Write Well Me

Say Good-bye to Summer--and Drinking from Garden Hoses

The Washington Post did a series on the icons of summer.  The icon for August 11 was garden hoses, "Fountain of Fun or Snake in the Grass?".  (If you want to read the full article, you need to sign up for a free subscription.)  I wouldn't normally read about garden hoses, but the picture caught my eye.  And then this first paragraph:

It was the original flavored water, although you're not likely to see it bottled and sold.  "Eau de Garden Hose" lacks a certain marketing allure.

That's enough to hook you right there.  The article went on to vividly describe the delight in drinking from and spraying your sister with the hose.  More than halfway through the article, author Steve Hendrix discussed possible health hazards of drinking from a hose (wouldn't have occurred to me personally, but then I tend to be laissez faire about those things).  From a journalism point of view, though, I was surprised that it took Hendrix that long to get to the hazard (FEAR!) part of the article.  Aren't journalists supposed to put the most important information in the first three paragraphs?  With a title like "Fountain of Fun or Snake in the Grass?" I would assume the snake piece would come up earlier.

The point was that I liked the writing and the imagery, and I was surprised at the structure of the article.  Two disparate things I got from the article.

Good-bye, summer.  We'll miss you.  And the hose.

Author's Note:  I realize that August 31 is no one's official end of summer date.  For some, it's the day school starts.  But with schools starting earlier and earlier in August (some day, some school district is going to start up in July.  Just watch), it seems ludicrous to say that summer ends August 25 and fall starts August 26.  For others, it's the day after Labor Day.  For still others, it's the official start of autumn on September 22.  Whatever.  I'm going with August 31 for the purposes of this post.

What Dawn Is Reading Today - 8/30/08

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading.  :-)

House & Home by Kathleen McCleary is the first advanced reading copy from BEA I've started reading.  This is McCleary's first book, and I'm interested for so many reasons:  1) how will the writing be, and 2) it's not just the famous, already-successful authors who get published. 

I'm only on page two, and I've already been stopped cold.  I don't know if I'll be able to read any further.

Ellen instantly mistrusted Jordan, quickly assessing her straight blond hair, cut in the usual suburban-mom bob, her small size (she stood barely five foot three, Ellen guessed), and her persistently upbeat tone of voice... Jordan had a heart-shaped face, with a sharp, almost elfin chin, china blue eyes, and a spattering of pale freckles across her nose.  She had probably been a cheerleader, Ellen thought, and a sorority sister.  Ellen, as a petite person herself, felt strongly that small people should avoid perkiness at all costs.

Harumph.  I'm 5' 1" and very perky.  I take offense.

(Author's Note:  Despite her obvious prejudice against short, perky people, McCleary has a great website.)

Speech Writing Is Good Writing

Last night Bill Clinton spoke at the Democratic National Convention.  Regardless of political orientation, one has to admire the writing and the time that goes into creating such a speech.

Now, at the time of Bill's speech, I was teaching a teleclass on the 5 Tips to Start Writing That Book Today.  Afterwards, knowing the power and breadth of the Internet, I was fully prepared to find video of the speech.  (If you were following me on Twitter, then you know I was pretty annoyed that I couldn't find it immediately.  If you know me at all, then you also know that I am not the most patient of people, especially when it comes to inefficiency.)

Eventually, I found it here, at the Huffington Post, the Internet newspaper.  A few notes:

• Under the first video is this caption:  "Bill Clinton was greeted by an extended round of applause as he walked on stage to deliver his speech that lasted nearly three minutes."  His speech was only three minutes?  Those of us who have been alive in the last sixteen years know that Bill never spoke for under ten minutes.  :)  It was the round of applause that lasted three minutes.  It was such a good example of a misplaced modifier that I immediately added it as an example in the Writing Essentials Program (see why writing well is important?).
• At about fifteen and half minutes into the speech came this sentence:  "...to be fair to all the Americans who aren't as hard-core Democrats as we, it's a philosophy the American people never had a chance to see in action fully..." Hard-core Democrats as we.  Yay!!!!!  A speech writer who knows his stuff, and a man who isn't afraid to say it correctly.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!
• The speech did what it was supposed to do:  cover the objections against Obama and get everyone riled up against the Republicans.  There were times that the speech felt it was following an agenda.  Hit bullet point #1, then bullet point #2, and so on.  I didn't think there was a lot of life in the first third.
• For me, the speech turned around at this point:  "He will choose diplomacy first and military force as a last resort. But in a world troubled by terror; by trafficking in weapons, drugs and people; by human rights abuses; by other threats to our security, our interests, and our values, when he cannot convert adversaries into partners, he will stand up to them."  I just liked the parallel structure ("first" paired with "last"), interesting choice of words ("convert adversaries into partners"), and some alliteration ("troubled by terror").

I've been disappointed, from a writer's perspective, that our leaders' language has been dumbed down.  I miss the days when speeches were intelligent, vocabulary words from a higher-than-eighth-grade-level were used, and Robert Frost and Maya Angelou were our inaugural poets.

Freedom To Write - Guest Post Over at Confident Writing

The lovely Joanna over at Confident Writing has been doing a series on the freedom to write.  Guess who was featured today?  Yep, the not-quite-as-lovely and dorky me!  :)  (Freedom to write also means freedom to put all of one's dorkiness out on display for all to see.)

Check it out and weigh in on what you need to be free to write.

Two Iconic Novels?

I was reading the August issue of The Writer, and "Conflict:  What Your Readers Want and Your Fiction Needs," of course, caught my eye.  William Kowalski cites examples of creating conflict from The Great Gatsby and Gone With the Wind.  Almost half the article is dedicated to these two novels. 

Sometime later that day, I pick up Beginnings, Middles, & Ends, which I've been reading off and on for a couple of months.  The very first thing I read (from where I had left off probably weeks and weeks ago), is on planning for the climax (as part of the Middle).  Guess which two novels the author cites?  Yep.  The Great Gatsby and Gone With the Wind.

I'm comfy in bed, in my pajamas, and I actually get out from under the covers, go downstairs to my office, and look up the article in The Writer.  Maybe they were written by the same person?  Nope.  Entirely two different people.  (Nancy Kress is the author of Beginnings, Middles, & Ends.)

I never thought about these two novels - together - as being iconic works of writing.  Sure, we all had to read The Great Gatsby, and I loved Gone With the Wind.  I just didn't expect to see them thrown together twice (in the same day in two different sources) as the end-all-be-all example for writing.

You writers out there:  what do you think about Kowalski's and Kress's use of these two novels?

Sex and Money, Part II

I haven't done much with imagining Money as a hot, amazing lover.  However, soon after I read Morgana's post, my new friend Meredith sent me this link to her movie, The Rich Life.  It's a whole two minutes long.  (I'll tell on myself here:  it took me a couple of days to find two minutes to watch it.  But when I did, I was very grateful.)

It's amazing with uplifting, soul-stirring music and beautiful images.  The words aren't bad either.  :)  Check it out and sign up for Meredith's Smart Marketing E-zine. 

So, Money as a hot, amazing lover.  A rich life in which we create our own measuring stick for what rich is.

May we all create our own rich lives.

What Dawn Has Been Reading - 8/23/08

I haven't read much "fun" books lately as I've been vetting books for my Writing Your Voice Alive class.  The idea of WYVA (I now even pronounce that way:  why-vuh) is to help people discover and strengthen their writing voice.  One of the ways we do that is to look at other people's writing and their voice and dissect how they do it.

So, I've had to figure out what would be the best books.  Short stories were a must as 1. I didn't want to assign a novel (horrors from senior English) and 2. I wanted people to get a sense of the author's voice across several different stories.

Here's what I was reading and what didn't make the cut:

• The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie.  It's not that I didn't like it (and it was fun rereading Agatha Christie), but there wasn't enough variation in the stories.  It was really like reading a novel.  However, there was one piece that stuck out particularly:  "It happened a long time ago--five years to be exact--but it's sort of haunted me ever since.  The smiling, bright top part of it--and the hidden gruesomeness underneath."  How true is that for so many things?  The smiling bright top hides the gruesomeness.
• The Best of O. Henry: The Gift of the Magi and Twelve Other Stories.  Through the years, I'm sure I've read dozens of O. Henry stories, and, of course, "The Gift of the Magi" is familiar to most people who went through high school English.  But ack!  More depressing stories I've never read.  I forced myself to read four, and I gave up.  English literature be damned.  I need happy!

Here's what did make the cut:

• How I Got This Way by Patrick McManus.  Talk about voice. It doesn't get much stronger than this.  I'm going to look forward to teaching with this book. On a snarky side note, I hate the cover.  It's a picture of the author with a gorilla.  Talk about not judging a book by its cover.  I'm proud of myself that I was able to get past the gorilla.
• Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson.  While there's some depressing stuff in this book, it's not nearly as bad as O. Henry.  There's a reason for it in Atkinson's stories.  AND they're not all depressing.  I also liked the sci-fi aspect of some of the stories (but not so way out there to turn off those who don't touch sci-fi).

Once I had these figured out, I was able to read fun books.  First on the list was a true summer read.  (With a title like A Summer Affair, what else could it be?)  It was so good (and so nice to take a break from the writing program designer gig) that I finished it in two days.   My only complaint was that the point of view wasn't consistent.  Most of the time, the point of view was from the main character, Claire.  Every so often, though, we'd get little vignettes of other people's point of view, probably so that they could tell us things Claire couldn't.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't seamless either.

Then onto Lady Jane by Norma Lee Clark. (It's out of print, so no Amazon link.)  I read this over and over when I was an adolescent, and so there was a certain comfort in reading it again.  It's your standard romance, which I don't usually go for, but I really liked this one.  Interestingly, and something I didn't know when I read it more than twenty years ago, is that the language is very Austen-like.  Hmmm.  Maybe that's my saving grace.  Yeah.  I'm reading it because it's like Jane Austen.  We'll go with that reason.

I finished Lady Jane earlier this evening, so now I have to figure out my next book.  I need something light, entertaining, and mind-escaping.  I'll let you know what I come up with.

On Writing

"The maker of a sentence launches into the infinite and builds a road into chaos and old night, and is followed by those who hear him with something of wild, creative delight." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Thanks again to Laurell K. Hamilton for always providing inspiration.)

This and That

No rhyme or reason to the following links.  Just cool stuff that has come my way and that I wanted to share with you. 

• The Secret to Captivating Content:  More Cowbell!  I hadn't seen the original SNL skit, but I've watched this numerous times since I saw Brian's post.  I guffaw each time I see it.  I love the idea of looking for that small, almost innocuous thing and making that the focal point.  It's a great writing point.  (Even if you don't care about writing, watch the video. )
• On Lego-powered Time Tracking.  I'm always happy to look at new ways to manage my time.  I don't know that I would go the Lego route, but if you're spatially or kinesthetically minded, this might be the method for you.
• Thanks to Word Lily - Guess the 100 Most Common English Words.  Blah.  I only got 45.  When I saw some of the words I missed, I was pretty disgusted.  Take five minutes, do the quiz, and report back how you did.
• Test Case:  My So-called Vacation.  I liked Bing's idea that for every minute he has to work on vacation, he needs one hour of vacation time to recover that lost minute.  I wonder how I can apply that to my own life.  I'm not sure, but I do know I need down time that doesn't include me being in front of a computer or doing chores around the house.  (How many parents out there are ready for school to start?  I'm struggling with having no structure - which means boundaries in sand.)
• Passive-aggressive Notes.  You need this on your blogroll, if only to laugh and shake your head at the notes other people will leave their fellow human beings.

Have fun!

Where Do We Fit In?

We recently watched Charlie Bartlett.  It was unusually done - with some different camera angles, quirky characters, and unexpected turns.  (I like it when I can't anticipate a movie's every move.)

It has a great message, basically that each of us is responsible for our own experience.

The climax really hit home for me.  (I'm not really giving much away, although this IS the climax.  So if you want to see it, and you think this might ruin it for you, stop reading. :)  During this scene, Charlie Bartlett realizes his dream of becoming the popular, well-regarded teen in high school.  As he starts the speech he's rehearsed in front of the mirror many times, he stops.  And what comes out is different from what he's rehearsed.

My name is Charlie Bartlett.  There's one thing I want you guys to walk away with tonight... ...Uh, it's that you guys don't need me.  I really mean it.  You think I'm any less screwed up than you are?  I get up every morning, and I look in the mirror, and I try and figure out just where I fit in.  And I draw a complete blank. 

You guys are looking to me to tell you what to do?  You need to stop listening to me.  Stop listening to the people telling you who you should be.  And stop listening to the people that are telling you you're not good enough to do the things that you want to do.  You guys have all the answers.

That just really struck me.  Honestly, there are days I wake up, and I don't know where I fit.  Other days, I feel I'm right where I want/need to be.

Is it just me?  Does anyone else question where he/she fits in?

The other message I liked was the idea that we have all the answers.  Stacy talks about this in her "that's crap" post about outsiders telling VAs how to run their businesses.  How many customers and clients tell us how we should be running our businesses?   How many friends and family members tell us how to run our lives?

We have the answers.  We just have to trust.

Mindfulness

Today is my writing day, and I'm feeling some trepidation over writing.  With all the traveling I've been doing, and the fact that it's summer, I haven't been able to find a writing schedule that sticks.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to get some writing days in before vacation.  Then I wouldn't feel like a schlub, and I'd be that much closer to finishing the book.  With a deep breath, I wrote.  My chief concern was staving off the wonky, and I worked toward not letting the wonky in.  One of the things I did was have Chris draw out a card from the gorgeous Grace cards by Cheryl Richardson.  On the front of the card he chose, it said "Mindfulness."  On the back, it said, "Manage your mind.  When we direct our thoughts and words toward the outcome we most desire, we ignite grace."  Seemed like a good card; I'm always up for being mindful.

Six hours later, I realized that all that I had written that day was gone.  The document was two weeks old, and didn't show an update from earlier that day.  It was gone.

To this day, I have no idea what happened.  It's not as if hitting save isn't an everyday thing I do.  No clue.

The next day, I decide I'm going to try again.  My "j" key on my keyboard wouldn't work.  No joke.  Granted, it had been loose off an on for a couple of weeks, but I was always able to press it back in.  That day, no matter what I did, it wouldn't press down.  I decided the Universe didn't want me writing, so I listened.  (Note:  Chris came home and fixed the "j" in under 30 seconds.)

It's been a couple of weeks, and I'm getting ready to write.  I decide to start out by refreshing my Grace card.  "Mindfulness" has been displayed long enough, and I'm thinking it's time for a new one.  I shuffle the deck, fan them out, and then pick the edge of the card that calls to me.  I pull out the card, and guess which one it is?

Mindfulness.

I can create the outcome I want.  I can create the experience I want.  Writing today will be easy.  I'll also be gentle with myself and ever mindful.

Can Someone Explain the Problem To Me?

I was catching up on my blog reading, and of course Laurell K. Hamilton's blog is a must-read for me.  She's been enjoying movies this summer (just like the Goldbugs), and we've seen most of the same movies Hamilton and her family has seen.

She talked about Dark Knight, her latest in the summer viewing series, and she ranked them.  Hancock (a Goldbugs favorite) was ranked pretty high, but she mentions that there was flaw in it.  Here's what she said:

Oh, and the fact that I put Hancock ahead of both The Hulk and Dark Knight . . . Hancock was a flawed movie, I won’t argue that, but the story line was ambitious, and after days of thinking about it, I can’t figure out how to fix the big twist in the movie, without giving it all away. If I can’t figure out to do it better, I try not to bitch. Also, Will Smith can carry a movie on his back, up a hill in a snow storm; and make you applaud the whole way.

It sounds like she thinks there's a problem with the plot twist.  (I'm not going to talk about the twist here, but be warned that spoilers might show up in the comments.)  I don't see the flaw.  I don't see what needs to be fixed.  I'm not arguing; there very well might be a problem.  I just want someone to explain what it is.

Please weigh in! 

Final Road Words and Images from Vacation

When you have sixteen hours in the car, you have plenty of time to look around you. 

Along with noting songs that I wanted to add to iTunes when I got home (and I'm not going to list them here because every last one of you will make fun of me for my 80s music needs), I had fun with even more license plates.

TADAAA2 - I like the idea of "tadaaaaa," but why 2?  I guess it could be the second vehicle for a family who really likes "tadaaaa" or a company with that name. 

HLF TRK2 - Why just half of a truck?  From what I can remember, it wasn't a particularly small or large truck.  And again, there's that 2.

FANSTA - Not sure what this was supposed to signify, but it led me down the road to GANGSTA (I don't think we'll be seeing that on a license plate) and then HAMSTA.  I dare someone to get a vanity license plate with "HAMSTA" on it. 

JOURNAL - lucky duck, whoever owns this one.  Granted, maybe it's someone who works for the Journal newspaper, although I like the idea of someone who's just really passionate about journaling.

And finally, this picture.  I'd never actually seen an inmate transport before.  It immediately brought to mind Fugitive and Conair.  Luckily, there wasn't a train, plane, or one-armed man in sight.

My Ideal Writing Weekend

Joanna over at Confident Writing is sponsoring a contest on ideal writing weekends to get ideas for the upcoming Writing Workshops in Italy in 2009.  While it would be cool to win (you, too, can enter!) an Amazon gift card, I think the contest itself is cool.

My ideal writing weekend involves my cabin in the mountains.  There's something about the vista.    Something very basic and almost primal that inspires me.  When I was visiting Shenandoah last year during a creative weekend, I met a guy at one particularly amazing hiking spot.  He said,  "M' grandaddy always said to stay close to the mountains.  They wrap you in their arms." 

In the mountains, I feel at one with nature, and maybe even myself, as silly as that might sound.  Of course, there's the whole idea that one is away from distractions:  work, kids, laundry, e-mail, maybe even phones in general.  All that exists is the writing.  And I'm wrapped in the mountains' arms as I write.

Then, there's the getting out in nature.  Hiking, walking, being out in it.  Freeing one's mind and making it easier to get to that "at one with one's self" place.

All I need are mountains, shelter, and something to write with.

If you would like to play, visit Confident Writing for the contest guidelines.  Have fun!