Writing Reference Books

In this post, I submit yet another couple of citations from a recently purchased how-to book --as if I didn't already have enough. I wish to quote from Noah Lukeman in his book "The First Five Pages -- A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile." Lukeman is both a writer and an agent who is not accepting new authors. That said, the book remains replete with tips and reminders for all writers who wish to publish, indeed all writers who wish to write well. In chapter 1, Presentation, Lukeman puts your manuscript into CONTEXT. "The unknown writer's manuscript [unlike Stephen King's] will be read by an angry, overworked intern or editorial assistant, one hoping to be able to find the tiniest fault so he can get it out of the way and move on to the next five thousand manuscripts."

Here's an example of how to avoid the "tiny faults" they might find: "When rewriting, pretend that someone will give you $100 for every word you are able to cut ... which makes for a tighter read." Which words to cut? Start with Adjectives and Adverbs, the title of Chapter 2 of his book.

I heard about the book from Barbara DeMarco Barrett’s “Writer’s On Writing” Radio show, 88.9 FM. Both her show and this book are musts for the serious writer. See ya.

From "This Year You Write Your Novel"

The author of TYYWYN, Walter Mosley, writes "Poetry is the fount of all writing. Without a deep understanding of poetry and its practices, any power the writer might have is greatly diminished." Why, I asked myself, does this prolific author who claims not to be a poet even address the issue? He says, "Of all writing, the discipline in poetry is the most demanding. ... In poetry you have to see language as both music and content. ... If the fiction writer demands half of what the poet asks of herself, then that writer will render an exquisitely written novel." Wow.
Mosley recommends a poetry workshop. Where do I sign up?

Writing Workshops

I can't help myself. I'm starting another writing workshop here in Chico, nine hours from my home. And the people who are coming tonight are SO excited. Why? Because many people want to write, but they don't know where to start. I want to help them get started, because there is, in my world, just a handful of things that transcend the pleasure of writing. And so, we will draw from Janet Burroway's book Writing Fiction and throw out such subjects from her page 11, such as: from the first seven years of your life, make a list of events, people, your self, inner life, characteristic things. Or, Burroway tells us that a tenth century Japanese courtesan had the following list of Things that she used: Things I wish had never been said. Red things. Things more embarrassing than nudity. Things to put off as long as possible. Things to die for. Acid things. Things that last only a day. These subjects start the fire. Our imaginations can fan the flames and result in a wonderful story -- real or fiction. It doesn't matter, as long as we're dropping it on the page, word after word after word.

My Pushy Muse

Work is a four letter word and an excuse not to write, but it pays the bills. Not working is more fun, but is more the challenge, because my writing muse taps her foot, arms crossed, waiting in the corner, no make that, waiting on my shoulder, whispering in my ear: write, damn it, write.
She's not patient, my muse. She taketh away the right to procrastination and giveth harsh criticisms for all the many ways I can avoid the hard stuff: putting one word and then another and then another on the page, word by word, bird by bird, until the work is done and has to be redone and redone and redone (OY) until it's as right as it's going to get, and even then we want to fiddle with it some more, now don't we?
Enough. She's no longer whispering. She's shouting. IT'S TIME TO WRITE NOW!

Quotes of Note

I pulled these from Dennis Palumbo's website. These are some of his favorites Quotes for Writers.

"The best way out is always through." Robert Frost

"How do I work? I grope." Albert Einstein

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." John A. Shedd

OC Metro OA article

Check out www.ocmetro.com for my article on Osteoarthritis. Click on the Health and Fitness tab and voila--there I am.
Thanks for dropping in to my blog, by the way.

While

While I’m showering, I’m thinking about my workday.

While I’m working, I’m preoccupied with dinner.

While I’m eating dinner, I’m hoping to avoid doing dishes.

While I’m doing dishes, I ponder how I can escape the laundry.

While I’m folding laundry, I’m musing about shopping.

While shopping the next day, I review my to-do list for the weekend.

While shtupping on the weekend, I think about the movie I saw.

While watching the movie, I was comparing it to the book.

While reading the book I was thinking about dying

While I’m dying, I’ll be wondering what it was like to live.

I missed it.

Kathryn Atkins

© 2003