Critiqued story for friend in writing group, attended music recital for Keith at his school. Didn’t actually do any writing or playing, but still engaged in writing and music activities.
Category Archives: Writing
Inspiration
Earlier, I wrote an e-mail to a friend (I hope I can call him that) about the death of Poul Anderson, the great science fiction writer who passed away late on July 31st, 2001. It’s been many years since I read a Poul Anderson book, but I still have several on my bookshelves.
I described to my friend how, even though I had never met Poul, his passing seemed to weaken the infrastructure of science fiction. There was suddenly another name on my bookshelf without a body to back it up. While describing this, I realized that it wasn’t the infrastructure of science fiction that I was worried about, but my infrastructure.
I grew up reading science fiction and fantasy, starting with Heinlein’s Red Planet and moving on to Bradbury’s R is for Rocket and S is for Space. I worked through much of the meager science fiction section (at that time, anyway) in the Durango Public Library and started combing the paperback exchange racks for likely books. I remember one Christmas vacation during which I set a goal to read five of John Norman’s Gor books (yes, I read the schlock, too) and I set up a makeshift tent in my bedroom, complete with beanbag chair, lamp and coaster. At that time, books were my inspiration.
Now, I have large, double-sided bookshelves in three rooms, filled with all kinds of books, but mostly science fiction. Though most of them simply sit there, holding each other up, they act as a buttress for my life. My wife will tell you that I can think of a story or passage, go to a shelf, and pull the book right down. If I lose track of an important one, I try to keep from panicking until I remember what happened to it or who I loaned it to. As material items, they are probably not worth much. As a structure for my life, they are priceless. As each author passes away, especially from the the Golden Age of science fiction, my world shudders a little. I still think of the books as my inspiration, but somehow my focus has shifted over the years from the magic in the books to the memory of that magic. The books themselves are symbols for that memory, and symbols of their authors.
I can’t help but wonder if I’m placing too much importance on these symbols of living people. My favorite authors will all die someday; a few have come close already, others have already gone. Should I allow their passing to shake my world so much?
As I think about it, that path leads to despair. Am I lashing my inspiration to the heartbeats of my favorite authors, using their works as symbols of their lives? If so, that’s wrong. An author’s work is a legacy, but it is not the sum total of his or her life, and the work can continue to be inspirational long after the author is gone. Using their books as my inspiration for writing is missing the point.
I know that I have more respect for the authors than that, and I know that I can draw inspiration from long dead writers, as I did in my poem “To Keats”, elsewhere on this site. Yes, the books are important, and I should continue to value them. But the words are the heart of the matter. Those books on my shelves are for appreciation, not inspiration. As I’ve heard “real” writers say, inspiration is everywhere. I need to get back to focusing on the magic books give me, and look to the world for my ideas.
I guess there’s only one cure for that. I’d better get to reading again, and I’d better start observing things a little more closely.
Hello … Again
I won’t be ranting much in this installment of the rant archive. I need to ease back into it.
As I write this, the sky is a menacing, roiling gray, and my neighbor’s roof is already under two inches of water. My son just informed me that his window ledge is also covered with water, despite his window being closed. A quick towel does the trick in his bedroom; the neighbor is on his own.
Life has not stood still in the many months that have passed since I updated this site regularly. I’m working a stable job in a perilous IT career track — perilous only because of the short-sightedness of dot-com startups with no real business plans or revenue streams. I have rededicated my spare time to family and creative efforts, to the mild disappointment of some of my friends. I know they are my friends because they have remained supportive, despite my withdrawal. (Thanks to all of you.)
My family (especially my wife) has been supportive as well, encouraging me to write stories, play music, build a guitar. And with every finished story draft, they have perched silently on the bed as I read out loud, pausing now and then to make a note when something just didn’t sound right. They have offered some critical feedback, and they have occasionally offered more praise than the work deserved. Fortunately, I have been able to get less biased feedback from two writing groups as well.
Over the last three years, a couple of new poems and rants found their way to my old website. Beyond that, there was not much activity, and it’s time for that to change. I have procured the domain name lytspeed.net, changing the spelling slightly to accommodate the net gods. I have redesigned the site to reflect my commitment to writing, giving the pages the look of a spiral notebook. There has always been a lot of information on these pages, so I added a much needed search feature. The site now has a separate section for special features, like my son’s artwork, and I have added a list of writing-related links. The site has undergone a critical proofreading, as well, but if you find any mechanical or stylistic problems, or if you just want to tell me you agree or disagree with something I’ve said, please let me know.
It’s time to post this page. Thanks for listening, and be sure to whack me upside the head if I become lazy again and haven’t updated the site in a while!
Inspirational Inadequacy
An author breathes within the book before
Me, holding forth upon his mistress, Art.
She rides upon his words into my heart,
Inspiring me to try my hand once more.
Expecting muse caress, I feel a door
Slam harshly. My inadequacies start
To show, as inspirations now depart
And settle with the dust upon the floor.
“It’s not supposed to be that easy, kid,”
The author says. “We have to face our fears.
The essence of the Art is in the pain,
The struggle to express the feelings hid
Beneath our hearts and in between our ears.
So pick that pencil up and try again.”
— Stace Johnson, 2000
Writing the Natural Way
Writing the Natural Way
By: Gabriella Lusser Rico
Type: Instructional
Setting: N/A
Description:
Ms. Rico presents to us a series of guidelines for producing focused, honest, improved writing. Written in an informal style, with emphasis on right-brain techniques and approaches to writing,WtNW teaches us not to worry about whether the final product is exceptional, or if this comma or that should be left out, but to produce on paper a cohesive, organized structure of ideas with which to work. According to Rico, if you start from a base like this, an exceptional product is likely to form anyway, especially the more you practice. Punctuation and readability can be taken care of in revisions; the most important part of writing is the idea, and Rico shows us how to pin that idea down.
Comments:
Writing the Natural Way is one of the best writing manuals I have ever seen. Instead of inundating the reader (and student) with NOs and DO NOTs, it says, “Try it; see what the product is like. Perhaps it will lead to something new and even more worthwhile.” The book can be taken as a kind of Montessori course for beginning writers — provide them with the tools to teach themselves and let them go, with instructor intervention only when necessary.
Recommendations:
I highly recommend this book to anyone embarking on a career in writing or just wanting to revitalize his or her current writing. The examples and exercises are non-threatening and the creativity methods introduced (particularly “clustering”) are indispensable.