Reflections on Writing

One thing that helps me a lot with all aspects of writing is to read books about writing. Not only do I learn about the technical aspects of writing, but I often come across some inspiration and ideas for writing I would like to do.

Ideas come from all sorts of places, sometimes unexpectedly. It's good to be open to these ideas and to note them down in a notebook. It's impossible to remember everything, so writing it down helps a great deal and gives you a source to reflect on when you are stumped.

Unless you are writing solely for your own entertainment, or that of your family and friends, which is a perfectly legitiment reason for writing, you will eventually need to learn about how to go about being published. A recent podcast from The Writing Show can give you some pointers about this. The title is "What do Publishers Want from Query Letters and Proposals?" and the editor interviewed is Jennifer Silva Redmond. I found it a very helpful podcast. You can also peruse their various archives for more help and inspiration.

Input of various kinds can help your output considerably.

On Writing and Reading

Today's writing link: SpecFicWorld Lots of resources and articles about writing for your perusal.

I am still wandering around somewhat on this blog, but I hope my links have at least given you lots of writing tips and ideas for your own writing. I don't feel ready to share my own writing. That wasn't my original idea for this blog--sharing writing tips was. I'm not sure that is interesting enough, though, so we shall see.

I do encourage you to read lots of different types of writing. That will go a long way in helping you to decide what type(s) of writing you would like to do. Right now, I am reading The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. It is what you might call a literary murder mystery. Set in Canada in the 1860s, it is written in a different style than I am used to, but is not so far out as to be difficult to follow. I am only about halfway through, so I don't know yet if I will recommend it totally, but so far so good! The author switches back and forth between characters and uses present tense quite a bit. There is a first person narrator for parts of the book, but the author takes us often to third person narrative for some of the other characters.

Veteran's Day 2007

“Throughout our history, America has been protected by patriots who cherished liberty and made great sacrifices to advance the cause of freedom. The brave members of the United States Armed Forces have answered the call to serve our Nation, ready to give all for their country. On Veterans Day, we honor these extraordinary Americans for their service and sacrifice, and we pay tribute to the legacy of freedom and peace that they have given our great Nation.”—President George W. Bush, 2007 Veterans Day Proclamation

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. (John 15:13).

Remember Veteran’s Day today.

In My Humble Opinion

I confess I don't understand how anyone can enjoy reading depressing books (Thomas Hardy leaps to mind) that portray life as defeat for the protagonist. I admit that books portraying life as all rainbows and roses are dull, too, but surely there is a happy medium.

To me, books that portray the protagonist in an important conflict, with himself or other people or nature, yet end with said protagonist triumphing in some way are the most satisfying reads. Perhaps the depressing books are touted because they are technically good, but that doesn't strike me as enough to warrant wading through such sad reading. It is true that real life doesn't always come out the way we want it to. We don't always triumph in our conflicts. However, books aren't real life. I would think that ending a book on a hopeful note would give the reader the courage and hope they need to continue with their own struggles.

I suppose I look on books as teaching tools. They portray conflict and then show ways to approach the conflict so that the protagonist overcomes the conflict and is able to put it behind him and move on with his life. Obvious teaching and preaching are also not good, but the example of persisting in the face of conflict surely is a good use of writing talent, rather than portraying gritty realism ending in defeat for our hero.

I realize that there are many viewpoints among people, but I have to wonder if anyone really likes depressing, defeatist books. Do they pretend to like the books because those books are supposed to be intellectually important? I do not believe that intellectual maturity requires that we torture ourselves emotionally. If they really like the negative books, what does that say about their view of life? Are they just naturally pessimistic? I confess I don't know the answer to those questions.

I think that showing a protagonist using all his faculties to overcome a conflict is a more true intellectual exercise. It is also emotionally satisfying. There is no reason that such a book cannot be technically good, as well, if that is what the reader is looking for. On top of everything else, such a book can be an example of persistence and diligence, of how to use one's abilities to their limit to overcome the conflict. It gives hope to the reader that he, too, can overcome the conflicts in his own life. That seems to me to be the best gift that a writer can give to the reading public.

Reflections

Mid-July and we have already surpassed our normal average yearly rainfall this year. It's very green here, with accents of color from the blooming flowers. The birds and insects are out in full force, living their lives with enthusiasm.

I find that I don't remember the identities of many plants and animals that I used to know when I lived in the country. Still, a memory can always be refreshed with the help of a field guide or two. That is a good thing if I want to write about nature!

I splurged this morning on Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape edited by Barry Lopez. It is something of a nature dictionary and promises to be interesting reading. Thanks, Anna Mills, for recommending this book!

Writing is a heady mixture of reading and studying, writing, and experiencing life. It doesn't get any better than this!

Personal Reflection

Another week has come and gone. Time flies whether you're having fun or not!

I have been reading nature writing, especially Henry David Thoreau. I have some other writers to sample, such as Barry Lopez and a book of essays by different writers. I want to read a variety and get a notion of how they write their material.

I am not what you would call an environmental activist, but I do believe we have a responsibility to God to be good stewards of the earth. That will be the place I am coming from when I begin my own nature writing. I do not know whether it will fit in the published world, but I will give it a shot!

I do want to promote an enjoyment of nature and science. There is much to learn and it is fascinating! It's a wonder to learn what happens and how things work, or at least how we think they work. Nature is also a great stress reliever--to just get outside and observe the plants and animals is to unwind and let go of life's business--and busyness.

I have always enjoyed botanical drawings and would like to improve my drawing ability so that I can create some of those for my own pleasure. Birds and animals as subjects of art are appealing to me, too, as are landscapes. I also love drawings of old houses and barns.

Sometimes I wish I weren't so interested in so many things!

Our Own Worst Critics

I've decided that I am my own worst critic when it comes to my writing. I doubt if I'm alone.

Sometimes we are right, of course, when we reject a piece of writing as trivial, badly worded, or whatever the problem is. We should look for grammar and spelling mistakes and do what we can to make our writing the best it can be. However, it is too easy to think that no one will ever want to read what we've written, and so we keep what might be some marvelous work to ourselves.

It helps to set writing aside for a few days, and then go back and read it with fresh eyes. It helps not to take too seriously other people's opinions on what good writing is. There are niches for all types of writing and if someone looks down his nose at, say, popular fiction, then that is his problem, not yours. Finding your own niche and voice and style will let you write your best work.

We all fight some insecurity, too, especially since writing is so personal in one way or another. That also makes it easy to keep our work to ourselves. We think it isn't good enough or it isn't finished enough or whatever. We (I) need to be braver about sharing our talent. Easier said than done, I know, but something to work toward.

Writing is Personal

One thing that I think makes writing difficult, particularly if you want to publish it (even if it's just on your blog!), is that it is so personal. You are revealing your interests, your viewpoints, your imagination to the world. What if they don't like it? What if they think you are weird or crazy?

Someone once said that writing is easy--you just open a vein. And you do, figuratively. You put yourself, or parts of yourself, in writing on the page or screen for everyone to pore over and make comments and criticize (and hopefully, occasionally, praise). It's tough to do. It requires a bit of courage.

You start out with simple things, things that you don't mind people knowing about you and your thoughts and feelings. However, for your writing to really be powerful, you need to feel a sort of passion about your thoughts or opinions or the imaginary world you have created for your story or novel or poem. And if it's not imaginary--if it's at least partly real, based on some experience you've had and what you thought and felt about that experience--well, that is really putting your soul out there for people to examine.

I've noticed that the more strongly I feel about something, the better my writing is--at least in conveying emotion. But it is difficult to let yourself go enough to write about the things that are the most important to you, the most precious.

I think you have to just start somewhere and build up to the more passionate, revealing writing. Maybe it is just my own personality that makes me reluctant to let others in, but I don't think I'm totally alone in this. So why do I continue writing? Because it has always been something I have to do, want to do, need to do. I think everyone has some passion in life, something they love doing even if it is difficult and troublesome. For me, it's writing.

I don't think that a writer has to put everything on paper. Some things are just too personal to share directly. And some things are best left unsaid. I am talking more about the feeling behind your writing and the things that what you choose to write reveal about you. For example, on one of my other blogs, Scholar, I write a lot about politics and I write about them from my very conservative point of view. That isn't always popular and it is often misunderstood by those who hold more liberal views. So that writing can be difficult for me, yet there are things that I feel strongly should be said--viewpoints that must be shared. I hope to give people something to think about and to get them to thinking hard about the rights and wrongs in the world, and what is important, and what is true.

Writing is difficult, but it is a wonderful thing to give others your thoughts so that they might ponder their own and perhaps incorporate some small part of what you have written into their own mind. Perhaps you will help them to be more understanding of other viewpoints, even if they cannot agree. Perhaps you will touch their hearts. Or inspire them to read or write or do some other thing. Maybe encouragement and hope is what you have to offer others. Or a laugh or a bit of entertainment. It could be any number of things that you have to offer the world.

And so I write.

Outlets for Writing

I have been working at writing more. I find it helps immensely in spotting mistakes of various kinds that I tend to make, and also in seeing areas where I need to put in more work.

Writing for blogs is one outlet I use. I often am just calling attention to a website or an article, though, and so I quote a lot. Note to self: write more of your own ideas.

Some of the other things I do, although at this stage they are only for my own perusal, are writing poetry, essays, and novels. The novels need a lot more work on the plots. I also tend to explain too much up front, and there goes the suspense and interest. Those are the sorts of things that it helps a writer to become aware of so that those problems can be overcome. Sometimes I overuse a word. I also see things that I do well--little bits of dialogue or a humorous scene that really comes together. These things give me encouragement.

Writing as much as possible gives me a lot of insight, both good and bad, and I think it is the chief way to learn to write well. Like anything else, action has to step in and provide the experience needed to progress.

Practice makes perfect, they say, and so I practice.

One problem with the blogs is that I haven't formed a strong enough idea of what direction I want to take them in. Another is that there isn't enough variety in the types and contents of the posts. However, I enjoy them and feel that I will gradually improve.

I sometimes wish I had more time to write, but at the same time, a well-rounded life makes a more interesting writer. At least in theory!!

First Post of the New Year

What with the holidays and various minor illnesses that have left me not feeling up to par, I haven't made a brilliant first-of-the-year post yet. Nor will I today.

Be that as it may, I have a new toy. It's called LibraryThing and on it you can catalog all your books. You can list up to 200 books for free, then after that you can pay $10 a year, or $25 for a lifetime membership and list all the books you want. I have 190 up--and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

I have also rigged it to display random books in my sidebar on each of my blogs. You can click on "my library" in the phrase "Random Books from my library" in the sidebar and look at my catalog of books at LibraryThing. Cool, eh?!

Better posts to come in the future.

Merry Christmas!

I give to you all my best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

May you enjoy the fun of the season, but keep always in your hearts the true reason for celebrating Christmas--the birth of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

God bless you all!