Miscellany
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Oct
16
Poetry can have any job
Filed Under Great writers, Inspiration, Poetry, Quotes | 1 Comment
Wallace Stevens had every reason to not be poetic. He went to law school because his dad told him to and then he worked in insurance. Those two lifestyles jostle around in my brain for the distinction of least artistic professions I can imagine (such that it writers often us those as a professional hell to resign their characters to.)
But despite this, he was emerged one of America’s most respected poets.
Stevens would walk two miles to and from his office every day, and in that walk, he would compose poetry. That walking poetry eventually won him a Pulitzer and a National Book Award.
His job wasn’t glamorous, but he felt that going to work grounded him in life making him a better observer.
The genuine artist is never “true to life.” He sees what is real, but not as we are normally aware of it. We do not go storming through life like actors in a play. Art is never real life. - Wallace Stevens
So keep that Stevens in mind when you think about the writers life. You can investigate insurance claims, you can clean auditoriums, or you can do nothing at all, but you will still find something beautiful to write.
We say God and the imagination are one… How high that highest candle lights the dark. – Wallace Stevens
Oct
2
Standard lengths of different forms of fiction
Filed Under Guidelines, On writing, Writing advice, Writing tips | 1 Comment
Maybe the difference between a novella and a novel isn’t that clear to you. How short is a short story before it’s too short and has to be called something else –shorter?
These questions don’t really need hard and fast answers. No one likes being pigeonholed, after all. But that doesn’t mean a little guidance isn’t helpful.
I found this page that gives some good averages for different manuscripts. I wouldn’t buy into the idea that they are as set in stone as the author says, but they do give you a good rule of thumb.
Some take aways that come from it are that a short story is something that you can read in one setting. A novella might take a little more, but will still be too short to cover a lot of characters, and should instead be a really in depth view of a narrow topic.
Then there is writing for the internet. In that case, shorter is probably better, unless you can really hold the reader’s attention.
Since I’m not sure this post is doing that, I think I’ll leave it there.
Oct
1
Teddy Roosevelt has medicine for the fear of the critic
Filed Under Inspiration, Quotes | 2 Comments
I sometimes think the fear of criticism is my biggest obstacle to writing. It’s a terrible dilemma: I want people to read my work, but I’m worried that when they do they will realize my flaws and mock me endlessly for them.
I doubt I am alone in that fear.
But a friend of mine shared a favorite quote of his by our illustrious former President and man’s man Teddy Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
Roosevelt was a pretty impressive guy so I could see this having some credibility. After all, as my friend Roberto pointed out, he finished a ninety-minute speech after being shot in the chest by a would be assassin. With critics severe enough to shoot him during speeches, he had to know a thing or two about keeping a positive attitude.