines events, locates importance and, though its methods are as mysterious as they are varied, intensifies the experience of living our own lives. – Vincent Canby

 

 Born on this date in 1924, Canby had the distinction of being both the chief film critic AND the chief theater critic for the New York Times – the only person to ever do so.  As film critic from 1969-93 he reviewed more than 1,000 films.  He then turned his critical eye to the theater where he did the theater reviews until his death in 2000.

 

He was such a respected writer and reviewer that Bob Hope requested that Canby be the one to write his obituary, but Canby died first.  However, he still received the byline on Hope’s story since he had crafted most of the story prior to his own death and the Times didn’t think it could be topped. 

 

 A great look at Canby’s career can be found in the film For the Love of Movies:  The Story of American Film Criticism, a wonderful and insightful piece of writing and movie-making.   I highly recommend it to all who love the silver screen and those who comment upon it.

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A Writer's Moment: A New Wave Writing Approach

A Writer's Moment: A New Wave Writing Approach: “Writing's like gambling. Unpredictable and sporadic successes make you more addicted, not less.” – M. John Harrison Born in Engl...

A New Wave Writing Approach

“Writing's like gambling. Unpredictable and sporadic successes make you more addicted, not less.” – M. John Harrison

Born in England on this date in 1945, Harrison is both an author and literary critic and widely considered one of the late 20^th century’s major stylists in the Fantasy and Science Fiction genres. 

Among his best-known works are Climbers and the Kefahuchi Tract trilogy, which consists of Light (2002), Nova Swing (2006) and Empty Space (2012).

Harrison’s writing career began by writing reviews and short fiction for New Worlds magazine, starting at age 20.  By age 22 he had been appointed the magazine’s books editor, and for the next 10 years he served as both an editor and a writer and was one of the leading “New Wave” writers during the late 1960s and 1970s. 

Since 1991, Harrison has reviewed fiction and nonfiction for such major publications as The Guardian, the London Times Literary Supplement and The New York Times and has become a much sought-after member of panels and juries on both writing and film.  He also has taught creative writing courses in colleges in both England and Wales. 

“A good ground rule for writing in any genre is, start with a form, then undermine its confidence in itself,” he advises.  “Ask what it's afraid of, what it's trying to hide - then write that.”

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A Writer's Moment: Liberty's Message Never Goes Out Of Style

A Writer's Moment: Liberty's Message Never Goes Out Of Style: “ . . . the Statue (of Liberty) goes on speaking, even when the tide turns against immigration — even against immigrants themselves, as th...

Liberty's Message Never Goes Out Of Style

“ . . . the Statue (of Liberty) goes on speaking, even when the tide turns against immigration — even against immigrants themselves, as they adjust to their American lives. You can’t think of the statue without hearing the words Emma Lazarus gave her.” – Esther Schor, author of the biography Emma Lazarus

Earlier this week I wrote about Lazarus, who was born in July 1849 in New York City.  Lazarus, who was fluent in 5 languages, began writing poetry at age 11.   Donated by her to help raise funds for the Statue of Liberty's installation, her sonnet The New Colossus was engraved on a plaque installed at the Statue's base, where it inspires to this day.      For Saturday’s Poem, here is Lazarus’,

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

_{Irving Berlin’s musical adaptation of The New Colossus (from the 1949 hit play “Miss Liberty”) is performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.  Check it out at:}

_{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrizxRHNT9s}

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A Writer's Moment: Create Something For The World

A Writer's Moment: Create Something For The World: “A writer can spend a decade working obsessively on a novel, but in the commerce of publishing, many of the most important decisions about...

Create Something For The World

“A writer can spend a decade working obsessively on a novel, but in the commerce of publishing, many of the most important decisions about any book will be made based on very short pitches - from literary agent to editor to sales rep to bookstore buyer to a potential reader standing in the bookstore, asking, 'What's it about?'” – Chris Pavone

Born in Brooklyn, NY, on this date in 1968, Pavone is the author of 4 best-selling thrillers and busily working on a 5th.  Writing, however, was not his first career choice.  A graduate of Cornell University, he started in publishing as a copy editor and then worked in a wide range of other editorial positions for nearly two decades. 

A graduate of Cornell University where he also had studied writing, he got into the writing field after his wife’s job took their family on an extended stay to Belgium.  While there, he became the primary caregiver for their kids and started thinking about writing a book based on “Expats” like themselves.  The Expats, a mystery/thriller, won both the Edgar and Anthony awards for best first novel and was translated into 20 languages.  

                        In addition to his other 3 novels, including a thriller based on his intimate knowledge of the publishing business, Pavone also has written for The New York Times Book Review and the newspaper.  He’s also has been a much sought-after speaker at book festivals, conferences, bookstores, and libraries across America and Europe, particularly sharing how real-life experiences can serve one’s writing inspiration.

About his switch to writing, he noted, “Eventually, I realized that I wanted to try to create something myself, and that's what writing novels is.  Not because I wanted to put myself in front of the world, but because I wanted to create something that would go out into the world.”

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                        

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A Writer's Moment: Words To Lead & Inspire

A Writer's Moment: Words To Lead & Inspire: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” – Emma Lazarus Born in New York City on this date in 1...

Words To Lead & Inspire

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” – Emma Lazarus

Born in New York City on this date in 1849, Lazarus wrote poetry, prose, and translations, as well as political essays and commentary throughout much of her adulthood.  And while she was a well-known activist during her day, she is perhaps best known for her 1883 sonnet The New Colossus, that includes the above lines and is inscribed on a bronze plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Her fame grew further when the sonnet was set to music in Irving Berlin’s song "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor" for the 1949 smash hit musical Miss Liberty.

While Lazarus often wrote on behalf of immigrants and the downtrodden, her own background was from privilege and deep American roots.  Both sides of her family came to America in the early 1700s.  But she gravitated to “causes” early, already writing well-received poems in her early teens.  Ultimately, her poems and essays helped shape America’s understanding of it immigrant class, with themes that produced sensitivity and enduring lessons regarding immigrants and their need for dignity.     

Lazarus died from cancer at age 38.  The Poems of Emma Lazarus, comprising most of her works from both collections and periodical publications, was published posthumously in 1889.  She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2009.  

In words that remain prophetic to this day, Lazarus wrote “Until we are all free, we are none of us free.”

                                                                                                        

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A Writer's Moment: The Incubator For Writing Success

A Writer's Moment: The Incubator For Writing Success: “I went into journalism to learn the craft of writing and to get close to the world I wanted to write about - police and criminals, the crim...

The Incubator For Writing Success

“I went into journalism to learn the craft of writing and to get close to the world I wanted to write about - police and criminals, the criminal justice system.   I still look at a newspaper as the center of a community.  It's one of the tent poles of the community, and that's not going to be replaced by web sites and blogs.” – Michael Connelly

Connelly, who turns 64 today, decided to become a writer after discovering the crime mysteries of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida.  Majoring in journalism and minoring in creative writing, he excelled at both.  He started his career as a newspaper reporter, working in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale and specializing in the crime beat, of course.

 

While writing during the height of a murder and violence wave rolling over South Florida, one of his pieces was short-listed for a Pulitzer Prize for features.  That attention landed him a job as a crime reporter in Los Angeles, Chandler’s old stomping grounds.   He wrote for the Los Angeles Times and then started writing creatively in what would make him a household name – mystery and crime fiction. 

I was first drawn to Connelly’s writing because of his “newspaper style” – concise, to the point, and riveting.  When I read Blood Work, one of the most clever ideas for a mystery I’d seen, I was really hooked.   In it, the protagonist, an FBI detective, receives a donor heart.  After his recovery he’s contacted by the sister of the donor to find out who murdered her, the first time he’s known that his heart came from a murder victim. 

Connelly is a master at taking current events and weaving them into his books.  He says he never starts out knowing where a book is headed, “But I have a reasonably good idea.”

 

His books, translated into 39 languages, have garnered every major award for mystery and crime writing, including The Edgar (several times) and the RBA International Award for Crime Writing.   Many have been the basis for movies, including the Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer shows.

 

Connelly said that besides being a journalist, a great incubator for being a writer is simply to BE a writer.  "You need to write.  Even if it's just one paragraph, write every single day." 

A Writer's Moment: Honing That Award-Winning Hobby

A Writer's Moment: Honing That Award-Winning Hobby: I remember in grammar school the teacher asked if anyone had any hobbies. I was the only one with any hobbies and I had every hobby there ...

Honing That Award-Winning Hobby

I remember in grammar school the teacher asked if anyone had any hobbies. I was the only one with any hobbies and I had every hobby there was... name anything, no matter how esoteric. I could have given everyone a hobby and still had 40 or 50 to take home. – Cormac McCarthy

Born this date in 1933, McCarthy said one of those early interests was his Irish heritage. That sparked his interest in having his name changed - from his given name of Charles to Cormac, after the legendary Irish King, which coincidentally also means “Son of Charles.”

He gravitated to writing early, making use of his knowledge of so many things.  In addition to dozens of short stories, he has written 10 novels, spanning everything from Southern Gothic to Western to Post-Apocalyptic genres.      For his efforts he’s won numerous awards including both a Pulitzer Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction for The Road, also adapted to film.   Many of his other books also have been made into films, led by the Academy Award winning No Country for Old Men and All the Pretty Horses, winner of both the National Book Award and a National Book Critics Circle Award.   

One of McCarthy’s writing traits is his adamant non-use of quotation marks for dialogue.  He said there is no reason to "blot the page up with weird little marks."   He also shuns computers, writing on an Olivetti typewriter and often working on several projects at once.  “Even if what you're working on doesn't go anywhere,” he said,  “it will help you with the next thing you're doing.”

                                                                                                        

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