A Writer's Moment: A role model for integrity and truth

A Writer's Moment: A role model for integrity and truth:   "The speed of communications is wondrous to behold.  It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we ...

A role model for integrity and truth

 "The speed of communications is wondrous to behold.  It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue."  -- Edward R. Murrow

Born in North Carolina on April 25, 1908 Murrow was a leading light in the news business for 35 years before his life was cut short by lung cancer on April 27, 1965.    Murrow received numerous honors for his journalistic excellence and integrity, including the Medal of Freedom and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II just weeks before his death.

A radio war correspondent in World War II, he founded the CBS television news program See It Now, and his work behind the CBS news desk and as an interviewer influenced two generations of news anchors, beginning with Walter Cronkite.  Today, his name graces the Excellence in Reporting awards given annually in both the print and broadcast worlds.

The 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by George Clooney, focused on Murrow's efforts to "tell the truth" about Senator Joseph McCarthy's reign of intimidation in the early 1950s, inspiring yet another generation of those seeking to “do journalism right.” 

 

"To be persuasive we must be believable," Murrow said.  "To be believable, we must be credible; and to be credible we must tell the truth."    

A Writer's Moment: Finding that 'good twist' to tell your story

A Writer's Moment: Finding that 'good twist' to tell your story:   “I've always believed that a good twist is one that, when it is presented to the audience, half of them say, 'I...

Finding that 'good twist' to tell your story

 

“I've always believed that a good twist is one that, when it is presented to the audience, half of them say, 'I saw that coming.' And half of them are completely and totally shocked. Because if you don't have the half that saw it coming, then it wasn't fair: You never gave the audience a chance to guess It.” – Damon Lindelof

Born in New Jersey on this date in 1973, Lindelof is a television writer, producer, and film screenwriter, most noted as co-creator of the award-winning television series Lost.  Both praised and criticized for his writing, he says that that’s exactly what any writer worth his or her salt should hope to achieve.  His ending for the Lost series left some viewers and critics mystified, some angry, and some feeling great.

Regardless of how it ended, Lost received endless praise for its unique brand of storytelling and strong characters and the show never fell out of the top 30 throughout its six seasons on the air.   Since then he has had many other award-winning efforts for both television and film, including the TV shows The Leftovers and Watchmen, and the movies The Hunt and Another Country.

 

“As clichéd as it sounds,” Lindelof said,  “if you have an original voice and an original idea, then no matter what anybody says, you have to find a way to tell that story.”

A Writer's Moment: A testament to perserverence

A Writer's Moment: A testament to perserverence:   “Somewhere along the line, I realized that I liked telling stories, and I decided that I would try writing. Ten years...

A testament to perserverence

 

“Somewhere along the line, I realized that I liked telling stories, and I decided that I would try writing. Ten years later, I finally got a book published. It was hard. I had no skills. I knew nothing about the business of getting published. So I had to keep working at it.” –  Janet Evanovich

 

Born on April 22,1943 Evanovich now has over two hundred million books in print worldwide, translated into over 40 languages.  After those initial struggles, she gained fame and loyal readers with her contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, NJ, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job.

 

Evanovich’s droll sense of humor (“If you want to cry, you're not going to like my books”) combined with a knack for setting up mystery and suspense keeps her readers involved from start to finish.

 

Another “reader involvement” idea is letting readers help name her books.  “Readers were sending in their ideas for titles,” she explained.  “So we thought, ‘Hey, go for it.’ Now we have a contest every year.”

 

During her early writing years she had dozens and dozens of rejection letters but she kept trying and finally connected with a romance novel for which she received $2,000.  “I thought it was an astounding sum,” she recalled.  Today, her net worth is around $140 million.

A Writer's Moment: 'The best way to exercise imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'The best way to exercise imagination':   “Being able to write creatively or read creative fiction is the best way to exercise your imagination. “ – Michael Pry...

'The best way to exercise imagination'

 

“Being able to write creatively or read creative fiction is the best way to exercise your imagination. “ – Michael Pryor

 

Born in Australia on this date in 1957, Pryor has authored more than 50 short stories and 30-plus novels, many for Young Adults and led by his critically acclaimed Laws of Magic series.  Several of his books have been shortlisted for the prestigious Aurealis Award, given annually for best Young Adult novels.   Pryor also writes as part of a collaborative for the wildly popular The Quentaris Chronicles, a shared universe of fantasy books set in a magical city called Quentaris. 

 

A native of Victoria who now makes his home in Melbourne, Pryor also wrote an excellent book about “shared” writing, The Art of Successful Collaboration, written (fittingly) in collaboration with Paul Collins.  A frequent speaker and writing coach, he said he very much enjoys shared writing and encouraging young writers.                                                     

“I always look on imagination as one of the most powerful things we can cultivate in young people,” he said.  “If they have a good, active imagination, they can cope with life better; they are... able to imagine possibilities and to think around problems.“

A Writer's Moment: 'A goal of clean air and water . . . and respect'

A Writer's Moment: 'A goal of clean air and water . . . and respect':   "Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality a...

'A goal of clean air and water . . . and respect'

 

"Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures." - U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin

Today is Earth Day, the above noted “goal” of the Senator Nelson who envisioned that all Americans – and perhaps all people – would come together to protect the earth, air and water that we need to survive.

Just out of college, I was assigned to report on the first Earth Day in 1970.   My editor was skeptical that anything might happen but it soon became clear that people were organizing dozens and dozens of projects and I was on the front line reporting about them.

 By the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990, I had met Sen. Nelson and invited him to be the Earth Day keynote speaker at the Minnesota college where I was working.  He chose our small school over dozens of other opportunities and spoke eloquently and passionately about his ongoing hope for our world.

 

 

Gaylord Nelson

“Earth Day achieved what I had hoped for and then some,” he told the students. “People were given the opportunity to demonstrate their deep concern about polluted air, rivers, lakes and oceans; health threatening hazardous waste; urban blight; pesticide and herbicide poisoning of people, plants, birds and animals; and the destruction of scenic beauty and wildlife habitats."

 

The author of several books, including Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise, Nelson said Earth Day became the first major opportunity to send a message to politicians "To wake up and do something.  We must recognize that we're all part of a web of life around the world.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Why poetry endures'

A Writer's Moment: 'Why poetry endures':   “Poetry endures when it possesses passionate and primally sincere clarity in the service of articulating universal huma...

'Why poetry endures'

 

“Poetry endures when it possesses passionate and primally sincere clarity in the service of articulating universal human concerns.” –  Franz Wright

Wright, born in 1953, won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for his book of poetry Walking To Martha’s Vineyard.    In winning the Pulitzer, Wright joined his father James Wright in winning the prestigious award – making them the only father-child pair to win in the same category.  James Wright won for his 1972 volume, Collected Poems.

 

Unfortunately the Wrights have another distinction, both dying fairly young from cancer – James at age 53 and Franz at 62.  But in their short lives they each left us with a legacy of plowing new ground in the poetic world.   Here, for Saturday’s Poem, is  Franz Wright’s,

 

Morning Arrives

 

Morning arrives
unannounced
by limousine: the tall
emaciated chairman

of sleeplessness in person
steps out on the sidewalk
and donning black glasses, ascends
the stairs to your building

guided by a German shepherd.
After a couple faint knocks
at the door, he slowly opens
the book of blank pages

pointing out
with a pale manicured finger
particular clauses,
proof of your guilt.

A Writer's Moment: 'Speaking to the thoughtful mind'

A Writer's Moment: 'Speaking to the thoughtful mind':   “Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.” – Theodore Roosevelt Outside of his polit...

'Speaking to the thoughtful mind'

 “Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Outside of his political career, Roosevelt, born in New York in 1858, was both a voracious reader and tireless writer.  He wrote thousands and thousands of letters and essays and had 25 books published about a range of subjects, including history, biology, geography and philosophy.

His writing about the American West, in particular, has stood the test of time and is still often used by those seeking an accurate depiction of life on the frontier and throughout America in those times.  And, of course, his concern for our environment and protecting our land for future generations had more to do with the shape of our current national park system than any other president before or after.

  When asked once about his decisive leadership in many of these things, he said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” 

A Writer's Moment: Sports, music and inclusivity: The Hornby Style

A Writer's Moment: Sports, music and inclusivity: The Hornby Style:   “I don't want my books to exclude anyone, but if they have to, then I would rather they excluded the people who fee...

Sports, music and inclusivity: The Hornby Style

 

“I don't want my books to exclude anyone, but if they have to, then I would rather they excluded the people who feel they are too smart for them!” – Nick Hornby

 

Hornby, born in Surrey, England on this date in 1957, writes about ordinary people in ways that translate into bestsellers, like Fever Pitch, About a Boy and High Fidelity.    Fever Pitch, while written about a fan’s obsession (based on his own) with English soccer, was made an even bigger hit as an American movie adaptation, where it focused on Jimmy Fallon’s character’s obsession with the Boston Red Sox.

  

That’s the universality of writing sports – one situation or type of sport can be easily adapted into another.    I used the technique myself with my Tweens’ book Kelli’s Choice.  There, I took what I knew from my baseball playing days - and stories told to me by both my grandfather and father about their days on the diamond - and adapted it to girls’ softball, something I obviously never played.  It becomes, of course, all about the people.

 

Music has an even bigger role in Hornby's writing, mostly based on his own experiences.  Hornby has had long and fruitful collaborations with the rock band Marah and even toured in the United States and Europe with the band, joining them on stage to read from his essays.

 

Dedicated to helping kids with special needs, Hornby has donated all of his royalties from some of his books to helping kids with autism.   He is co-founder of the nonprofit Ministry of Stories, dedicated to helping children and young adults develop their writing skills, and to support teachers who inspire students to write.

 

“If you can get every kid to have found a book that he or she loves,” Hornby said, “then you've done a great job.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Seeking and portraying the lofty'

A Writer's Moment: 'Seeking and portraying the lofty':     “I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share wit...

'Seeking and portraying the lofty'

 

 

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” – Thornton Wilder

Born in Madison, WS in April of 1897, Wilder was both a playwright and novelist extraordinaire.   He won 3 Pulitzer Prizes— 1 for the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and 2 for his plays Our Town (perhaps one of the “most performed” in American Theatre) and The Skin of Our Teeth.  He also won a U.S. National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day. 

 

Born into one of America’s most “accomplished” families – his parents were noted writers and diplomats and all 4 of his siblings were leading lights in their chosen professions ranging from education to archaeology to religion – Wilder began writing as a high school student.  Fluent in 5 languages, he also played a key role in the U.S. Military Intelligence field during World War II.

 

The Bridge at San Luis Rey, published in 1928, has been named one of the top 100 novels of the 20^th century and his many theatrical successes began with 1938's Our Town.  While he continued writing novels, it was playwriting that held most of his interest from that point forward.  

                                                                                

 “Seek the lofty,” Wilder once said, “by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment each and every day.”

A Writer's Moment: 'In childhood,' the vivid years

A Writer's Moment: 'In childhood,' the vivid years:     “I don't necessarily start with the beginning of the book. I just start with the part of the story that's m...

'In childhood,' the vivid years

 

 

“I don't necessarily start with the beginning of the book. I just start with the part of the story that's most vivid in my imagination and work forward and backward from there.” – Beverly Cleary 

 

Cleary, who was born in Oregon on April 12, 1916 lived to be nearly 105.  She created outstanding characters that had a huge impact on generations of young people who might not have had the impetus to pick up a book or listen to a story until they saw or heard something she had written.  

 

 From The Mouse and the Motorcycle to iconic “real life” characters like Beezus and Ramona to Henry Huggins and Mitch and Amy, her characters vividly deal with the fears, joys and “daily minutiae” that children everywhere experience.

 

“Kids,” she once said, “need to feel safe, be close to their families, like their teachers, and have friends to play with.   Quite often somebody will say to me, ‘What years do your books take place?’ and the only answer I can give is, ‘In childhood’.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Laugh, Cry , Write a Poem'

A Writer's Moment: 'Laugh, Cry , Write a Poem':   “The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. The most you can do is live inside that hope, running down ...

'Laugh, Cry , Write a Poem'

 

“The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. The most you can do is live inside that hope, running down its hallways, touching the walls on both sides.” — Barbara Kingsolver

 

On April 8 I wrote a few words about Kingsolver’s creative writing.  She also writes poetry.   “Her poems,” one reviewer wrote, “ . . . are songs of hope and longing.”

 

“When you find yourself laughing and crying both at once, that is the time to write a poem,” Kingsolver said.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is Kingsolver’s,

                                         

           Apotheosis
There are days when I am envious of my hens:
when I hunger for a purpose as perfect and sure
as a single daily egg.

If I could only stand in the sun,
scratch the gravel and blink and wait
for the elements within me to assemble,
asking only grain I would
surrender myself to the miracle
of everyday incarnation: a day of my soul
captured in yolk and shell.

And I would have no need
for the visions that come to others
on bat’s wings, to carry them
face to face with nothingness.
The howl of the coyote in the night
would not raise my feathers, for I,
drowsy on my roost, would dream
of the replicated fruits of my life
nested safe in cartons.

And yet I am never seduced,
for I have seen what a hen knows of omnipotence:
nothing of the miracles in twelves,
only of the hand that feeds
and, daily, robs the nest.