Stephen King On Writing / A short course and a clear example!

Stephen King is the master craftsman of writing. He tells us a lot about himself in his book, "Stephen King On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft".

Early in the book he says:

"You must not come lightly to the blank page".  

The irony of this quote is that this book was completed after his his very serious accident. He was hit head on while walking along along the gravel shoulder of Maine State Road Route 5. It was his habit to walk along this same road in the country near his house. It was June 19, 1999 at about 4:30 PM when a van coming towards him hit him.  H e flipped and flew through the air landing 14 feet from the road.  

When this terrible accident happened this book was about half way through the first draft. He offers a lot of detail on the event and his recovery. You really see that he did not indeed re-approach his writing lightly.

The book covered events from his life growing up, school experiences, his marriage, early efforts at writing and his first big success, the book Carrie. 

He discusses the craft of writing and offers examples that are a real help. The whole book, life history and all, were examples of writing style and you learn just from reading it.  Another statement of his I like is:

If you want to be a writer you have to do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.

The idea of why you have to read a lot really didn't sink in for me until I read this book. The reality that you have to read before you learn to write is something that takes time to sink in. This book helped.  

The value of reading also changed for me because of Stephen King. I have gotten over feeling I had to be reading only classic literature and have come to value good stories. I enjoy his books but some do scare me. You will have to see which ones scare you but two I could mention for me were "Christine" and "Revival".

   

Falstaff Give Me Life, by Harold Bloom / Falstaff is a happy fellow it seem! →

I have made some comments below about Professor Bloom and his favorite Shakespearean character, Falstaff.

Harold Bloom is a Shakespeare Scholar and Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale. He was a former Harvard Professor.  He knows the Shakespeare plays like no one alive today.

He has said of Shakespeare that these particular plays are his favorites: Henry IV and parts 1 and 2 of Henry V. Bloom makes this choice because of his appreciation and love of the character Falstaff who has interesting roles in these plays. Bloom thinks of himself as a Falstaff character.

Falstaff is a happy guy (Tragic and Comic). He mocks faith, can be lewd, funny and reckless. When thinking of him Bloom offers these comments for traits: 'age, care, wisdom, & reflection!"

He imagines Falstaff and Socrates meeting in a pub and trading wit. This would be the ideal play script and it has been a wish of his for many years. The idea of one character from one play and then another from another and then someone way back in history meeting and talking would take a deep understanding of what the characteristics and personalities of those involved would be. For Bloom this is no problem and he seems to know the characters extremely well 

I hope at 86 I can care enough about some of my reading to imagine my own plots. What focus to have carried the image of character you read about for years. It testifies of both the strength of the author and of the student. 

Quotes about Falstaff

“Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse.” 
― William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 1

 “I’ll be no longer guilty of this sin; this sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horseback-breaker, this huge hill of flesh,—” 
― William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 1

“How now, my sweet creature of bombast! How long is't ago, Jack, since thou saw'st thien own knee?” 
― William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 1

The Stranger In The Woods, by Michael Finkel & Walden By Henry David Thoreau

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit

By Michael Finkel

People spend their lives in cities or in the country virtually all have a roof over their head. Christopher Knight chose something different. At age 20 he left his home in Massachusetts and drove to Maine. He went into the forest and did not have any human contact for almost 30 years. He had taught himself some survival techniques but mostly learned through the processes he lived through.  He lived mainly in a tent where of course the winters were very cold and harsh.

He had no food and lived off the land. Sometimes he broke into area houses for food, clothing, reading material and whatever he could find. He said he only took what he needed but it was a frighting experience for the communities and it finally lead to his capture.  

He was interviewed and the material for this book came from those notes. His life is detailed in this book as are some of the reasons he chose to leave.  Problems in returning were also discussed. 

Henry David Thoreau's book, Walden; Or Life in the Woods

Thoreau's experience in the woods was very different than Christopher Knights. As you read in his book "Walden" you find the experiences almost surreal. They were harsh but nature seemed to accommodate him. The experience and his efffort was what seemed to be a form of religion. He likely learned a lot as he went through the experience but before ever going into the woods he was a naturalist, essayist, and early environmentalist.

He said of this time in his life to the world that he:

wished to "live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and … learn what it had to teach."

He actually wound up building a cabin on the shores of Walden Pond — on land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson — outside Concord, Massachusetts. He said of that time that he observed nature, farmed, built fences, surveyed, and wrote in his journal.

These two books both spoke of confronting nature but they couldn't be more different. 

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry / comparing to Ulysses

Harold Fry is a retired sales rep, and a worn down husband. Up to the time he retires he was a "passive observer of his own life", but that changes as we walk with him and ponder over his life.  

His passive response to his past has a lot to do with his wife, his son, and events at work over a long career. He receives a letter and learns that his friend from work twenty years ago, Queenie Hennessy, has cancer.  It has been years since he had any contact, but he decides to go see her. It requires him to walk 627 miles and takes 87 days. (Not sure why he felt he had to walk but the book wouldn't be the book if he had just jumped in the car)

The journey and the experiences frees him from his past but it also seems to offer some freedom to the reader. His wife worries a lot but then she winds up being freed from her past. We experience the walk ourselves and as a lifetime of problems seem to slip away for Harold maybe some of our own problems start to seem a little different? 

Three questions occur to me about Harold's Pilgrimage. Does making this trip make sense?  
Could things really change because of the trip? Do the things that happened make sense?  

A question of interest would be to learn "Why" Rachel Joyce wrote this book about Harold Fry? What did she want to do? Did she want the reader to leave wondering about Queenie Hennessy, his work friend who wrote him the letter, enough to then buy her next book? ( I haven't done that)  She could have just wanted to write about why dull lives are not really dull if you think a lot about them. So go ahead and read the book and think about that

The book is well worth reading even if your not sure why it was written?

Use Buy Button Below to purchase this book from Amazon

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: A Novel

By Rachel Joyce

Buy on Amazon

Why I Write, by George Orwell →

George Orwell, may have changed the world with his book "1984", but what is it that brought him to the point where his writing reflected such deep political insight? Has his books changed the world?

The book, "Why I Write,” answers these questions and is useful in understanding the author’s works. Orwell gave four reasons for writing.  When he talked about the reason writing for a Political Purpose. He said that no one is free from political bias, and he defined politics as:

"Desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people's idea of the kind of society that they should strive after".........

An example of the political bias of his book, 1984, is clear right now with a group of independent movie theaters across the country showing the movie"1984" as a Presidential protest.  Orwell's thoughts about governments out of control resonate just as much today as in 1946 when the book was published.

Orwell was born in India, and he served with their Imperial Police and also in the Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. Knowing that and also his thoughts about why to write add a lot to his book’s messages and conclusions.  

                 Orwell gave four good reasons in his book: "Why I Write.”

1. Sheer egoism.  This is probably obvious, but he also suggested that writers share this with scientists, artists, politicians, lawyers, and others.

2. Aesthetic enthusiasm. This has to do with the beauty of the world.

3. Historical impulse. This is the need to let folks know the facts.

4. Political purpose. This, in part, is "the desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter people's idea of the kind of society that they should strive after.”

Another Important thought from the book is expressed in this quote:

The difficulty of literature is not writing but writing what you mean."
-Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850 - 1894.

 

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer by Natalie Goldberg

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer by Natalie Goldberg

I liked Natalie Goldberg from the first time I read her books. She had me on board when I realized that New Mexico was special to her. I love New Mexico and figure that it is indeed a "Land of Enchantment" but it takes a special person to see that, and they are usually artists.  

Natalie brings Zen and Spirituality into her approach to finding creativity. She explores their sources in some unique ways.  She looks closely at the processes of daily writing, where you write and even what you use to write.  

She sees inspiration as  coming from the effort. Not just the result but effort itself.  The book covers the basics of writing and does it well. 

Goldberg encourages readers to trust that their own individual lives can be a story and see themselves as a resources of writing. The more people write about themselves the more they question themselves and can understand themselves.

Finding creativity within and releasing it, is different than seeking it from from outside influences.  

This book could be an introductory approach to writing. It discusses some classes she taught for beginners. Looking inside ourselves to find creativity may not resonate with the beginning writer but it will be a real plus for the seasoned writer who goes to this book to get recharged. Natalie is a true professional.

The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross/ and comments on Bob

The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross

Painter of the Happy Little Tree

This post on Bob Ross may be a little surprise.  Many will not remember him. His show on television (1983 - 1994) was a delight to watch. He would talk with his soft voice while he painted. He would talk about what he was painting and the approach he was using.  He really had a talent and when he painted a tree it was like magic. It just came into existence right in front of your eyes.

Often he would take his brush to a place and begin to paint and would say that he was painting a "Happy Little Tree". Loved it when he did that. I have thought of that phrase so many times over the years.  O yes, "A Happy Little Tree". Bob Ross had a passion for what he loved. 

I was surprised looking at Amazon, where his book is listed and can be bought, that you can go to a merchandise list for Bob Ross items. You can, for example, buy Bob Ross Socks. Wow! That is interesting.

Passion for what you love is the message that Bob still conveys. 

 

bird by bird by Anne Lamott

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Books about writing. especially those that are done by someone who is very skilled at the process, give you a boost and renew you.  

Carolyn See, Natalie Goldberg, Mary Karr, Anne Lamott, Anne Dillard and a few others are all very talented, and it is just a pleasure to read what they write about writing.  

Anne Lamott's  seems to have been born a writer. I mean most of these talented people loved writing and books from an early age, but she really seems to have been a actual writer at an early age.

Her father was a writer and her accounts of her early life and his influence are a unique side of her.  In this book she transitions into her chapters on writing technique from her own life story and the advice her father gave her brother. The book took it's name from that advice where he counseled him to tackle his story on birds, one bird at a time.

Her advice on writing is pretty basic, but it just feels different.  It is her ability to offer simple advice in such a easy to read, free flowing style, that is so effective. You find yourself relaxing and just enjoying her language and her perspective on the process.

Some authors seem to put an unusual word or phrase into the dialog to "wake you up", but with Anne she evolves quite naturally from instruction to the language of life itself.  

It is a good book and it can help you go back and "sharpen the saw" as Steven Covey would say. 

 

Into the Water Paula Hawkins /and will her new book do well?

Into the Water Hardcover by Paula Hawkins

Paula Hawkins is a British author who wrote "The Girl on the Train".  It has been published in over forty languages, has been a #1 bestseller around the world, and is now a major motion picture starring Emily Blunt. The book is a psychological thriller novel which deals with themes of domestic violence, alcohol, and drug abuse. The books success is amazing. Amazon has over 56,000 reviews for the book. Even though the overall rating is 4 stars out of 5 there are negative comments and people have mixed comments.  The negatives are that book is a “fast read”. The plot moves you quickly, but it doesn’t stick with you too long when you finish.

With this kind of former success, and another book coming, you wonder how the new book will do?

I wanted to know more about this author?  She worked as a journalist for fifteen years before turning her hand to fiction. She was born and brought up in Zimbabwe.  Paula moved to London in 1989. She moved to darker fiction as a style after her book The Money Goddess: The Complete Financial Makeover was released in 2007.

"Into the Water", is scheduled to be released May 2, 2017.  It is her second dark fiction thriller.

Will “Into the Water” do as well as “The Girl on the Train”?  We will have to wait to see. The book will be released on May 2nd, 2017. 

You can click on the book link and order it here through Amazon or just put it on your to buy list.

Travels with Charley In Search of America by John Steinbeck

This is a book that surprises you. It surprises because reading Steinbeck isn't like this, I thought. Yes it is about the land but it is about the man, the dog, and the camper crossing it. 

It was first published in 1980 and told the story of a 1960 road trip the author had taken. The three key characters in the plot are Steinbeck, the dog, and the camper.

His dog is a French Poodle named Charley who is the perfect dog for Steinbeck. The pick up truck is a camper that he created, ahead of his time, and was named Rocinnte.

It seems likely that Steinbeck gave some thought to choosing the name, Rocinante, which was also the name of Don Quixote's horse in the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. In many ways, Rocinante was not only Don Quixote's horse, but also his double: like Don Quixote, he was awkward, past his prime, and engaged in a task beyond his level of skill.

Steinbeck wrote that he was moved by a desire to see his country on a personal level, since he made his living writing about it. I felt like I was learning about the land and the people through his eyes. The dog was an important character in this story and seeing the land through Steinbeck’s eyes was the story.

I had never had a high regard for French Poodles but apparently I was wrong.

Quotes

“I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found.” ..

“I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness.

“A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.” 

“I am happy to report that in the war between reality and romance, reality is not the stronger.” 

“I wonder why progress looks so much like destruction.” 

“We value virtue but do not discuss it. The honest bookkeeper, the faithful wife, the earnest scholar get little of our attention compared to the embezzler, the tramp, the cheat.” 

The My Late-Life New Reinvention Old Meredith Maran Me /Do we all reinvent ourselves over and over?

Just released today.  With a great title!  Look forward to reading this book. I found this part of her author's profile interesting. "Like a lot of women her age, MEREDITH MARAN has a hard time believing she’s a woman of her age. And yet she’s published more than a dozen books". I think she is an author worth following.

(Click on titles and order here)

The New Old Me: My Late-Life Reinvention by Meredeith Maran

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Another new book that caught our attention is.................  Oath of Honor: A Thriller by Matthew Betley

This book's author spent 10 years in the Marines. The book has Marines and the FBI and a lot of action and holds your attention. The book has just become available. 

Portraits of Courage by George W. Bush / He paints and shows his heart.

The new book that has recently been released by George W. Bush is a wonderful book. Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors

I don't know how, as a reviewer, I could do this book justice it deserves?  To find a former President and Commander in Chief who shows his heart this long after his term was over, and to do it in in such a touching way, is the real message.

He wrote about why he took up painting, and also why he focused on veterans.  I just don't want to try to improve on what he said.

The book contains has his own paintings and then brief stories about those in each painting. He talks about their challenges. The faces are real, and it makes the book real.  Buy the book. If you buy it online, click here to do so.  If not here then just go to some of the many book review sites or pick it up locally.  

His book matters. 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People /Are you understood?

Several years ago I had an opportunity to speak to a group as one of two planned speakers. The other speaker was Stephen Covey. Yes, it was a little intimidating and before I mention one of his books I will tell you a little about it. It was at a Singles Ward in our Church.  He was the invited speaker and I was the assigned speaker from our Stake. I had no idea that I was going to precede him that day. I sat by this bald guy on the stand and wondered who he was at first.

At the time we were living in Salt Lake City and it was easy enough to pull a speaker from the Provo area if someone had a connection. I wish I could tell you what I talked about that day, or even what he talked about. I just don't remember but I do remember how I felt. This is sort of the flip side of Maya Angelo. Remember she said:

“At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” Well I could change that to read like this: At the end of 20 years you won't remember anything about what you said when you were the first speaker with a man like Stephen Covey, but you will remember how you felt. I remember clearly that no matter what I said as the first speaker that no one would want me to be taking up the time.

When I was in college I took a speech class. The last time we each presented a talk to the class was a big factor in our grades. I had a very good speech ready and knew I would do well. What I didn't know was that the speech before me was so good it blew everyone away.  We were awestruck.  When I got up I just gave my speech. I should have gotten an A. It was a good. When the instructor discussed my talk with the class afterwards he said the lesson to be learned was that when you follow a amazing speech the only chance you have is to diffuse the excitement. He said don't just jump in with your message but comment on how wonderful the other message was and let the excitement come down a little. I got a B because I didn't do that.

When I preceded Stephen Covey I did think of that. I figured the excitement was coming, so I shortened my talk some. I also mentioned that I was excited to hear from him. It seemed to work.

I wrote a new post in the Creativity Tab about "The Habit of Creativity". In that post I mentioned Stephen Coveys book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I do want to recommend that book. Those habits can help creativity, and also help us develop personal excellence.

Aristotle said “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives. It is choice, not chance that determines your destiny.” It seems clear that excellence can be the end result of good habits.  

The 7 habits are listed below. The book was first written in 1989 just a couple of years before my speaking event happened. These habits are still of value and I would recommend the book and these habits for your study.

1. Be Proactive

2. Begin with the End in Mind

3. Put First Things First

4. Think Win Win

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

6. Synergize

7. Sharpen The Saw

How Bad Writing Destroyed the World by Adam Weiner / Any Rand and the Literary Origins of the Financial Crisis

Adam Weiner's book, "How Bad Writing Destroyed The World" takes some of the thinking that has influenced the world for the last 75+ years and ties it to a surprising source. 

The "Bad Writing" refers to a Russian author, Chernyshevsky.  In 1863 he wrote a book "What is to Be Done". One chapter in the book, "The most atrocious work of Russian literature", sums it up.

Chernyshevsky socialist philosophy was called "rational egoism". How this philosophy became the foundation of Ayn Rand, the arch-capitalist, is the shared belief that "the rational pursuit of selfish gain on the part of each individual must give rise to the ideal form of society".  The book also caught the attention Lenin, Dostoevsky, and Nabokov. How their philosophies (also?) meshed with the book was also also discussed in the book.

Ayn Rand's fled to the south where she went to the University of Petrograd. Years later she came to the United States.  

She is best known for her book "Atlas Shrugged" and "Fountainhead". Capitalism, limited government, the individual, the free market, and eventually trickle down economics, were her areas of focus.

Her book "Atlas Shrugged" was reviewed by Whittaker Chambers who, with William Buckley, were the other well known conservatives of the last century.  When Chambers said of her book that it was a "fairy tale" their relationships ended.   (I think he was right)

In other writings Rand said of herself that she was the smartest philosopher the world had ever had, except Aristotle.  She also said that with a free market that, the rich get richer and the poor are hurt sometimes, but then "they deserve it". For her the free market rewarded brains. She thought people would naturally do the right think in a free market, because self interest meant people would protect their reputation.

A early disciple of her's was Alan Greenspan. He would later say he knew economics but didn't know why people acted the way they did. He felt Ayn Rand had helped him with that.  

By the time he served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006 he was very much in her influence. After the banks crashed in 2008 the congress called him in and asked him why he had reduced all the regulation that was in place that seemed to have caused the crash?  He said he had made a mistake. He said he knew economics but didn't understand people, and felt that the free market would cause people to do the right thing for the sake of their reputation.  He misjudged greed, and admitted it.

The book is interesting, relevant, and worth reading. 

The Empty Land, by Louis L'Amour

A trapper found a chunk of gold, and in six days Confusion, a new gold-mining boom town near todays Ely, Nevada, appeared where there had been nothing for thousands of years. New discoveries always attracted honest men who came to work the mines, but along with them came thieves, gamblers and outlaws. In just a few days several thousand men and some women came.

Dick Felton was committed to digging his fortune out of a muddy hillside but the town itself was his biggest challenge. Matt Coburn found himself in the new town and his reputation for being a hardened realist and a man that had cleaned up tough towns before had followed him.  The town lacked law and order and the mines themselves became the target of a violent plot. Matt Coburn wanted no part of Confusion because too many of his enemies knew he was there, but he found himself with only one way out with honor, but it could cost him his life.

On one side are those who understand only brute force. On the other are men who want law and order but are ready to use a noose to achieve their ends.  Matt Coburn and Dick Felton are the only thing separating these two sides, outnumbered and outgunned, they can’t afford to be outmaneuvered. For as the two unlikely allies confront corruption, betrayal, and murder to tame a town where the discovery of gold can mean either the fortune of a lifetime or a sentence of death, they realize that any move could be their last.