Posted in Writing, tagged Fiction, home, John Steinbeck, nanowrimo, quotes, snow, winter, Writers, writing on November 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I’ve got inches of thick wet snow on my porch and the last of the red maple leaves have finally fallen. It is officially winter.
What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.
― John Steinbeck
And really, what better weather for novel writing? Time to get back to it!
Posted in Entertainment, tagged Cambridge, Car Talk, death, humor, MIT, NPR, quotes, storytelling, Tom Magliozzi on November 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Tom Magliozzi, Popular Co-Host Of NPR’s ‘Car Talk,’ Dies At 77
This is sad. I didn’t know him personally, of course, but living in Cambridge (not far from their garage) as long as I did, listening to NPR as much as I did, and graduating from the same school as Tom and Ray, I felt a connection. Tom was the perfect foil to Ray’s banter and vice versa, and not only knew cars but also how to entertain. And that laugh! So contagious. It made me smile through the challenges of grad school, and makes me smile still.
The NPR story linked above has a sample of the show, and of course more Car Talk audio, car-related discussions and The Quotable Tom Magliozzi are archived by the good folks over at CarTalk.com. If you have a few more minutes, MIT also has video of Tom and Ray’s 1999 commencement speech.
Never let the facts stand in the way of a good answer.
If that’s not the essence of good storytelling, well. He will be missed!
Posted in Likes, tagged Danielle Steel, fun, inspiration, life, quotes, Thoughts, why not, Writers, yay on September 9, 2014| 1 Comment »
Life, a good life, a great life is about “Why not?” May we never forget it.
— Danielle Steel
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged awesome, books, disaster preparedness, home, libraries, literature, NPR, public libraries, quotes, Thoughts, TS Eliot, Writers on August 20, 2014| 1 Comment »
The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.
― T.S. Eliot
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged #GaimanSays, artists, awesome, creativity, finishing, Motivation, neil gaiman, quotes, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on August 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »
If you’re making mistakes, it means you’re out there doing something.
This is a terrific saying. Thanks to Epic Reads for the lovely image, and thanks to Neil Gaiman for saying it.
Posted in Holidays, tagged America, Erma Bombeck, Fourth of July, Harry Emerson Fosdick, home, independence day, quotes, Thoughts, USA, yay on July 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have.
— Harry Emerson Fosdick
And also:
You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.
— Erma Bombeck
Posted in Funny, Writing, tagged finishing, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, inspiration, Michael Palin, middle of the week, national parks, persistence, planning, quotes, Thoughts, work on June 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »
It’s the middle of the week and I don’t know about you but Friday, and finishing everything on my list, feels pretty far away. Must be time for an inspirational quote and fabulous photo. Like… so!
You can’t get a suit of armour and a rubber chicken just like that. You have to plan ahead.
— Michael Palin
Posted in Writing, tagged artists, arts, creativity, death, inspiration, Maya Angelou, poetry, quotes, storytellers, Thoughts, Writers on May 28, 2014| 2 Comments »
Maya Angelou, Poet, Activist And Singular Storyteller, Dies At 86
This is such a loss. And yet…
I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
― Maya Angelou
I still remember finding a battered, much-read copy of Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings on my parents’ bookshelf, and meeting her singular voice. That woman knew how to live.
Posted in Writing, tagged creativity, Dale Carnegie, finishing, inspiration, Motivation, quotes, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on February 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Writing, tagged books, creativity, Fiction, harry potter, inspiration, JK Rowling, john scalzi, Lynn Shepard, Mark Pryor, more pie, quotes, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 27, 2014| 2 Comments »
I planned to avoid the kerfuffle around Lynn Shepard’s call for JK Rowling to stop writing, because the idea that Rowling should quit for the good of other writers is flat-out ridiculous. The sensible approach to scarcity isn’t to fight over the last tiny slice; instead, make the pie bigger. Rowling has certainly done that.
Mark Pryor’s article says most of what I was thinking about Lynn Shepard’s essay, and I was glad to see it come out. Here he is on Rowling: “…authors like you actually bring more readers to our books. More books from you means more readers for us, not fewer.”
I do disagree with a point at the end of Pryor’s article, however. The part where the author says that writers don’t write to make money is an old excuse to explain away economic marginalization: “…writers don’t sit down and write books to make money… We write because we love to share our stories.”
It has been said before but bears repeating: Doctors don’t examine you out of the love of anatomy, plumbers don’t fix your pipes for free. Professional writers are, or should be, the same. Yes, most people can “write” in the broad sense of the word, but very few can do it at professional levels. It’s like dismissing an Olympic sprinter because “anyone can run.”
“…this is the sort of thinking, intentional or otherwise, that gives bad people cover to screw writers with regard to money, and gives uncertain writers a reason to shrug off being screwed.”
— John Scalzi
Writers have a lot of motivations, and the pleasure of being read is certainly one. But we also write because (we hope) it pays the bills, because it’s less physically demanding than ditch digging, or because we have something to say. We write to entertain, to connect with other human beings, to understand the world and to communicate what we see. We write to make sense of a problem or an emotion and to pass that knowledge along. We write to provide adventure or mystery or humor or a place of refuge. If we do it well (and that’s what we’re all striving for, is it not?), we give to the reader, not the other way around.
And Ms Rowling does it well.
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