NORTH OF EVERYTHING

Some writing stuff

2012-01-02T12:00:00.002-05:00

Okay, some stuff I’ve picked up along the way. Some people will disagree, some people will sigh because they knew it all already, but I’ll throw this out there anyway.

Your “search” or “find” function in whatever word processor you use can be a super asset when trying to improve your writing. First, do a search for the word “very” and get rid of every instance of it. The word “very” is an indicator that your descriptor is too weak. Instead of writing “very hungry” you should be using something like “famished.” You get the picture.

I know there are those that think ALL adverbs are evil, but that’s arbitrary and I don’t believe in rules without exceptions. Except for the “very” thing- of that rule, I am very sure…um, I mean, I’m certain.

Don’t begin a book, story, or even a scene with a line of dialogue. Yes, it has built-in questions for the reader, such as “Who is speaking?” and “To whom is he or she speaking?” Still, don’t do it. It’s not against some set of rules carved into the oak of knowledge or anything; it’s just powerfully uncool. Like openings or endings built around dreams.

Oh right, don’t open with a sequence, get the reader all interested and then reveal that it was all a dream. The reader, if already drawn in, will be disappointed. If not drawn in, will wonder why she should give you a second chance. Further, if you are older than 12 years old and I have to explain why “…and it was all a dream!” is a terrible ending, perhaps you should take up some hobby other than writing.

Exclamation points or marks should not appear in anything you write except within dialogue, and one of the damn things is enough. This!!! is not any louder than this! An exclamation mark is used SPARINGLY to indicate that a character has shouted, if we can’t get it from context. One other thing…don’t combine them with question marks. That looks as stupid as a question mark combined with a period. Don’t you think.?

Employ no cavalry characters. What I mean is you cannot resolve the problem(s) faced by your characters by introducing someone new at the end who solves everything. Deus ex machina and Deus ex historia and stuff like that. Your reader will be trying to solve the problems and predict the outcome, in order to feel smart, but if you finish the puzzle with pieces the reader did not have, that will make the reader feel cheated. Reveal a truth? Yes. Reveal a new character who saves the day? No. No new characters after the first 2/3rds of the story or book.

Mikey K taught me that dialogue that begins with “Yes” or “No” is on the nose and he is right. For example:

John asked, “Are you hungry?”

Mary said, “Yes. I could eat.”

Is stronger when written as:

John asked, “Are you hungry?”

Mary said, “I could eat.”

If you would argue that the original form is how people actually talk, you are confusing transcribing conversations with writing dialogue. They are two different tasks. Also, when attributing dialogue, just use “said” and “asked.” Avoid these sorts of things:

John sighed, “Are you tired?”

Mary growled, “I have a toothache.”

I suppose it would be okay to use “whispered,” but only once.

Watch out with accents. They become tedious in a holy hurry.

Lise said, “Me der, I want go to de ‘ospital in one h-our.”

That’s too much. Try this:

Lise said, “Me there, I want go to the ‘ospital in one hour.”

That’s enough to let the reader know that the speaker has an accent. Maybe one sentence could be really heavily accented, but then afterward you can just drop small reminders into the line.

In general, don’t worry too much about grammar, but understand that it does change the meanings of what you write. Even teachers are now instructing students that the Oxford comma is no longer needed, but it does change the meaning. Compare these two:

I went to Hollywood and met Leonardo DiCaprio, a plumber and a bed-wetter.

I went to Hollywood and met Leonardo DiCaprio, a plumber, and a bed-wetter.

In the former, I met one actor with a sideline job and a nocturnal problem. In the latter, I met three people. Learning this sort of thing in the younger years would be far more important than learning how to write in cursive.

So, don’t get too hung up on grammar. End sentences in prepositions and start them with conjunctions if you like, and understand that grammar conveys a tone and may confuse meaning. But do what you want to.

Next thing, round out your characters. A single dad raising a little girl, we see him brushing her hair in the morning before school, is a nice character. A crack dealer working a dangerous neighborhood, we see him beat the snot out of someone who tried to rob him, is a solid character. However, combine those two, and now you’re cooking.

Last bit is an oldie but a goodie. Even when you’re alone, or maybe especially when you’re alone, proofread your work aloud. You’ll find SO much more that needs fixing that way than doing that work silently.

Okay, that’s enough for now. Go write something.

Prague

2011-08-22T08:28:00.003-04:00

I've been working on a short story based on something that happened during my time in Prague. It naturally causes me to want to return to Prague, but I'm also aware of how places change. When I first went to Prague, in 1990, it seemed there were virtually no Americans there outside Ambassador Shirley Temple-Black and the other folks at the embassy. I could go weeks without seeing, or more likely hearing, one.

In 1991, I recall walking in Vaclav Square with a group of Czech friends. We were laughing and having a nice time, but in that Czech way. Subtle, clever, almost innocent. Then two American woman walked out of a shop. Back then, the square was not packed with tourists, and I could hear the two shoppers from a great distance shrieking at how stupid the Czechs were to sell their wares at such low prices. Each American hand was wrapped around the handles of bags stuffed with Czech-made goods. I was embarrassed, because unlike the Americans, my friends spoke several languages, some of them English. Being Czechs, they were more embarrassed for me than insulted.

I have nothing against Americans traveling, and I know the Ugly American thing is cliche, but we could try to blend in a bit. I know it's tougher now. Many of us reject the label "tourist," but instead consider ourselves to be travelers, collecting bragging rights about the remote village in Vietnam or Nepal or Peru we visited, but if you come home and put the photos on display, embrace your "touristness." It's perfectly okay. And when we throw our money around, perhaps we could resist spiking the American football.

When I returned to Prague just after the new millennium began, it felt like a shared city. Split between the Czechs and all the westerners, a fair number of whom were unemployable in the west and fancied themselves rebels. It was still wonderful to be back, but it had clearly changed. Some of its subtlety, some of its nuance and cleverness, and much of its innocence had been stripped away.

It's been another ten years or so. I look forward to going back to Prague sometime, but I know that feeling I had when I crossed the city limits for the first time, that feeling is no longer waiting for me there and neither is that Prague. To je škoda. I suppose I could rent a flat, write, and carefully venture out looking for the pieces that remain, but I'm keeping my hopes down.

Local and nonlocal and creativity

2011-06-21T09:00:00.003-04:00

Forgive me, I might not explain this as well as a smart person would, but local connections are those connections and interactions which are subject to the laws of physics. I cannot see a person faster than the reflected light from her person travels the distance between us and strikes me in the eyes. The electric pulses of a phone call, whether over wire or through space, cannot travel any faster than the speed of light. Local connections all submit to Einstein et al.

The concept of nonlocal connections need not follow these laws. Picture Hollywood's so-called voodoo doll. Someone sticks a pin in a doll made to resemble me and even if I were a light-year away, I would instantaneously feel the pain. This means the transmission of the "pain signal" moved faster than the speed of light, which according to Al Einstein and his crew, is strictly verboten.

So, that brings me to part three. Creativity. Many of us who are creative believe that ideas "come to us." Is this a local connection? Is our muse close at hand and the inspiration moves equal to or less than the speed of light? Or are we fed by our genius (read genie here, as in spirit that helps the artist, not as in really smart person) through a nonlocal connection, faster than the speed of light?

If it is the latter, and the connection is so fast as to violate the laws of physics, I would ask why the connection is, at times, so poor in quality? Wouldn't most of us sacrifice speed for clarity? When I write, I often suffer a stream of ideas pouring into my head, but the signal is often so garbled and crackly that it is difficult to make heads or tails of what I'm receiving.

So, I propose that I convert to low speed interaction with my muse(s) (I can live with a slower-than-light connection) with hyper-clarity until such time as the nonlocal faster-than-light connection can be made clear enough as to not leave me confused, frustrated, and ultimately deleting chapters out of new novels.

a Top Notch place

2011-05-26T17:59:00.004-04:00

Not about writing or school this time...

I needed work done on my truck. Not just an oil change, but instead work that requires not only skilled labor and expertise but a certain level of trust. No one wants to be overcharged or have work done they don't need, but also one needs to trust that the repairs will be done right for safety's sake.

I've found a great place. A small garage in Waterboro, ME called Top Notch. John and the crew are flat-out busy all the time, but they found a way to get my truck in before a trip I needed to take. They were incredibly fair and with every repair took the time to explain exactly what my options were. Then the work was expertly done, in a timely manner which is a big deal since they are so busy. As one customer said in the waiting room, they really should find a way of cloning John. Not only John though, everyone there was great.

I called a couple times over the two days my truck was on a lift (at one point with three mechanics working on it to ensure I'd make my trip) and the voice on the other end of the line was always warm, almost like a friend's house.

When the bill came in, it was actually a bit less than I expected.

If you're looking for a place that will slap inspection stickers on a car that really should be in a junkyard, go somewhere else. However, if you're looking a place where customers, who used to live in the area, drive hundreds of miles across state lines to come back to mechanics they trust, try Top Notch Automotive. 207-247-4300

Although, good luck getting in....they book up fast!

Rubrics Measuring Quality: Impossible

2011-05-09T13:38:00.003-04:00

Some time ago, March 2008 to be more precise, I jotted down some ideas on this topic. I'm sharing them now...

The abandonment of old methods of assessment is well overdue, and the transition to performance-based or authentic assessment is well underway. Educators across the country are getting away from giving tests and are turning to portfolios and long-term projects that are meaningful to students. Of course, we’ve all been taught that an integral part of authentic assessment is the creation of fair, objective, and transparent rubrics, but is that really happening? Can a rubric be objective? What does that really mean, and do we really need them? Are rubrics over-applied and what can they actually measure?
It can be extremely difficult when educators come together to compare and critique rubrics, since most teachers feel their rubrics work for them and so see little need to change them. Teachers of course believe their own rubrics to be fair otherwise they wouldn’t use them. Teachers and administrators also know that one of the primary purposes of rubrics is to take the subjectivity out of grading.
However, the sad truth is most rubrics, even those constructed by the best, most dedicated, and fair-minded teachers, authors, and consultants are often not any less subjective than grading without one. How can a rubric designed to measure success contain the word “successfully?” How can a rubric designed to measure how organized a product is contain the word “organized?”
“A quality essay.” “An astute analysis.” “A comprehensive explanation.” None of these can be objectively measured; they all require a subjective decision on the part of the educator. In fact, for a rubric to be truly objective, it can contain neither adjectives nor adverbs whatsoever.

Consider a rubric, working on a scale of four, containing indicators like these:
4- Paper is very organized and well-constructed
3- Paper is organized and well-constructed
2- Paper is organized but not well-constructed
1- Paper is not organized

Now first, without simply dismissing this rubric above as flawed and different from their own, as teachers so often do, they should look at the inherent problems and then decide if those problems exist within their own rubrics. In the example, the only difference between a “4” and a “3” is the adverb “very.” Can anyone define what “very” means in this case? Can the teacher clearly explain, without leaving any question, what the difference is between organized and very organized? If he or she can, in quantifiable terms, then the teacher needs to include those terms within the rubric, but I suspect the difference is so subjective as to make quantification nearly impossible, and the result of such an effort, silly and forced.
Further, what does “organized” look like? How is it being measured? Even if it’s compared it to a sample considered to be organized, the scorer is still making a subjective judgment. Or for that matter, what does “well-constructed” mean? Both are completely in the eye of the beholder, and therefore subjective and, as we’ve been told, anything subjective may not be fair and one of the primary purposes rubrics were developed, to eliminate subjectivity. If rubrics only add to the problem they’re supposed to solve, then should the use of rubrics perhaps be discontinued?
Even when we can quantify something, and therefore are able to objectively measure it, it doesn’t necessarily mean we should even bother since that which is being measured may have very little to do with learning or thinking. Learning and thinking are key, as opposed to that recent mantra of “does this aid in teaching and learning?” Well frankly, if it aids in learning, that’s enough. Learning and thinking are objectives worth striving for, but the problem is measuring thinking and learning is extremely difficult. We are able to measure whether or not something is included in a paper, and we are able to measure those things we can count and add up.
For example, a rubric containing indicators like these:

4- Paper contains at least 2 paragraphs per topic.
3- Paper contains at least 1 paragraph per topic.
2- Paper contains at least 1 paragraph on most topics.
1- One or more topics completely not addressed.

For a 4 or a 3, the standard is completely measurable, assuming we can agree on what a paragraph is. A paragraph may have as little as a single sentence and still be a paragraph. Sometimes laying out a rubric actually has a chilling effect, and actually shows talented students how little they need to do to get a desired grade, rather than inspiring the lower performing student to reach for new heights. Rubrics might add some clarity as to what is expected, but they also create an intellectual finish line for most of our students to cross and stop. Telling even the most talented marathon runner that the finish line tape is just a suggested stopping point, and she should feel free to continue to push herself and to run another ten miles is a bit asinine. This is another clear demonstration of the tension between the theoretical and the practical in education in general and with rubrics in particular.
In the example rubric above, for a 2, a student would likely immediately ask, “Is the word ‘most’ indicating a majority of the topics have at least a paragraph? Fifty-one percent? 66 percent? 80 percent? How many paragraphs, precisely, constitutes ‘most?’ Give me a number.” The student isn’t wrong to ask this, as the rubric is unclear. However, the more germane question is, “How does this rubric measure learning or thinking?” The question is important because this sample part of a larger set of rubrics does not measure learning or thinking and therefore perhaps should not be used at all. It might inadequately measure effort, which would be different student to student based on the individual student’s ability level, and that’s about it. Of course, if one paper has two 1-sentence paragraphs per topic, and the next paper has two 10-sentence paragraphs per topic, this rubric says each student MUST get a “4,” regardless of the quality of the paragraphs. The teacher has no discretion on this indicator; there can be no “rounding” up or down.
Instead of cheating the rubric with things like giving a 3.4 or 3.6 (what’s the demonstrable difference between those?), we educators should ask ourselves why we feel compelled to add 0.4 to a 3, and what our thought process was.
Returning to the last rubric, the verbiage explaining what results in a 1 is the worst of all. Imagine the student, faced with twenty-one topics, writes 40 paragraphs on 20 of the topics, and the paragraphs written were of such brilliance that they changed the nature of our knowledge of the universe forever, but since topic #21 did not receive its own paragraph, the paper gets a 1 on this indicator. This of course would be ridiculous, and to “bend” the rules is both supposedly unfair and completely negates the purpose of rubrics in the first place.
Sometimes, instead of numbers we give names to the various levels of performance, such as “meets” or “exceeds” and this leads to new questions.

Exceeds- Free from errors in grammar and spelling.
Meets- Almost free from errors in grammar and spelling.
Novice- Only a few errors in grammar and spelling.
Not Yet- Many errors in grammar and spelling.

Here in this rubric we’re telling students that if they actually manage to write a paper free from errors in grammar and spelling, they are exceeding what we expect of them. Is this right? Shouldn’t we be insisting on papers free from errors in spelling and grammar? As for the names of the performance levels, they will in nearly every case be translated into a numerical score of some type; so again, this rubric is about giving the illusion of objectivity and innovation and not really about changing anything substantive. Even with secondary schools that refuse to do the translation into a numerical score, 99 percent of post-secondary schools will have to do the translation.
We also once again cannot forget that this last rubric includes words like “almost free,” “a few errors,” and “many errors.” The only way to make an objective, ergo fair, rubric of this type is to set numbers into the rubric.
Also, how can we use words like “almost free from errors” and not see that as subjective? Finally, this last rubric measures a proficiency in a skill, not necessarily thinking. Which is fine since that was its designed purpose, it functions as designed, but it again demonstrates that perhaps there is a place for rubrics and a place for professional judgment without them.
There are even worse lines in rubrics, such as “Project showed creativity.” There is no way to measure creativity. What is really being scored there? Novelty? The less likely the teacher is to have seen something like the student’s effort, the more points on the creativity scale?
Are rubrics a bad thing? No, my point is not that rubrics are bad. Perhaps we should continue to use them, but we should also admit that using them is just as subjective a process as not using them, or at least nearly so. We should also realize that our reliance on rubrics could hamper some thinking and learning. I’m sure the invention of the power drill was an exciting moment, and the use of the power drill spread like wildfire, but we don’t use them to change light bulbs, do we? Like any other tool, perhaps we need find out what rubrics do best and limit their use. Rubrics should not be applied to anything qualitative, only quantitative.
To try imposing rubrics on the quality of student work is tantamount to trying to write computer software that would grade thinking, innovation, and creativity. It doesn’t work. Counting paragraphs? Fine. How insightful a paragraph is? How creative a project is? Software and rubrics can’t do that. Human educators can make judgment calls, and assign a grade if they must. However, more importantly the teachers can interact and discuss the paragraph or project or portfolio, creating a much more personal learning experience for the student, and continue the learning. Even the most worthwhile rubrics, at best, simply spark that conversation and support it, but at worst and more often, they cripple that discourse, fencing it in. Their efficacy and fairness, especially to measure learning in a summative and objective way, is at best dubious and more likely educational smoke and mirrors.
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MythiCraft

2011-03-13T11:10:00.004-04:00

MythiCraft is a writer's retreat and storytelling symposium which will be hosted at University of Maine at Fort Kent on May 18-21, 2011.

Along with Joseph A. Citro and Dr. Ellen M. Taylor, I will be one of three presenters/workshop facilitators. In the engine room on this maiden voyage is Prof. Geraldine Becker. Huge thanks and gratitude to her for all the work she has done and continues to do.

While spots are filling up, it is not too late (at the date of this posting, I believe) to get involved. Check out the website at:
MythiCraft

Prof. Becker also the editor-in-chief of the Aroostook Review. You can find submission information at:
Aroostook Review

For MythiCraft, on-campus housing and meal packages are available. Participants may also register for one course credit for either the poetry or fiction workshops.

Please pass this along. Even if we fill up, I'd like to spread the word about one more venue for writers to meet and share.

UMFK's main website is here: UMFK

It Ain't That Bad

2011-02-26T12:06:00.004-05:00

There is a groan heard across the country these days (yep, again) that America's best days are behind her. That things have never been this bad and that the entire West is in decline. (Actually, I read a blog in which the author cited the "...global decline of Western society..." [sic])

However, it seems it is the function of some portion of every generation to bemoan the imminent collapse and inherent unfairness of whatever societal system, assuming they have been granted the right to moan by that societal system in the first place.

As Zev Chafets recently said, "Ninety-nine years ago, a guy stood up at a political convention ... and he said, 'We stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord.' That was Teddy Roosevelt. 'Armageddon' was Woodrow Wilson. It’s always Armageddon for people who have that tendency..."

In January of 1976, the inflation rate was 6.7%. In January of 1948, it was 18.1%. In January of 2011, it was 1.6%. Incredibly low.

In January of 1983, the unemployment rate was 10.4% In January of 2011, it was 9.0%. High, yes, but not unprecedented. In 1982-83, the unemployment rate stayed above 9% for 19 months and the inflation rate during that period was twice what it is today.

Even the price of gasoline, if adjusted for inflation, is not at new heights. In 1981, the annual average price was $1.35 per gallon. When you adjust that for inflation, that's $3.25 in 2010 dollars. What that means to those who don't find economics fun- because wages have also risen since 1981 as well as prices, it was as painful to spend $1.35 per gallon of gas in 1981 as it was to spend $3.25 per gallon in 2010. No more painful, no less painful. Even a national average of $4 per gallon has happened before, in July 2008.

Government shut-downs have happened before (see Clinton-Gingrich in '95-96, and also 1981, 1984, and 1990).

Union busting? When a group of employees votes to no longer have unions in their place of employment, this is known as de-certification. In the 1970s, unions lost 73% of those votes. In August 1981, Reagan used the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 to fire more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers. And then he banned them FOR LIFE from federal service. Clinton lifted the ban, but still, pretty rough stuff.

The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? Economic data shows we're on the same tide. The net worth of households, all households, in America rose steadily from 2002 to 2007. Then with the housing crash, caused not only by banks lending to people they shouldn't have but also by people wanting McMansions they had no business buying, the net worth of all households fell. In mid-2008, things bottomed out and net worth of households has risen since then. We're not yet back to 2007 levels, but those were artificial, at the height of the bubble.

Are things tough? Yes. I, like many, am juggling bills too. It's scary and stressful. Is it Armageddon? I don't think so. Woody Wilson is long gone after all.

Catching the unexpected wave

2011-02-06T09:29:00.005-05:00

I have been working on a novel since August titled "Marion" about an elderly woman and the extent to which she can make her own decisions about her life. It has been slow-going, but I have been enjoying the project. Still, I've got a problem.

Every once in a while, an idea hits you like a rogue wave and you have to go with it. I've had an idea for a new novel and the pieces are falling together in my head faster than I can jot them down on my legal pads. While I type even the first drafts of manuscripts, I scribble out the initial ideas on yellow legal pads with my black Paperchase pencils. Incidentally, these pencils can be tough to find- black eraser, black tip, black paint, black eraser holder...even the sharpened space between the paint the lead is black.

So, I have this new idea. I have a lot of other work to do today, but I will likely spend a good part of my day, pencils in hand, surrounded by legal pads, laptop with 10 tabs open, and I Googling random threads as I seize them, seeing if this new project idea actually has legs enough to get running. And I'm really happy to not have to diagram the previous sentence.

First, I think I'll go for a short walk.

Do Not Underestimate Life Experience

2011-01-29T11:15:00.004-05:00

I have been an instructor all told for about 16 years now. What I mean by an instructor is one who, again and again, stands before and among young and/or adult learners and attempts to get everyone to a desired learning outcome.

Like many people who do this work, I have had the opportunity to sample a wide variety of student writing in addition to the innumerable books, articles, newspapers, peer-workshop pieces, websites, email, memos, foreign language materials, billboards, cereal boxes, etc.

I have come to a not-so-new conclusion but one worth supporting. While natural ability and instruction can certainly help a writer with her or his craft and storytelling, it is life experience, rich and varied, which perhaps makes the single largest difference.

Granted if there is no natural ability or a lack of instruction, formal or no, than experience alone will not a writer make. However, I have seen the enriching impact of life-exposure on writing, the thickening and layering within the story.

Perhaps a teen who has traveled widely or the middle-aged survivor of hardship. The words of a man who lost his soulmate to cancer in the early years of a marriage or another who lost his daughter. Someone who decides to study in India rather than Indiana (before I get blazed with emails, I'm sure Indiana is fascinating, I just liked how it went with India- take it easy). Perhaps a young woman who grew up following the Dead, perhaps more quickly than she had planned. Or a woman attractive enough to model who did not know she was because she grew up hidden among the beautiful thoroughbreds her mother raised. A small-town Canadian living for more than a decade in Beirut. A woman who sipped life through a straw leading up to her lung transplant and what it was like to surface afterward. A man who detailed the tragedy and post-trauma healing of sexual abuse. A woman who goes on a search through houses of God after beating cancer. A man who traveled to Thailand to experience the village and find the religion of his mother and continued the search for himself in a sea kayak paddled to Alaska. I have been moved by enough of them to know the examples seem endless.

It can be argued that some of this exposure can come from books, other media, or even oral tradition, but I believe because the sensory-stimulation isn't as rich, the benefit isn't a profound. I also don't wish hardship or tragedy on anyone. Still, getting out and tasting more of life and the world with ears and eyes open and mouth shut seems to provide the best return-on-investment for a writer's writing.

Duotrope

2011-01-17T10:16:00.003-05:00

There is a website which is incredibly useful to writers of poetry and short fiction called Duotrope. Many know about the site already, but I continue to be surprised when people I know to be excellent writers do not know about it.

It happened to me again this weekend. In an effort to get the word out and with the hope that some of the great fiction and verse out there might get to readers sooner rather than later, I thought I'd post the link. Here it is:

www.duotrope.com

Not only does the site allow you to search for places to submit your prose and poetry, it allows you to order the results and to track your submissions (this last, only if you create a login, which is not necessary for searches). The site will also let you know if a market is temporarily closed.

Duotrope provides stats on how quickly a market tends to respond, what the acceptance rate is, and more.

To close, I would like to once again encourage those who are writing on a regular basis but not sending their work out to make a change this year. Submit your work. You will be rejected. Learn to live with rejection. Continue to submit.

Have fun with Duotrope. Hope it helps. Pass the link along.

Dead Birds and Deeds of Men

2011-01-03T18:20:00.001-05:00

Many people familiar with my recently completed novel "Deeds of Men" have sent me links to the story of the wave of bird deaths. It is a bit creepy considering that mysterious mass bird-kills feature prominently in the book as harbingers of evil.

The cause of the real tragedy could possibly turn out to be every bit as frightening as the ancient evil portrayed in my novel; some man-made environmental nightmare or perhaps disease traveling and spreading as quickly as birds do.

In the book, those investigating would be well-advised to check the pineal glands within the feathered victims. In real life, I'm afraid we'll have to look to our own behavior and impact.

Find a mentor

2010-12-05T09:51:00.003-05:00

There are four corner posts in improving your writing. First, you must read. This is patently obvious and yet there are many who are attempting to write books and they themselves have not read a book, cover to cover, in the past year.

Second, you must write. You must get words on paper, revise, rework, rewrite, repeat. If you cannot see the benefit in this, find some other way of spending your time.

Third, you should workshop. Feedback from peers who took the time to mark up your work and provide suggestions and their impressions is priceless. If you are defensive while being workshopped, no matter how justified you think you are in being pissed off, you are failing at being workshopped. Being defensive (or worse yet, complaining to others about it) while being workshopped is tantamount to being angry at the buffet table in a Chinese restaurant. Take what you want, leave what you don't. You only look stupid becoming indignant when you realize they are offering the hot-and-sour soup. Shut up, put on your big kid undies, move on.

Finally, find a mentor. The real strength of many of the MFA writing programs across the country lies in the assignation of mentors. During my pursuit of an MFA, I was exceedingly fortunate to have been mentored by some of the finest, most professional, most generous people. Having my work reviewed and receiving detailed feedback from Richard Hoffman, Suzanne Strempek Shea, James Patrick Kelly, and Michael Kimball did more for my work than years of collecting experiences, reading craft books, writing nearly daily for years, or even having three novels published by a major house. The order also worked in my favor. Richard was first and was my wake up call. First, he enabled me to see how perhaps I should get off my literary high-horse, realize that I did not even realize how much about writing I did not know, and then he gently and brilliantly laid the groundwork for the growth to come. Next came Michael whose encouraging but grounded style and profound understanding of the craft of writing a novel was just what I needed. In those few months under Mike's tutelage, I learned more about writing a novel than I had in all the previous years combined, despite having been a published novelist. Suzanne then shepherded me through a process of thinking and writing about writing and the industry and the meta-language within the literary world, allowing me to process the world in which I love to live. Her thoughtfulness, read as compassion and intellectual depth, provided a space for me to stretch as a thinker and a writer. Finally, Jim Kelly, the doctor of plot, the king of "what if," the sultan of "so what." His advice was brilliant and incisive. Almost every statement Jim makes about your manuscript makes you pause and say, "Hmph, oh yeah. He's right." Jim challenges you, reinforces the strengths in the battlements you create, but diplomatically punches huge holes in the shoddy work allowing you to do it right next time.

Assuming you are serious about your writing, and you already read, write, and share that writing with knowledgeable friends, that leaves only the fourth pillar- mentoring. You can either enroll in an MFA program or find someone else you trust. My mentors did more good for my writing- pound for pound, minute for minute- than anyone who has never been mentored can comprehend. Find a mentor.

Crowded times...

2010-11-23T07:48:00.004-05:00

There is a continuous stream of bad news about the New York publishing industry and Hollywood. Furthermore, it seems everyone has decided he or she can be an author or poet or screenwriter at the exact moment when the venues for getting work/art out to the public are apparently crumbling.

Much as it seems every hipster locavore has decided he or she could be a farmer with a vegetable stand with an idyllic spread behind, it also appears that every graduate of a keystroking class has decided he or she can be the next Michael Chabon or Augusten Burroughs or Alice Walker.

One of the biggest problems is that many of the neophytes are not used to paying their dues. They truly believe there are shortcuts to getting published. They either decide they do not need an agent, or they commit one of the many silly mistakes that publishing noobs make, such as printing their manuscript on pink scented paper, or short-circuiting the submissions process at an agency, or contracting with a service to blanket New York in their query letter spam (this latter really pissed away any chance of getting published).

Of course, all of these strategies are doomed to failure, achieve little more than a black memory-mark next to the author's name, and worst of all, gum up the works for the people who are serious about writing and are doing things the right way.

Writers should be sober and professional about their craft AND their business.

There are some exciting new markets out there, such as The New Guard Literary Review, founded and guided by poet and author Shanna Miller McNair. http://www.newguardreview.com/

New markets are appearing all the time and there are ways to get our words in front of readers and viewers, but pushing and shoving at the front of the queue won't get anyone in more quickly and in fact just slows the entire process down, not to mention puts all of the creative hardworking stakeholders in a foul mood.

The more the merrier when it comes to creating, but don't be the ugly-American as you come stomping into the land of letters. Learn the culture, the lay of the land, the business etiquette, the personalities and you will find more success, respect, growth, and happiness.

Write what you know? Where's the growth in that?

2010-10-30T19:40:00.003-04:00

It is an interesting exercise to write from an unfamiliar point of view. So often, we're told and taught to write what we know. Well, if we were only write that with which we are intimately familiar, I doubt many of us would have more than a couple books in us, no matter how interesting we believe our lives to be.

Currently, I'm writing a novel and the primary POV belongs to a blind woman in her 70s. I, for those who do not know, am not a blind woman in my 70s. It presents a never-ending series of challenges and questions. Virtually every paragraph forces me to pause and wonder about everything from sleepwear to suicide, from a POV no less foreign to me than that of some far-out sentient alien creature.

The process of writing from an unfamiliar POV, by its very nature, forces the writer to be thoughtful. Considerate in an older sense of the word. It is a different type of effort, just as when other artists stretch themselves. A comedian takes on a serious dramatic role or a portraitist goes completely abstract or a country singer jumps into rock 'n' roll.

While we're not always successful, the fear of taking a risk is hardly reason enough to stick to writing what we know, and the cliche, if followed, denies us a potential growth experience.

Jenny Bent's blog and hitting send

2010-10-07T16:35:00.003-04:00

Literary agent Jenny Bent's blog is on my list of regular reading. We've never met, although we've exchanged a couple emails, which puts me on a list with about 50,000 other people. She is an agent, after all, and the tide of incoming email is rivaled only by the inboxes of new lottery winners.

Jenny's posts are upbeat. Sometimes they include very practical advice, other times they simply handout some much needed encouragement to writers, but they always provide insight into an agent who isn't spending her public time being snarky. (Although, I'll admit that Query Shark, the snarky/tough-love blog of agent Janet Reid is also a regular read of mine. I read it not only to learn but probably for the same reason people enjoy watching the tonally-challenged sing on the first few episodes of American Idol each season)

The reason I bring up Jenny Bent's blog today, however, is because she is patting those writers on the back who find the courage to send their work out, risking rejection. She calls them brave. I call them functioning.

For decades now, I've found myself sometimes amused, sometimes confused, and sometimes exasperated with those writers who write but do not set their work free. They do not let the work go find its way in the world.

There are countless reasons for this, most of them valid, but I simply can't function that way. There's a line that is weirdly out of place in the movie "Speed" when Dennis Hopper almost slides back into his Apocalypse Now photog character. Amid such classically simple lines like, "Stay on or get off?" or "Yeah, well I'm taller!" comes Hopper's strangely philosophical line that by preventing an explosion, "...you are trying to prevent the bomb from becoming."

Period. As in "to be." For me, to me, the writing hasn't "become" until the risk is taken. Just as a bird would still technically be a bird if it were never kicked from the nest, I believe it is not fully realized until it attempts to fly. Until it does, it is simply unhazarded potential, kept safely under wraps.

So too is it with writing. Your words, your creation, must be risked to be fully realized. Even a prisoner writing on her or his wall, has maximized the chances of the ideas being read and has risked rejection. Yet, millions of would be writers write and risk nothing, and this is fine (supposedly, everyone needs a hobby) except it is inescapable that there are brilliant literary works mouldering in desk drawers, never to be seen.

Set your work free. If you're waiting for it to be perfect, I have some bad news for you. Send it out. Get rejected. It only stings temporarily. The really great work is begging you to do it, to not be overly protective, asking in a Pink-Floydian singsong "Mother, did it have to be so high?"

Hit send. Put a stamp on it. Send it out.

Here is a link to Jenny Bent's blog:
http://jennybent.blogspot.com/

Where is your favorite place to create?

2010-09-05T15:01:00.005-04:00

While there are places we regularly create- write, paint, sculpt, whatever it is you do- I wonder what favorite places people have for creating. Is it a cottage on a lake? Do you need Internet or does it hamper your process? Fresh air? A view? Music? A hustle-and-bustle community around you?

Is there a favorite city? Maybe it's New Orleans. Maybe it's Montreal. Maybe it's Manhattan. Or a region like the Monterey Peninsula, one of my favorites in the USA.

I think a small apartment in Prague would be my ideal place to write, but I also once let a room in Rueil-Malmaison just outside of Paris where I did quite a bit of writing. I loved it there. It was small, with large windows which opened wide. On the corner there was a great patisserie and in the cafe below they served an amazing duck dish I ordered several times. The streets were lined with wrought-iron fences atop stone walls and it seemed each fence was draped in the branches of cherry trees. It was a great place to get words down.

In the Swissôtel Beijing, where I spent nearly a month, I found it difficult to write. I'm not sure why. I think there was just too much "new" outside the hotel that while I was in my room, I just wanted to be out, experiencing instead of creating.

That's not to say we need to be in boring places to create, and sure, creative people can create anywhere if they have to. The question, however, remains are there places that seem to help a writer or artist clear mental space enough to aid the creative process? Are these places providing something from which we draw that other places do not?

Recurring Themes

2010-08-30T11:22:00.003-04:00

It seems it is indeed difficult to escape the reuse of themes in writing. I'm not writing that as the lead-in to my slamming some insanely successful novelist or screenwriter who seemingly continues to recycle the same ideas. I mean someone who's accomplishments in writing are infinitely more modest. I am writing about my own writing.

While the stories can be completely different in terms of characterization, plot, person and point-of-view, setting, ad infinitem, I am finding a specific theme has developed, somewhat covertly, in my new screenplay. While writing from the subconscious is not a new discovery, and it is almost surely necessary, what is interesting to me is the idea that my subconscious still wants to play with that theme. You would think one novel would be enough. I mean, how far will my subconscious take this theme? First a novel, now the new screenplay, what's next? A play? A collection of poetry? An essay or two? Greeting cards? A new blog post?

I hope to protect my new novel from my subconscious. This recurring theme has no business weaseling its way into "Marion" no matter how well it seems to have served "Deeds of Men."

But that begs the question... Can your conscious self veto the input of your subconscious during the creative process without killing the process itself? Without the subconscious, does your cooking go from pheasant under glass to Kraft dinner? Assuming you weren't already maxing out your potential by ripping open the little blue boxes of Kraft dinner and adding the powdered cheese?

Do writers really have to exhaust a theme and their own subconscious before they can move on? What if there are a finite number of themes a writer's subconscious will provide, and by too quickly discarding one, a writer has moved too soon toward exhausting the supply of themes in her or his head? What if some of us only get one?

Okay...enough...I'm going to go make some Kraft dinner now.

Dal-ifornia

2010-08-20T10:32:00.002-04:00

A former student of mine and now a 4th-yr student at Dalhousie University, Sarah Bouchard, was a co-director on a video that is going viral.

You can watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHp2D8maSOc

And you can also read a story about how the video was created here:
http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Living/Fort-Kent-woman-co-directs-Dalhousie-viral-video,151758

It's well done and worth checking out!

How do we choose?

2010-08-19T11:24:00.002-04:00

I am working on a screenplay for the pilot for a one-hour television drama. I leave for the Norman Mailer Writers Center on September 7th and it needs to be done by then.

I also have a new idea for a novel, with a working title "Marion," it is in that fun stage when it is all possibility and potential and no blood, sweat, and tears yet. Just a few pages in...

I have an idea for a short story gnawing at me. It's satire and the challenge of doing satire well is certainly appealing and frightening.

My plate is full, but when you're waiting to hear on the novel you recently sent out, it is better to keep busy. Still, as writers, how do we choose where to apply the precious time we have for writing? Thoughts, anyone?

Waiting to hear on Deeds of Men

2010-08-15T16:29:00.003-04:00

I finished my latest novel, Deeds of Men, a couple of months ago. It's making the rounds in New York, looking for a home. I have to admit, this is the toughest part for me. The writing, while often painful, is also the part I love most. The creating. Once a novel finds a home, that's not so bad either. Finding my books in bookstores is fun, but still I prefer the writing.

However, the worst part is now. The manuscript has a beginning, middle, and end that I like. I am attached to my characters, I've come to know them. The places they've been, the challenges they've faced and overcome (or not).

Still, knowing that a stack of my ideas is floating around in NYC, looking for a home...that's the nail-biting time. Not because I'm hoping to make millions (which of course wouldn't be a disaster, either) but because I'd really like people to read the story, experience those characters, and then let me know what they think. Exchange some ideas about the ideas in the novel.

But I need an agent and an editor and a ton of other folks to help me get the book out to readers...and so here I sit and wait.

Deeds of Men

2009-05-19T21:37:00.002-04:00

I'm currently working on my latest novel, working title is Deeds of Men. It's a dark supernatural thriller involving newspaper reporter Jack Killarney and university professor Vivian Donnehil chasing down a pattern of evil, all the while facing questions about the nature of myth, faith, insanity, love, and evil.

It's a thinking-thriller taking the reader on a ride with plenty of action, tension, and suspense while at the same time exploring the pyschological, theological, and philosophical bases of that which we all call evil.

Deeds of Men is coming along well and has been great fun to write thus far. At this point, Jack is in the city of Juba, following the latest lead...

~KS

memes

2008-05-02T23:25:00.003-04:00

You know, there are so many things that the internet takes over and seems to cheapen.

One of the coolest concepts, one of the best venues for a little mental gymnastics, was the idea of memes.

Way over-simplifying this but memes were to cultural ideas what genes are to biology. Yuck, I hate how that came out, but it's specifically because of how tough the topics of memes or memetics could be that made them fun. It was a thought-forcer.

Whether it was technology or religion or folk songs or whatever else was being passed down, and if those ideas made the recipient more fit, then the idea survived...maybe.

But in recent internet lingo, "meme" is being used as a fancy word for spam.

Here's an internet meme:

1) What's your fav color?
2) What's the weirdest place you've ever read a book?
3) Pass this on to three friends.

If that were in an email, we'd groan. And I'd likely fill it out, because I find those things fun too. I don't mind that kind of spam to be honest, it helps people share and communicate. It gets me to tell people weird stuff about me that I'd never get a chance to, and I learn weird things about others. And let's face it, it's only the weird stuff that makes us worth knowing.

But it's too bad someone started calling them memes. I mean they may very well end up being memes, but only if they get transmitted generation to generation over the next century at least.

So I know this rant was out of left field, but I hope a few of the people who keep using the word "meme" take the time now to look it up and see how cool a word it was before its internet application.

Here's Daniel Dennett on memes. Check it out...