A Writer's Moment: 'Nothing will stop you'

A Writer's Moment: 'Nothing will stop you':   “I love research so much that I do an enormous amount; it helps put off the moment of starting to write the story.” – A...

'Nothing will stop you'

 

“I love research so much that I do an enormous amount; it helps put off the moment of starting to write the story.” – Alan Garner

 

Born in Cheshire, England in October of 1934, Garner just celebrated his 90^th birthday by publishing a memoir called Powsels and Thrums.  And despite being a self-professed “procrastinator” it was the writer’s 28^th book to go along with dozens of short stories and essays.

 

There are few writers who wouldn’t agree with Garner’s take on research.  Gathering info. to utilize as the foundation for stories is generally gratifying and fulfilling.  And, of course, most writers are procrastinators by nature – knowing that they should put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard but dreading how things are going to start and where they might lead.

 

Born in the front room of his grandmother’s Cheshire house, Garner grew up in that northwestern English county listening to "the old tales" from his grandparents and choosing it as the setting for most of his books.  Best known for children's fantasy novels and the retelling of traditional British folk tales, his work is firmly rooted in Cheshire’s landscape, history and folklore.

 

While he is noted for his “slow, but steady” writing style his output has been substantial and has earned him almost every major writing award that honors or recognizes literature for young people.

When asked again about that “procrastination thing,” Garner said you have to work to get by it.  “ Look, if you are going to write, nothing will stop you.  And if you are not going to write, nothing will make you.” 

A Writer's Moment: 'It's an arduous task at best'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's an arduous task at best': “Writing one's first novel, getting it sold, and shepherding it through the labyrinths of editing, production, marke...

'It's an arduous task at best'

“Writing one's first novel, getting it sold, and shepherding it through the labyrinths of editing, production, marketing, journalism, and social media is an arduous and nerve-wracking process.” – Paul Di Filippo

 

Di Filippo, born in Rhode Island on Oct. 29, 1954 is the author of hundreds of short stories and numerous novels and “collections,” including his acclaimed Steampunk Trilogy. 

 

 A finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Philip K. Dick, Wired Magazine, and World Fantasy awards he’s not only one of America’s leading science fiction and fantasy writers but also a highly respected reviewer for such magazines as Asimov's Science Fiction, The New York Review of Science Fiction and the online Science Fiction Weekly.

 

Despite his own successes, he has a bit of a gloomy outlook on having success with your first book.  

 

“Any debut novel is usually a case of spitting into the wind - or, just maybe, casting your bread upon the waters,” he said.  “Without an established audience in place, first-time authors have to hope for resonant word of mouth and a receptive reviewer or three.”

A Writer's Moment: The 'Sounds' of writing success

A Writer's Moment: The 'Sounds' of writing success:   “Sound is so important to creative writing. Think of the sounds you hear that you include, and the similes you use to d...

The 'Sounds' of writing success

 

“Sound is so important to creative writing. Think of the sounds you hear that you include, and the similes you use to describe what things sound like. 'As she walked up the alley, her polyester workout pants sounded like windshield wipers swishing back and forth.' Cadence, onomatopoeia, the poetry of language are all so important. Learn all that you can about how to bring sound into your work.” – Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

 

DeMarco-Barrett is the author of Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within, a Los Angeles Times bestseller and winner of the Best Book Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors.   Host and producer of the long-running podcast Writers on Writing, she has taught at several colleges and universities and is a frequent presenter at writing workshops and conferences.

 

Her reminder of the importance of sound is key to any successful writing endeavor.

 

A train rumbling by; the hoot of an owl to break the night’s stillness; a floorboard’s creak just when no one else is supposed to be around.  When I was a young child we would gather around an upright console radio to “hear” The Shadow, Dragnet, or The Lone Ranger.   My brothers and my only view was of the front of that radio as we sat cross-legged on the floor to listen.  But the worlds of crime, drama and the Old West came pouring out upon us – a wonderful mix of a writer’s words and great sound.

 

For a writer, DeMarco said, “Working doesn't always mean putting words on paper.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Nine-tenths of wisdom'

A Writer's Moment: 'Nine-tenths of wisdom':   I am a part of everything that I have read.” – Theodore Roosevelt Born in New York on Oct. 27, 1858 Roosevelt was ...

'Nine-tenths of wisdom'

 

I am a part of everything that I have read.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Born in New York on Oct. 27, 1858 Roosevelt was a statesman, explorer, soldier, naturalist, reformer and the 26^th President of the United States.  He played a major role in the development of the country’s national parks, monuments and history and also was a multi-book bestselling author.  Much of his writing success, in fact, preceded his time in politics. 

 

The author of 18 books on topics ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system he also was a voracious reader, consuming up to 7 books each and every week of his adult life.  Among his favorites were books of poetry.  U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Frost once said of Roosevelt “(He) was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry.”

 

From his acclaimed autobiography The Rough Riders to his book History of the Naval War of 1812 (still taught in naval war classes), his writings covered everything from The Duties of American Citizenship to Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail – topics he both wrote about and lived.  He also served as editor of The Outlook magazine, where he had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. 

 

In the process, his thoughtful writings and wise editorial decisions played a key role in protecting some of our nation’s most valuable natural sites and resources.

 

“Nobody cares how much you know,” Roosevelt said, “until they know how much you care.   Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.”

 

'Near the heart of poetry'

 

“Poetry is not easy. Or should I say, real poetry is not easy.” – Robert Pinsky

Born in New Jersey in October of 1940, Pinsky is the United States’ first three-term Poet Laureate.  A “Distinguished” Professor of English at Boston University, he’s authored more than 20 books of poetry including this year’s Proverbs of Limbo: Poems. 

 

In addition to his poetic works, he’s written the highly regarded The Sounds of Poetry, A Brief Guide.   While Pinsky’s poems are not available for reprinting, you can read some or listen to him reading them at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/search?query=Robert%20Pinsky&page=5

 

A musician as well as a writer, Pinsky once noted: “A sentence is like a tune.   A memorable sentence gives its emotion a melodic shape. You want to hear it again, say it—in a way, to hum it to yourself. You desire, if only in the sound studio of your imagination, to repeat the physical experience of that sentence. That craving, emotional and intellectual but beginning in the body with a certain gesture of sound, is near the heart of poetry.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Near the heart of poetry'

A Writer's Moment: 'Near the heart of poetry':   “Poetry is not easy. Or should I say, real poetry is not easy.” – Robert Pinsky Born in New Jersey in October of 1...

A Writer's Moment: A deep - and wide - writing career

A Writer's Moment: A deep - and wide - writing career:   “Everyone admits that love is wonderful and necessary, yet no one agrees on just what it is.   Love is the best school, but the tuition i...

A deep - and wide - writing career

 

“Everyone admits that love is wonderful and necessary, yet no one agrees on just what it is.  Love is the best school, but the tuition is high and the homework can be painful.” – Diane Ackerman

Born in October 1948, Ackerman is the author of One Hundred Names for Love, also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.  She also wrote The Zookeeper’s Wife (made into a popular movie as well) and A Natural History of the Senses, adapted into a 5-part NOVA television series called “The Mystery of the Senses.”  Ackerman also writes nature books for children.

A native of Pennsylvania, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Penn State University then went on to earn 3 degrees, including a Master of Fine Arts and a Ph.D., from Cornell University.    In addition to her many books, she has written essays and stories for magazines and journals around the globe, taught at several colleges and universities, and done wide-ranging poetic explorations of the natural world.

“I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it,” she said about her seemingly boundless energy.   “I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Whole worlds to share'

A Writer's Moment: 'Whole worlds to share':   “Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it's much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy...

'Whole worlds to share'

 

“Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it's much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world.”  - Neil Gaiman

Gaiman, a native of Portchester, England, was born in November of 1960  He is the author of hundreds of articles, short stories and books, including the award-winning Sandman series and the multi-award-winning The Graveyard Book, a great example of a really interesting idea being brought to life (so to speak) through a story.   

 

Gaiman's protagonist in The Graveyard Book is a young boy who lives in a graveyard where he’s being raised by the occupants (yep, those "occupants"), proving again that storytelling is limited only by the depth of a writer's imagination.   So if you've been thinking of trying to write, there's no time like the present and remember, it might be all in your imagination - and that's a good thing.    

            

“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you,” Gaiman said.  "Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Help the world make a little more sense'

A Writer's Moment: 'Help the world make a little more sense':     “If I can write a book that will help the world make a little more sense to a teen, then that's why I was put o...

'Help the world make a little more sense'

 

 

“If I can write a book that will help the world make a little more sense to a teen, then that's why I was put on the planet.” – Laurie Halse Anderson

Born in Potsdam, NY on Oct. 23, 1961 Anderson is a recipient of both the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Award and the international Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, both for career contributions to YA and Children’s literature. 

 

The author of a dozen YA novels and two dozen Children’s books, Anderson began her writing career as a freelancer and then reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer.  She started writing creatively in the mid-1990s and her third book, the YA novel Speak, put her on the writing map.  Winner of the Golden Kite Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the shattering novel portrays a 13-year-old sexual assault victim who loses her ability to speak after being attacked.  Also made into a movie, Speak has been translated into 16 languages.

 

Among her other top award winners is Fever 1793, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a Junior Library Guild selection, and Chains, a National Book Award finalist and winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. 

 

 “The most painstaking aspect of being a teen,  (is) figuring out what the world really looks like,” she said.  “If you find someone in a book, you know you're not alone and that's what's so comforting about books.”

A Writer's Moment: 'A safe, sterile lab to try ideas'

A Writer's Moment: 'A safe, sterile lab to try ideas':     “I get a lot of moral guidance from reading novels, so I guess I expect my novels to offer some moral guidance, but...

'A safe, sterile lab to try ideas'

 

 

“I get a lot of moral guidance from reading novels, so I guess I expect my novels to offer some moral guidance, but they're not blueprints for action, ever.”– Ursula K. Le Guin

 

Born in California on this date in 1929, Le Guin has been called "A major voice in  American letters," but she said if asked to label herself, she would just say "American Novelist."  Among her most notable works are the Earthsea fantasy series, The Dispossessed, and The Left Hand of Darkness.

Le Guin authored 20 novels, more than 100 short stories and many children's books in a wide variety of  genres over a 60-year career.  She's been cited as a key influence on writers like Salman Rushdie, David Mitchell, and Neil Gaiman.  Winner of Hugo, Nebula, Locus and World Fantasy Awards – each more than once – she was  honored with the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2014.  She died in 2018.

 

“The task of science fiction is not to predict the future.  Rather, it contemplates possible futures,” Le Guin said.  “Writers may find the future appealing precisely because it can't be known, a black box where ‘anything at all can be said to happen without fear of contradiction from a native. The future is a safe, sterile laboratory for trying out ideas in, a means of thinking about reality, a method.’”

A Writer's Moment: 'Like an endless film'

A Writer's Moment: 'Like an endless film':   “ I think of something quite different from a snapshot. I know of a lot of poems, some very fine ones, that are like sn...

'Like an endless film'

 

“I think of something quite different from a snapshot. I know of a lot of poems, some very fine ones, that are like snapshots, but I'm more interested in poetry that is like an endless film, long stories, things that weave together many different strands, like a big piece of cloth, not like a photograph.” – Robert Bringhurst 

 

Born in Los Angeles on Oct. 16, 1946 Bringhurst makes his home in Canada where he has authored 23 books of poetry and 20 books of prose, including the definitive The Elements of Typographic Style.   His most recent works are 2023’s This Wisp of a Thing Called Civilization and a collection of poetry The Ridge.  For Saturday’s Poem, here is Bringhurst’s,

 

                                    These Poems, She Said

 

    These poems, these poems,
    these poems, she said, are poems
    with no love in them. These are the poems of a man
    who would leave his wife and child because
    they made noise in his study. These are the poems
    of a man who would murder his mother to claim
    the inheritance. These are the poems of a man
    like Plato, she said, meaning something I did not
    comprehend but which nevertheless
    offended me. These are the poems of a man
    who would rather sleep with himself than with women,
    she said. These are the poems of a man
    with eyes like a drawknife, with hands like a pickpocket's
    hands, woven of water and logic
    and hunger, with no strand of love in them. These
    poems are as heartless as birdsong, as unmeant
    as elm leaves, which if they love love only
    the wide blue sky and the air and the idea
    of elm leaves. Self-love is an ending, she said,
    and not a beginning. Love means love
    of the thing sung, not of the song or the singing.
    These poems, she said....
    You are, he said,
    beautiful.
    That is not love, she said rightly.

A Writer's Moment: 'Gathering pieces of lives, past and present'

A Writer's Moment: 'Gathering pieces of lives, past and present':   “One curious thing about growing up is that you don't only move forward in time; you move backwards as well, as pie...

'Gathering pieces of lives, past and present'

 

“One curious thing about growing up is that you don't only move forward in time; you move backwards as well, as pieces of your parents' and grandparents' lives come to you.” – Philip Pullman

Born in Norwich, England on Oct. 19, 1946 Pullman is perhaps most noted for the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and his fictionalized biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.  His most recent book is 2022’s The Imagination Chamber, a companion to His Dark Materials. 

 

Pullman was a teacher when his first book The Haunted Storm was published in 1972.  It was an instant hit, winning him the New English Library's Young Writer's Award.

  

Since then he's published more than 30 books, won Sweden’s “Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award” for career contributions to children's and young adult literature, and been a two-time finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal - given biennially to the best writer of fiction for children and young adults.  And The Times of London has ranked Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945."

 

Pullman’s advice to beginning writers is simple – write 3 pages a day.  “If you can't think of what to write, tough luck; write anyway,” he said.  “If you can think of lots more when you've finished three pages, don't write it; it'll be that much easier to get going next day.”

A Writer's Moment: Having that 'special kind of urgency'

A Writer's Moment: Having that 'special kind of urgency':   “ The books I like to read the most feel like they've been written by somebody who had to write them or go crazy. T...

Having that 'special kind of urgency'

 

“The books I like to read the most feel like they've been written by somebody who had to write them or go crazy. They had to get them out of their heads. I like that kind of urgency.” – Patrick Ness

Born in Virginia on this date in 1971, Ness is a British-American (dual citizenship) author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter.  He is best known for his Young Adult books, particularly the Chaos Walking trilogy, also made into a 2021 movie that he co-wrote. 

 

A one-time creative fiction teacher, corporate writer and magazine feature writer, he started writing YA fiction in 2008.  His first YA novel The Knife of Never Letting Go earned a Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and numerous other awards.  

 

He’s continued his YA writing successes – his most recent book is Burn – while also become a leading book reviewer for many of England’s top magazines and newspapers. “It's fun being paid to read stuff and air your opinion about it,” he said.  “Pretty much a dream job for a writer.”

 

As for his own writing philosophy, Ness said, “If you sing beautifully about nothing, no one will listen. If you sing badly about great stuff, no one will listen. Ideas are everywhere, but my theory is that a writer doesn't just think of an idea: they perform them.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The expression of ideas'

A Writer's Moment: 'The expression of ideas':   “Language is the expression of ideas, and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas they cannot...

'The expression of ideas'

 

“Language is the expression of ideas, and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas they cannot retain an identity of language.” – Noah Webster

 

Born in Hartford, CT on this date in 1758 Webster published a book in 1828 that would change America, if not the world.  But his American Dictionary of the English Language, with 70,000 “American English” words, was not met with unbridled enthusiasm.

 

Many Conservatives said it was “too radical, bordering on vulgar” while Liberals said it was “too conservative in nature.” But Webster said the American people were craving a book like his and he was right.  He self-published 100 thousand copies (a huge endeavor for the time), priced it at 15 cents and took it to everyday people looking for a publication that would “capture the language of a new nation.”  It took the country by storm and sold out in just a few months.

 

 

Despite a partnership with George and Charles Merriam for subsequent versions (creating the Merriam-Webster Dictionaries), Webster’s name became synonymous with the “American language” dictionary.  From the poet Emily Dickinson to schoolchildren across the country having a “Webster’s” was essential to writing success.

 

“Every child,” Webster said, “. . . should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life, practice (and) understanding the history of his own country.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Five hundred words a day'

A Writer's Moment: 'Five hundred words a day':   “An early editor characterized my books as 'romantic comedy for intelligent adults.' I think people see them as...

'Five hundred words a day'

 

“An early editor characterized my books as 'romantic comedy for intelligent adults.' I think people see them as funny but kind. I don't set out to write either funny or kind, but it's a voice they like, quirky like me... And you know, people like happy endings.” – Elinor Lipman

  

Born in Massachusetts on Oct. 16, 1950 Lipman studied journalism at Simmons College and began her writing career as a college intern with the Lowell (MA) Sun.   Right out of college she was hired to do press releases for Boston television station WGBH, a job she held throughout the 1970s before turning to a creative writing career, starting with short stories.

 

She started writing novels in the 1990s and has written 14 to go along with two nonfiction books and a short story collection.   Her first novel, Then She Found Me, was also made into a successful movie in 2008.  Her most recent best seller is 2023’s Ms. Demeanor, a finalist for the “Thurgood Prize for American Humor.”  

 

Known for her wit and “societal observations,” Lipman’s writing advice is simple:  “Five hundred words a day is what I aim for. And I don't go on to the next chapter until I've polished and polished and polished the one I'm working on.” 

A Writer's Moment: That 'familiar daily struggle'

A Writer's Moment: That 'familiar daily struggle':   “If someone is alone reading my poems, I hope it would be like reading someone's notebook. A record. Of a place, be...

That 'familiar daily struggle'

 

“If someone is alone reading my poems, I hope it would be like reading someone's notebook. A record. Of a place, beauty, difficulty. A familiar daily struggle.” – Fanny Howe

 

Born in Buffalo, NY on Oct. 15, 1940 Howe is a recipient of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, presented by the Poetry Foundation to a living U.S. poet for lifetime achievement.   One of America’s “most read” experimental poets.  Also a prolific novelist, she has authored more than 30 books of poetry and prose. 

 

For Saturday’s Poem, here is Howe’s,                 

Footsteps

I have never arrived
into a new life yet.

Have you?

Do you find the squeak
of boots on snow

excruciating?

Have you heard people
say, It wasn't me,

when they accomplished
a great feat?

I have, often.
But rarely.

•

Possibility
is one of the elements.
It keeps things going.

The ferry
with its ratty engine
and exactitude at chugging
into blocks and chains.

Returning as ever
to mother's house
under a salty rain.

 

(Poetry 2011)

 

 

A Writer's Moment: 'Just use your own voice'

A Writer's Moment: 'Just use your own voice':   “I'm not aware of a cadence when writing, but I hear it after. I write in longhand, and that helps. You're clos...

'Just use your own voice'

 

“I'm not aware of a cadence when writing, but I hear it after. I write in longhand, and that helps. You're closer to it, and you have to cross things out. You put a line through it, but it's still there. You might need it. When you erase a line on a computer, it's gone forever.” – Elmore Leonard

I’ve written about Leonard in the past, but on this date of his birth (in Louisiana in 1925) I couldn’t resist reminiscing again about one of America’s greatest writers of “Realism” in the past century. 

 

A novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter, Leonard’s earliest works were Westerns (3:10 to Yuma and Hombre, for example), but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers.  Many of his books have been adapted into movies and TV shows; movies like Out of Sight and The Gold Coast, and mega-hit TV series like Justified and Get Shorty (also made into a movie).

 

To call Leonard’s writing “gritty,” might be an understatement, but regardless of how you classify it he shares a segment of America’s culture and dialogue that few other writers have been able to match.  To get a sense of how he developed his works, look at “Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing” (widely available on the Internet).   Perhaps his most telling rule: “If it sounds like writing . . . rewrite it.”

  

“Everyone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write,” he said shortly before his death in 2013.  “I think the best advice I give is to try not to write. Try not to overwrite, try not to make it sound too good. Just use your own voice. Use your own style of putting it down.”

A Writer's Moment: Words can, and do, define us

A Writer's Moment: Words can, and do, define us:   The old saying about "sticks and stones" causing harm while "words" can not or do not is, of course...

Words can, and do, define us

 

The old saying about "sticks and stones" causing harm while "words" can not or do not is, of course, hogwash. 

Over the course of our lives we have the opportunity to either say or write things that shape friendships, solve problems, or salve wounds, both real and imagined.  Words also can cause divisions, create problems, or leave lasting hurts, whether real or imagined. 

Words can, and do, define us, especially those put in our writings for posterity. 

As this poet wrote: