tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080412834082886632024-03-17T23:03:53.378-04:00THE WRITER'S DEN________________________HOME PAGE_________________________
. . . . . . . . . . . ."Whether or not you write well, write bravely." ~ Bill Stout . . . . . . . . .TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-66928553393142430712013-02-02T12:34:00.000-05:002013-02-02T12:41:30.447-05:00<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://davidhuntershaw.blogspot.ca/2013/02/publication-that-scary-unknown-planet.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Publication:<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>Scary Unknown Planet!</span></a></h2>
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<span class="vk_ans vk_dgy"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span>pub·li·ca·tion</span> </h3>
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/ˌpəbliˈkāSHən/<span class="speaker-icon-listen-off" data-s="publication.mp3" id="speaker_icon" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 6px; margin: 0;"></span></div>
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Noun</div>
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<li class="vk_txt" style="list-style-type: decimal;">The preparation and issuing of a book, journal, piece of music, or other work for public sale.</li>
<li class="vk_txt" style="list-style-type: decimal;">A book, journal, etc. issued for public sale.</li>
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Synonyms</div>
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<tr><td>issue - edition - publishing - promulgation - release</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes, I've been 'Promulgated'<span style="font-size: small;"> in an antholog<span style="font-size: small;">y of romantic tales called Passion's Prisms: Tales of Love and Romanc<span style="font-size: small;">e<span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Passions-Prisms-Tales-Romance-ebook/dp/B00B975O0O/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1359746497&sr=1-1&keywords=passion%27s+prisms">(Free Kindl<span style="font-size: small;">e Version, </span>today only, by the way, at Amazon</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Passions-Prisms-Tales-Romance-ebook/dp/B00B975O0O/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1359746497&sr=1-1&keywords=passion%27s+prisms">)</a> and I'm slightly euphoric. <span style="font-size: small;">After all, publication is publication. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now, romantical stories aren't usually my thing, but I had one in me and I sent it off to Mandy White, caretaker of Passion's Prisms.</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I expected an email from her saying</span> 'Ack! <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is terrible!</span></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We can't use it.' but just the opposite happened, and she included it in the book. For that I am grateful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As I've mentioned before in a post at <a href="http://bloggodavid.blogspot.ca/2013/01/recently-i-met-with-sasha-jackson.html">Bloggo David</a>, I've successfully avoided publication for the longest time. Not for lack of wanting, but for lack of something truly finished and done. I have lots of stories built up over the years, most in various states of disorder. But my meeting with Sasha Jackson Author Jill Edmondson really put things in perspective. She said, 'why aren't you published yet? Shit or get off the pot!'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Okay. Ouch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It's one thing when your mom tells you that, but an actual published author? That cuts you down some, and it's a great kick in the ass of perspective. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Why write if no one will ever read you? Good question. What the hell are you doing!?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So I made it my mission to get into print as much as I can this year. A late New Year's resolution. I hope you all follow along and do the same. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Passions-Prisms-Tales-Romance-ebook/dp/B00B975O0O/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1359746497&sr=1-1&keywords=passion%27s+prisms"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Passion's Prism: Tales of Love and Romance </span></a></h3>
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<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AItmkU7PL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA278_PIkin4,BottomRight,-64,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Passion's Prisms: Tales of Love & Romance" border="0" height="300" id="prodImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AItmkU7PL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA278_PIkin4,BottomRight,-64,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" width="300" /></a></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This anthology features me and many others, short stories and poems about the trials and tribs of life in love. I'm told it's for a charity, and I have to look into that, but for now you can get it FREE at Amazon. It's a Kindle Version, which is interesting because I don't own a Kindle! Anyway, here's a list of the featured Authors: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">Table of Contents<br /> <br /> Introduction ~ by Mandy White<br /><span class="text_exposed_show"> Advice From a Hopeful Romantic ~ by A.K. Wallace<br /> Dance With Desire ~ Poetry by Suzanne Parlee<br /> Ode to a Greek God ~ by Marla Todd<br /> Deep Wood Shade ~ Poetry by Diana Garcia<br /> Letter to a Lost Love ~ by Diana Garcia<br /> Memoria ~ Poetry by A.K. Wallace<br /> In Dreams ~ by A.K. Wallace<br /> Poetry by Daniel E. Tanzo<br /> The First Moment of a Long Love ~ by David Hunter<br /> Cicada Song ~ Poetry by Suzanne Parlee<br /> Prairie Passion ~ by Mandy White<br /> Musings on Love and Loss ~ by Juliette Kings<br /> Poetry by Daniel E. Tanzo<br /> Don’t Lose Your Head ~ by Michael Haberfelner<br /> Sensual Healing ~ Poetry by Suzanne Parlee<br /> The Gift ~ by Veronica Veil<br /> Song of My Soul ~ by Rob Betz<br /> Jenny and Frankie Take a Trip ~ by David W. Stone<br /> The Travelers ~ by Marla Todd<br /> Heart-Shaped Box ~ by Mandy White<br /> Let Me Kiss You ~ Poetry by Anand Matthew<br /> The Summer Soldier ~ by Marie Frankson<br /> The Shadow Always Knows ~ Poetry by A.K. Wallace<br /> Dark Politics ~ by Marla Todd<br /> Love Storm Born ~ by David W. Stone<br /> Poetry by Daniel E. Tanzo<br /> Crystal Hearts ~ by Marla Todd<br /> Love in a Mist ~ J. Harrison <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1340865476&extragetparams=%7B%22group_id%22%3A123747891056652%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/Nietzschean.Heart?group_id=123747891056652">Kemp</a></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> David, over and out. </span></span></span></span></span></h4>
TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-15171626159945269592012-09-11T13:24:00.000-04:002012-09-11T13:28:18.683-04:00<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://davidhuntershaw.blogspot.ca/2012/09/ray-bradbury-humanitas-award-speech-i.html"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Ray Bradbury Humanitas Award Speech</span></a></span></h3>
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<i>I thought I'd post the speech that Ray Bradbury gave when he received his Humanitas Award ... seems like a good day for it. </i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dear Lord,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Help us to remember the gift of excellence that lies within us if we but call and bring it forth. Help us to recall that in excellence is surprising profit, for the soul, for the mind, and for life that we live, beside that soul and with that mind, help us to know that only in our loves can we create and out of that creation, change some stray, small part of the world we touch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Remind us to know that the more we create out of love an idea, the better our work, our lives, our influence becomes. Tell us again, for we forget that work done without love is stillborn, mindless and lost in the very hour of its deliverance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Help us to love ideas, and the creation, even as we love our neighbors and because we are proper creators ourselves. Tell us to lie down with that one inescapable person, our lovely selves, knowing that if the work of the previous day was a surprise of joy we stumbled upon through curiosity, true need and rare zest, and the energy that comes from wild discovery. We are good company for the night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Teach us not to hesitate atop cliffs but to leap into our writing without wings. And teach us with passion and love, how to build wings on the way down, hoping for a soft landing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We ask these things because poor creatures that we are, we do forget, and must remind ourselves, as you remind us that love is the final answer and excellence its hallmark and profit, which is peace of mind, its everlasting residue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Please Lord hear this, amen. </span>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-68254551768556668952012-09-05T12:01:00.000-04:002012-09-08T23:40:46.202-04:00<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://davidhuntershaw.blogspot.ca/2012/09/calmly-marching-off-precipice-i-was.html"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Calmly marching off the Precipice</span></a></h2>
<img height="314" id="il_fi" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5fTq-YDzC4I4CvPynNwgDqABGo9zNTp3pZk3hmmuBsCqITzo__-nzDku59ltFEviVIwRnCkYInrxpIMSKNia5vtWYK-F4f3qMHHRaV1esfuL7ZeVuBjDcSfLEd5SkklHyWgqaTJhGTQ/s1600/where+the+sidewalk+ends.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="500" /><br />
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I was talking to a guy recently who claimed he was a writer – something a lot of people do, unfortunately. He works security at my place of business. <br />
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I heard in passing that he was a writer, and when I asked him he told me it was true, but he hadn’t written anything in two years, saying that he was not in the right ‘environment’ for it. <br />
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Now, to those reading this it sounds like an excuse, but it’s not. By ‘environment’ I knew exactly what he meant, and it’s not a padded cell, it’s not a secluded island near Fiji, nor is it a commune in northern California where you meditate and eat granola every day and write random thoughts down and study your Ka; it’s about having the right ‘people’ around you. <br />
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I’ve often been stultified by the persons that surround me – many just average citizens with no interest in creative thought. It’s not a knock, it’s just how it is. And if you’re a writer or an artist or any kind of Imagination-based creature, you know the feeling. You have all these ideas in your head, popping, crackling, waiting to burst forth, and so you look for a receptive ear. When there are none around and you’re left with your crazy thoughts all to yourself, you start to feel dulled; like a knife being raked against concrete. <br />
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But this security guard, upon talking to me about writing, brightened a little. I gave him one of my stories and he took it, said he’d read it a few times to get all the nuances out of it. <br />
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When I talked to him on his next patrol, we began a discussion about my story. He began pacing the floor, eyes to the ceiling, talking about writing. And I knew; this guy is a real writer. I recognize the latent mania, the nervous movement, the insane desire to get thoughts down, to write stories. <br />
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I figure that’s why having a writing community is so important. I mean, who wants to go it alone, anyway? What fun is that? I’ve always secretly longed for those Kerouac days, when the local writers and artists gathered in coffee shops and discussed stories, ideas, the nature of the universe and so on. It makes you feel part of something, a movement; a movement of writers, actually. Like a flight of birds soaring together.<br />
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And then I met another writer at work, Alberto.<br />
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The passion that this man displays when he talks writing and literature is astounding. He tells me he’s read over 1000 books, written 200 stories. <br />
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This time it was MY turn to pace the floor. When hearing him discuss the craft and how he loves it I instantly wanted to bolt out the door and get home to my office and write. The feeling is infectious. A kind of electric charge hits your ass. <br />
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And so, I now have a small posse of creative writers with which I may cavort and share ideas. Maybe it’ll come to nothing, maybe it’ll lead to something. I know that since I met these two my production has increased – I’ve averaged about a story a week, although that could also be attributed to Ray Bradbury’s admonishment ‘Write 52 stories a year. You can’t write 52 bad stories, can you?’<br />
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And also, no one else is going to do this for me, so I have to kick my own ass, as physically impossible as it is. If I waited for a lightening bolt to the temple I’ll be an old man before I get <i>anything</i> published.<br />
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So calmly I go marching off the precipice. Would you like to come with me? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSNAr8f9bRkqqusXyRDA_ISZXCI2FMERnbMv6-nQJj9rhSLdoJ09exPbJLlsddm1XMf8q6nF4ve0zsrHt-Qx8C6SrU9Qpk2_GDRcoDTIrYpD7urnfmN25waBpqt8Ofx7SZGXvOssWbJoY/s1600/Imprimature.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSNAr8f9bRkqqusXyRDA_ISZXCI2FMERnbMv6-nQJj9rhSLdoJ09exPbJLlsddm1XMf8q6nF4ve0zsrHt-Qx8C6SrU9Qpk2_GDRcoDTIrYpD7urnfmN25waBpqt8Ofx7SZGXvOssWbJoY/s1600/Imprimature.JPG" /></a></div>
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Unrelated Madness: </h3>
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Check out Bloggo David || Recent posts: <a href="http://bloggodavid.blogspot.ca/2012/09/the-extraordinary-life-of-inanimate.html">The Extraordinary Life of Inanimate Objects</a> and <a href="http://bloggodavid.blogspot.ca/2012/08/t-he-first-time-i-ever-considered-fact.html">The Old Man in waiting</a></h3>
TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-60777391915126427722012-08-31T11:09:00.000-04:002012-09-01T09:31:34.756-04:00Let's Write Some Creepy Stuff this October<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0myS_JFloKHFExJSP5CRnuORc3AnxdiSMqNJeA93F_CeNXZdkel5_aYItLS3sEuyhMRsDQ-MJmINRUvNtGyka4fYcNPcWRkRNbRslcaqp0eO9C5vdfPUdGFeyybnF1Z9GBZNyhLY2oM/s1600/CampBanner.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0myS_JFloKHFExJSP5CRnuORc3AnxdiSMqNJeA93F_CeNXZdkel5_aYItLS3sEuyhMRsDQ-MJmINRUvNtGyka4fYcNPcWRkRNbRslcaqp0eO9C5vdfPUdGFeyybnF1Z9GBZNyhLY2oM/s640/CampBanner.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b> <a href="http://thecampfirepages.blogspot.ca/2012/08/to-you-by-halloween-arts-and-horror.html">Brought to you by the Halloween Arts and Horror Association (HAHA)</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppfFY9GYmRD-jksdGLoMxNA-9E9JOvjV646urlZ0ZTbn7eqllo7A88o8z2iVeuPwHJkb3h3LfluhDenNRdGenPfZqeudfc-Q0stsmJPYKUBpADJy1fB5vQyFkmD7ZHa71FzvnWQ15o2o/s1600/hand-from-grave-1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppfFY9GYmRD-jksdGLoMxNA-9E9JOvjV646urlZ0ZTbn7eqllo7A88o8z2iVeuPwHJkb3h3LfluhDenNRdGenPfZqeudfc-Q0stsmJPYKUBpADJy1fB5vQyFkmD7ZHa71FzvnWQ15o2o/s1600/hand-from-grave-1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppfFY9GYmRD-jksdGLoMxNA-9E9JOvjV646urlZ0ZTbn7eqllo7A88o8z2iVeuPwHJkb3h3LfluhDenNRdGenPfZqeudfc-Q0stsmJPYKUBpADJy1fB5vQyFkmD7ZHa71FzvnWQ15o2o/s1600/hand-from-grave-1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppfFY9GYmRD-jksdGLoMxNA-9E9JOvjV646urlZ0ZTbn7eqllo7A88o8z2iVeuPwHJkb3h3LfluhDenNRdGenPfZqeudfc-Q0stsmJPYKUBpADJy1fB5vQyFkmD7ZHa71FzvnWQ15o2o/s1600/hand-from-grave-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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I'm opening up the Campfire Pages in October to anyone who wants to share a scary story. Just DM me on twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/TheWritersDen">@TheWritersDen</a>,
or leave a message in the comments section below. Don't send
attachments in your email, just cut and paste the story into the message box. Oh, and
keep it at 2000-4000 words or less; and make it scary... so scary it'll
make Stephen King's toes curl with fear!</div>
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If you have a funny or
even campy Halloween story, that's great too ...</div>
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Hoping to hear from you soon. I'm off to write some scary stuff....</div>
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Note: If it's a really great lengthy story, I'll consider posting it in parts. If you have a story posted on your own site and want to post a link instead, that's okay too. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvLsh4-FGnUmsZXBKqzzawsjZoJ0FQYSLwUAAQPt13oO3i7McKrdBSsc0x7rvlYmphDl3FWEjE4juf52JPDVg_B-unNHH5m25fXYQ8InjrkZW_rn5H2I74J6yVlvA9quFwwToCTK3OmU/s1600/DaveSig.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489371581980732386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvLsh4-FGnUmsZXBKqzzawsjZoJ0FQYSLwUAAQPt13oO3i7McKrdBSsc0x7rvlYmphDl3FWEjE4juf52JPDVg_B-unNHH5m25fXYQ8InjrkZW_rn5H2I74J6yVlvA9quFwwToCTK3OmU/s400/DaveSig.JPG" style="height: 127px; margin-top: 0pt; width: 305px;" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Get Scribbling! </span></div>
<br />TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-15867767162028911492012-07-09T22:37:00.001-04:002012-07-09T23:01:16.755-04:00David Rants about Books. Cover your Eyes.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVf-ARu-y8e80qZzXAA9YPQs7nYozoHkxrM5p5IXK1OALR-yIt9_x7uF4KxDKfuO63OQJPGQMp4xztakEzqz0mTdbUXc6VhQk0GbVqcINNwGk6BjO7wGPwgnKVfoM5izeTkhY3dd5LfSI/s640/TWDTitleFreakbOOK.JPG" width="640" /></div>
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It happens every Sunday; I take a lazy afternoon walk to the Goodwill store down the street to see what they have in their book department, and I spend an hour or so poking through them, mulling, considering, and finally deciding. <br />
<br />
By deciding I mean I stand there with an arm full of books and wheedle them down to two or three. I flip through them again and again, trying to choose the ones to leave behind. This is never easy; today I left behind East of Eden, The Poisonwood Bible, and An Elmore Leonard novel called Stick. I even abandoned a Frank McCourt book called Teacher Man. Why, you may ask? Why not just get ‘em all? They're all discounted. <br />
<br />
It’s my shelf at home; still full of books, some read, some not. Some half-read. They are jilted lovers. Yes, guilt assails even book readers. <br />
<br />
Of course reading an Elmore Leonard novel sounds exciting, but what about that Karen Blixen novel still left unread? It was a Pulitzer winner for crying out loud! And Empire Falls? Richard Russo also won a Pulitzer for that. All wonderfully well-written books, waiting to love me and entertain me. <br />
<br />
<i>And you’d besmirch their good names by cheating on them, getting more books to read, new and sexy books, when you haven’t finished the ones you already have? For shame,</i> my brain yammers. <br />
<br />
But this is book love. Freakish book love. Dare I say, freakish book love/hoarding. <br />
<br />
And don’t talk to me about ‘getting rid’ of books. I’ve tried that, and I end up parting with one, maybe two books, mostly Dan Brown novels or anything by John Grisham. The Steinbecks and the Fitzgeralds have been cemented in place. I tried moving them once and broke three fingers.<br />
<br />
The truth is, I like books. Shelves full of them. Hell, I’d fill an entire ROOM with them if I could, but I only have an apartment with limited space and a minimalist roomie who shuns clutter (practiced in the art of Feng Shui) so I have to be conservative. And forget libraries; every time I take books out (Like ‘Catch 22’) I never bring them back. I get too attached. How could I take that book back after all we’ve been through? We went to bed together! Let someone else’s hands touch your pages? I’d rather die (Somewhere, a retired Librarian is still seething about that copy of Cannery Row that I never returned in 1993). <br />
<br />
As for e-Readers, I understand thousands of books can be stored in one. That’s wonderful. Marvelous. But Curling up in bed with a hard piece of plastic ain’t my idea of comfortable. I love the soft squish of paper, the physical turning of a page, the smell of old ink and pulp. Even NEW ink and pulp. <br />
<br />
I’m not a backwards Grinch, I do have an e-Reader. I am not anti-tech. I take it to work with me, on the bus, the doctor’s office. A lot of places. I even turn it on occasionally. <br />
<br />
The funny thing is, I keep downloading new books without finishing the ones already on there, the jilted ones. <br />
<br />
Guilt assails even an e-Reader reader.<br />
<br />
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<br />TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-64640645026779629912012-07-09T20:46:00.001-04:002012-07-09T20:46:44.270-04:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="spotlight" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/165903_10151712902555931_379553892_n.jpg" /></div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-60203808649582788242012-06-20T00:26:00.002-04:002012-06-20T00:42:25.251-04:00Finally! The Truth About Writer's Block:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-26539534496103702142012-06-18T18:25:00.001-04:002012-06-18T18:25:35.792-04:00For Your Consideration: A Quicky Post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-38357174543710980002012-06-17T10:46:00.000-04:002012-06-17T10:46:16.558-04:00In Short: Niel Gaiman Sums Up Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<br />
“It's a weird thing, writing.<br /><br />Sometimes you can look out across
what you're writing, and it's like looking out over a landscape on a
glorious, clear summer's day. You can see every leaf on every tree, and
hear the birdsong, and you know where you'll be going on your walk. <br /><br />And that's wonderful.<br /><br />Sometimes
it's like driving through fog. You can't really see where you're going.
You have just enough of the road in front of you to know that you're
probably still on the road, and if you drive slowly and keep your
headlamps lowered you'll still get where you were going.<br /><br />And
that's hard while you're doing it, but satisfying at the end of a day
like that, where you look down and you got 1500 words that didn't exist
in that order down on paper, half of what you'd get on a good day, and
you drove slowly, but you drove.<br /><br />And sometimes you come out of
the fog into clarity, and you can see just what you're doing and where
you're going, and you couldn't see or know any of that five minutes
before.<br /><br />And that's magic.”
<br />
<br />~ Niel Gaiman<br />TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-68335188056123559682012-06-13T20:55:00.001-04:002012-06-13T20:55:59.519-04:00Handy Guide to Editing Symbols: VIA Rogert Ebert and the Chicago Sun Times<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9V8ZPVY-1jS2So32wifVun2sGE1JhV1iL6D0AK8G-DnOdsdGEjTUUNhP7pWCOs1SQ0aYyNMHUE-nvsu8i6hBy-nYeGrz6bDPwQvLD7UI9CHHF9238GecmTRpapx2GFa6Lv-cTZBkPMH8/s1600/proofreading+jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9V8ZPVY-1jS2So32wifVun2sGE1JhV1iL6D0AK8G-DnOdsdGEjTUUNhP7pWCOs1SQ0aYyNMHUE-nvsu8i6hBy-nYeGrz6bDPwQvLD7UI9CHHF9238GecmTRpapx2GFa6Lv-cTZBkPMH8/s640/proofreading+jpg.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-10888753805730900502012-06-11T01:07:00.000-04:002012-06-11T01:07:11.634-04:00Notable Quotables ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3hWdmna3Bt6EBkugT1bY78TyctHRcmHJrBV20lFNs4m05gbOG8hjTRMNA3bV4E-5lQW0TexuhrCWwNOQ28UA213xADwkmnqCuU-RQbXWxZhw2_DIPFndQ9KWx9jmMxEANrLM3cJUHg4/s1600/Zinsser.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3hWdmna3Bt6EBkugT1bY78TyctHRcmHJrBV20lFNs4m05gbOG8hjTRMNA3bV4E-5lQW0TexuhrCWwNOQ28UA213xADwkmnqCuU-RQbXWxZhw2_DIPFndQ9KWx9jmMxEANrLM3cJUHg4/s640/Zinsser.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-71308850273112201202012-06-06T15:51:00.000-04:002012-06-06T15:58:54.995-04:00An Evening With Ray Bradbury || 2001<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Science fiction author Ray Bradbury regales his audience with stories about his life and love of writing in "Telling the Truth," the keynote address of The Sixth Annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: Writer's Symposium By The Sea ...</span></i></span></div>
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<br />TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-29740785486463386812012-06-01T23:47:00.001-04:002012-06-01T23:47:33.806-04:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="spotlight" height="338" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/543165_2836600334149_1833468239_1686754_955741281_n.jpg" width="640" /></div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-48230020118417842252012-05-27T16:00:00.000-04:002012-05-27T16:00:53.551-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-44021098203939443432012-02-11T11:23:00.000-05:002012-02-11T11:23:22.822-05:00Why English is Hard to Learn || Some Kind Of Grammatical Haiku for You ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKelyZkjwrCPg9kmRAKbWQTe3BGwlc3w3nH3h9rF4bm3O5EvBWLiRImDXOCcvqVHtkfPOlGl8XVnrwLljm_DD3IF12Uw5idTR-FUo10Dp4kfGoaoPZyhzz6vGhUS6kAWLIeJahSLrRn_A/s1600/EngrishHard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKelyZkjwrCPg9kmRAKbWQTe3BGwlc3w3nH3h9rF4bm3O5EvBWLiRImDXOCcvqVHtkfPOlGl8XVnrwLljm_DD3IF12Uw5idTR-FUo10Dp4kfGoaoPZyhzz6vGhUS6kAWLIeJahSLrRn_A/s1600/EngrishHard.jpg" /></a></div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-45388362931926373862012-02-02T19:24:00.000-05:002012-02-02T19:24:24.889-05:00How To Know When You Should Be Writing: A Comprehensive Flow Chart ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZtVjMf-40p5oU3Qug48eT0vRkWMlR2OPr8XE0AHPHziRGldvcwK5mFVx0uUSo9lwJ86NWOaFQ2BkD5CD_37YymcJ6v39eTzcUKsom2XyZrwZNT65y0-aD-pYenBkN0d7SRQHAuaV3W4/s1600/Writing+FLow+Chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZtVjMf-40p5oU3Qug48eT0vRkWMlR2OPr8XE0AHPHziRGldvcwK5mFVx0uUSo9lwJ86NWOaFQ2BkD5CD_37YymcJ6v39eTzcUKsom2XyZrwZNT65y0-aD-pYenBkN0d7SRQHAuaV3W4/s1600/Writing+FLow+Chart.jpg" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-63955582517262547922012-01-29T12:22:00.007-05:002012-01-29T16:08:06.833-05:00<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://davidhuntershaw.blogspot.com/2012/01/diy-procrastination-techniques-for.html"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>DIY Procrastination Techniques for Writers </b></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuVcyFLp7uvN9UpLyNiYXxnnRJyNx4cZRxaZ9BFQAnlzIA_Jms_3VgHJqOuqDJ1eVXgKnvTO_Y6uhYDeSYRY5J1AQnBJkc7LOKXIZMWR0zwzJF44BwBVwp7y-nE1Ut5rlBThfY9lXpfFk/s1600/doc-7_27_11-1_03-pm-page-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuVcyFLp7uvN9UpLyNiYXxnnRJyNx4cZRxaZ9BFQAnlzIA_Jms_3VgHJqOuqDJ1eVXgKnvTO_Y6uhYDeSYRY5J1AQnBJkc7LOKXIZMWR0zwzJF44BwBVwp7y-nE1Ut5rlBThfY9lXpfFk/s640/doc-7_27_11-1_03-pm-page-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> </b>W</span>e all do it. We sit down at the desk, turn on the computer, stare at the cursor (It should be spelled CURSE-or, actually …) and then start fiddling with things around the desk: pencils, paper clips, staplers, etc. Then we usually get up and go to the fridge because all that sitting and staring produces hunger enzymes. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So if we are going to procrastinate, let’s do it right: </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• If you REALLY want to waste time, log on to Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus. I know you think it helps get work done, but no. It doesn’t. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• For added exercise, stock your fridge with expensive ice creams, for those days when nothing’s going on via the blank page. This will not help with your work, but ice cream is always a good thing, and a couple of jogs to the kitchen every ten minutes won't kill you. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Write near a window. This way you can crane your neck to see the attractive neighbor, watch people cross the street, or check the weather every few minutes. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• The radio: blasting AC/DC or NPR will probably only fry your nerves, but it’s a good distraction from that shitty scene you are writing. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Keep your cell phone close. You never know when someone annoying may call about something stupid and throw you off your rhythm completely. <span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text">Having chats with best friends about everything and nothing is often very useful in this regard; or even random calls to people you barely have time for on a day to day basis.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• For pure procrastinative effect, always have your cute dog in the room to play with, or yell at. Having loud friends over produces the same effect. Whichever floats your boat.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Start flipping through old useless projects – they start to look pretty good after the sewage you’ve been currently writing. Then close your current WIP and start working on the old one. This always induces mass time wastage! </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• The internet: oh yes. Always have it on. Always check if you have messages. Always always always. For pure time-screwage, this is key!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Start dusting your office – because you think this will clear away the cobwebs and you’ll start a sentence soon after. Usually this only induces sneezing and spasmodic coughing and self-loathing.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Start writing a blog post about how you waste time procrastinating by writing blog posts. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Always have a television nearby. This will maximize your no-work ethic. Tell yourself you need a break and watch a little Jersey Shore for renewed perspective. Make sure the TV is facing directly at you, or placed so you can see it with little effort. Volume must always be at mid or upper-mid-range to maximize distraction.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Start reading a book. Preferably a recognized classic so you’ll really get that self-doubting engrained! </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Cookies, crackers, peanuts must always be within reach. And a Rubik’s cube. Hell, keep a Paint-by-Numbers set handy!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Go do your laundry. Because clean clothes might help the old synapses start firing! This works with showering, as well. You might want to wash your hands every ten minutes, too. Fingernail clipping is recommended, especially when you stare at your own fingers for too long and get disgusted. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Get showered, dressed, grab a pen and paper, head downtown to your favorite coffee shop, order a Triple Mocha Frappucino and a Biscotti, find a cozy spot in the back, and then start chatting with the waitress or whoever is around because your mind is completely distracted by all the activity. This is usually the best way to avoid looking at your manuscript for extended periods of time. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">• Lastly, if you truly want to avoid writing for the day, watch ‘Road House’ with Patrick Swayze. This will make you wonder why your manuscripts have been rejected and this got made into a major motion picture starring Ben Gazzara, thus sending you into a self-doubting tailspin. (Note: this may work conversely – it may make you believe you are Shakespeare in comparison, which is a good thing)</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-28274000922546994162012-01-01T23:56:00.001-05:002012-01-01T23:56:32.854-05:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://davidhuntershaw.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-you-can-do-with-your-shiny-brand.html"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>What You Can Do With Your Shiny Brand New Year</b></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">(A Positive Affirmation)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">By David Hunter</span></div><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">"</span>I have another 365 days to be a writer and I’m going to bloody well enjoy it!"</span><br />
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January 1, 2012.<br />
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I’m sitting at my desk looking at that date and it looks like it came right out of a science fiction novel. I have to admit, it makes me uneasy knowing that this might be the last year of our existence, if you believe some moldy old calendar created 2000 years ago by a group of toga-wearing perverts is accurate. Me, I think the world will plod along just fine, thanks.<br />
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I've heard this all before. When the calendar changed over to 1980, the same type of crack-pots came out of the wood-work and declared that the world would end and that California would sink into the Pacific Ocean, and the same types wandered out to the desert to perform mass suicides because they just couldn’t face the end of it all. Boy howdy!<br />
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I guess the joke’s on me if the Mayans were right (but what did they know, they didn’t even have internet!)<br />
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As far as I’m concerned it’s business as usual. I have another 365 days to be a writer and I’m going to bloody well enjoy it!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Positive Aspects about the End of the World </b></div><br />
You won’t be able to avoid the election in November, but you can avoid tax season next year!<br />
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Run up your credit card bills. Who cares? Buy those Ronco Veggie-Smooshers by the truckload.<br />
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Let’s hope the Mayans were a little off on their calculations and the END comes during the telecast of the Oscars. Or the Super bowl Halftime show.<br />
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You know those cheesecakes you pass in the grocery store? The ones you eye ruefully? The ones you sniff at and say things like ‘I don’t need it’? Load up! It’s party time!<br />
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Now is the time to experiment with crop circles on your front lawn.<br />
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Nothing like a good para-sail off the roof of your local city hall!<br />
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Now you can build that 16 foot fence around your house to piss off the nosy neighbors. By the time it gets to court we’ll all be vapor.<br />
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You can now tell everyone EXACTLY what’s on your mind, at EXACTLY the most inappropriate times (which should make for some interesting dinner parties.) <br />
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Remember how you’ve always fantasized about mowing the lawn in your birthday suit?<br />
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Social filter? Out the window! (See above)<br />
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Finally, something will stop the Rolling Stones from performing 'Start Me Up' anymore!<br />
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<i>All the best in the new year! And thank you for choosing The Writer's Den! </i>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-63990455232240232112011-12-24T12:05:00.000-05:002011-12-24T12:05:36.623-05:00Merry Christmas From The Writer's Den<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="480" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/upuUV_TdmtM?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/upuUV_TdmtM?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-81266799744622892462011-12-16T00:40:00.000-05:002011-12-16T00:40:27.533-05:00RIP: Christopher Hitchens - 1949 – 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjeC_awfKdLoA2VJAb4pHARyMuEkalPpAodBtwCAUg0qc6Y9oVuF8NBlMBk6VhuPOETr-h5L6fRoqGGIpDraOIidwWLjS9yOvMzrHiCiTn1GxtJ8csveijTLDhyphenhyphenKV3-CWGUjjvOKpZnFg/s1600/171_arts_linklater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjeC_awfKdLoA2VJAb4pHARyMuEkalPpAodBtwCAUg0qc6Y9oVuF8NBlMBk6VhuPOETr-h5L6fRoqGGIpDraOIidwWLjS9yOvMzrHiCiTn1GxtJ8csveijTLDhyphenhyphenKV3-CWGUjjvOKpZnFg/s640/171_arts_linklater.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">N</span><span style="font-size: large;">PR: On the death of</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Christopher</strong> <strong>Hitchens</strong>. </span>|| <span style="font-size: large;"><a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-display-url="n.pr/uGd4ft" data-expanded-url="http://n.pr/uGd4ft" data-ultimate-url="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/16/143595854/writer-christopher-hitchens-dies" href="http://t.co/6fXFyzsR" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/16/143595854/writer-christopher-hitchens-dies">http://n.pr/uGd4ft </a></span></div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-29462270712380467882011-12-15T23:10:00.003-05:002011-12-16T00:01:41.266-05:00<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://davidhuntershaw.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-i-write-idle-speculation-from-idle.html"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Why I Write: Idle Speculation from an Idle Mind (David Hunter’s, If You Didn’t Know)</b></span></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG0zR9qBIyinlm1yma9VyJNBtXoMCIquXKJwsW58n5n8eZKP1mlxcf6pEZRppi514oFUyMZ5LWFfh0rbTi7x6sTFHRBtdm7iqjLMVFPHO_HsUpmhegOQKIM2QueENu84EHsQ780Qge5o/s1600/BrainKite.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG0zR9qBIyinlm1yma9VyJNBtXoMCIquXKJwsW58n5n8eZKP1mlxcf6pEZRppi514oFUyMZ5LWFfh0rbTi7x6sTFHRBtdm7iqjLMVFPHO_HsUpmhegOQKIM2QueENu84EHsQ780Qge5o/s400/BrainKite.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">R</span>ecently a good friend asked me, ‘Why do you write, and why is it so important to you?’<br />
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Who knows why we do the things we do? Especially writing, that one profession that people roll their eyes at when you happen to mention that it’s your passion. So instead of going into a long-winded explanation of why I write and why it’s so important to me, I’ll give you a quick bullet list of reasons (some may echo yours, some may not)<br />
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<b>So, Why Do I Write and Why is it So Important to Me? </b><br />
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</b><br />
<b>1) To paraphrase Stephen King, ‘Why do you assume I have a choice?’</b><br />
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<b>2) I have voices in my head that won’t shut up. </b><br />
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<b>3) To kill the pain.</b><br />
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<b>4) To still the demons.</b><br />
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<b>5) I have things I want to say and I’ll get arrested if I say them out loud.</b><br />
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<b>6) Because I have stories to tell, and adventures to go on.</b><br />
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<b>7) I dream up characters and they haunt me until I put them down on paper.</b><br />
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<b>8) I’m one of those people who need to express themselves or the top of their head blows off.</b><br />
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<b>9) To join the conversation.</b><br />
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<b>10) Because I’m full of regrets.</b><br />
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<b>11) I have issues and stuff to work out.</b><br />
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<b>12) I’m melancholy by nature, and moody. A writer! </b><br />
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<b>13) I’m good at it; I enjoy it, so what the hell. Why not?</b><br />
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<b>14) I’m a control freak and writing lets me be in charge of everything.</b><br />
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<b>15) With all these crazy thoughts in my head, I either put them down on paper, or check myself into a psychiatric ward. </b><br />
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<b>16) Because I just can’t help it? </b><br />
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<b>17) Because I FEEL like a writer. </b><br />
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<b>18) My mind naturally goes there. </b><br />
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</b><br />
<b>19) Because I talk too much, and I finally decided to talk on paper instead, to the relief of all those around me.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>20) Why do I write? Because it's either that or become a Longshoreman. </b><br />
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<b>21) Because those pretty little things floating around in my transom look better on paper. </b><br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>22) Because I'm an attention whore. There, I said it. </b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrTKuOmUu_Duk6oC-smhcmjXgix5A2jJ_mfP9-2yMWYyPFLt-FWKmGkylh1MbnojjDUVrccbL_USPf8oyyrZi09CfyzCYUdrAKlSKM3c3je0IW52kPKHnuMvfXsOjj7d_YakCbg3kWa4/s1600/DaveSig.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrTKuOmUu_Duk6oC-smhcmjXgix5A2jJ_mfP9-2yMWYyPFLt-FWKmGkylh1MbnojjDUVrccbL_USPf8oyyrZi09CfyzCYUdrAKlSKM3c3je0IW52kPKHnuMvfXsOjj7d_YakCbg3kWa4/s1600/DaveSig.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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</b>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-88741772780019985672011-12-14T23:27:00.004-05:002011-12-14T23:57:18.504-05:00Photographic Evidence: Jack Kerouac's Beat Goes On || Via The Guardian UK<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bit.ly/sAasOD%20"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeX90S0FX3i8-LdqILmy4MDWBVI9gDnsxie3y_811fA66BaZfeHUVPd34Ho9KfnnhYkd7eD96OuebMVwfzblOmNTInWfPuOh9MIjQOi46K1Ib0PnSDPGQuYNwuNbsQ6f9gpMIn-RQeYs/s640/beatnik460.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="caption">Beat writers and artists at breakfast in New York, late 1950s. L-R: Larry Rivers, Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso (back of head), David Amram, Allen Ginsberg</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="caption"><span style="font-size: small;">A rather old article (2007), but for Kerouac fans one still worth reading: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog+series/beats-week">The Guardian UK</a></span></span></span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="caption"><b>Related Madness: <a href="http://www.davidamram.com/kerouac.html">David Amram Remembers Jack</a></b></span></span></div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-2402100118204762912011-12-14T23:05:00.000-05:002011-12-14T23:05:48.033-05:00I Could Listen to Ray Bradbury All Day ...<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="480" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YlYAhSffEDM?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YlYAhSffEDM?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-21804411883775266852011-12-12T23:19:00.002-05:002011-12-12T23:24:20.487-05:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://davidhuntershaw.blogspot.com/2011/12/naked-writer-how-i-lost-war-of-words.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Naked Writer: How I Lost the War of Words (But Got It Back Again) </b></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEI9VaztxjgysbNZFNSw0Z_bK0r-oUhZU6OkGn-6ji4PLR0Gtqd-jzMn8ydfLk_oD70QP0o6sIBamJdBxKBis3SAUdh6YbwYjFlNWUpR2m17V9Jfz8g_uAxFOJtUgJhVjgOni4i0z094/s1600/0912-broken-coffee-mug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEI9VaztxjgysbNZFNSw0Z_bK0r-oUhZU6OkGn-6ji4PLR0Gtqd-jzMn8ydfLk_oD70QP0o6sIBamJdBxKBis3SAUdh6YbwYjFlNWUpR2m17V9Jfz8g_uAxFOJtUgJhVjgOni4i0z094/s400/0912-broken-coffee-mug.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Coffee fueled invectives</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Stained against the pages</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Burning my forked tongue</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> With half-mumble iterations</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh how they howl</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> See how they run</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Half-baked exhortation</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Scribbled by moonlight, or by sun</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Making no sense of my neurons</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> A million thoughts stuffed in a sack</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Hail to thee oh chaotic process</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Electromagnetic ink stained flits</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Straight from the mess</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Scribbled thoughts, whereabouts unknown </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Wired, alive; they deviate, wander and lose themselves </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Through fields of the imagined places whose denizens wander;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Wander town to town</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Straight from the horse’s mouth;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> What is written on the subway walls? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Turn on the light and you will see</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Ecstasy, Symmetry, Poetry </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The internal struggle; the last gasp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> The last desperate attempt,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">one last swing;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> One last kick at the can;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">One more fabulous fling; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> I weigh the prose and cons;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The lights are down, it’s the empty stage;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> There was the idea, the poor struggling fetus;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Born in the ether, died on the page</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Only, reborn somehow;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Reborn; re-gifted; resurrected </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Those penumbral lines, those darlings murdered</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Those treasures we find, bury, and find again</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Those roads gone further </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I have but one life to give; one thing for the pain;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Inspiration locked in a trunk</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And the key down the drain </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Two thoughts diverged in a wood</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> And I took the one less thunk</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSIcEgamdLB7NsOO2waDQcAQw0o6TNFwpTAh_PSzFzy1blAw47v-mSPt_QGi689ynuVSCK0hBYSKCLN1ErQHOtB5OR8LzRR4MKIj3HmOtUWkEUl7o24G38iWg9x0Kt9sP2cZFKMus3Fk/s1600/Imprimature.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSIcEgamdLB7NsOO2waDQcAQw0o6TNFwpTAh_PSzFzy1blAw47v-mSPt_QGi689ynuVSCK0hBYSKCLN1ErQHOtB5OR8LzRR4MKIj3HmOtUWkEUl7o24G38iWg9x0Kt9sP2cZFKMus3Fk/s200/Imprimature.JPG" width="200" /></a></div></div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508041283408288663.post-30699499315672506032011-11-14T22:28:00.003-05:002011-11-14T22:33:53.137-05:00<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://davidhuntershaw.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-write-with-style-by-kurt.html"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>How to Write With Style</b></span></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://davidhuntershaw.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-write-with-style-by-kurt.html"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>by Kurt Vonnegut</b></span></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Newspaper reporters and technical writers are trained to reveal almost nothing about themselves in their writings. This makes them freaks in the world of writers, since almost all of the other ink-stained wretches in that world reveal a lot about themselves to readers. We call these revelations, accidental and intentional, elements of style.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">These revelations tell us as readers what sort of person it is with whom we are spending time. Does the writer sound ignorant or informed, stupid or bright, crooked or honest, humorless or playful --- ? And on and on.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Why should you examine your writing style with the idea of improving it? Do so as a mark of respect for your readers, whatever you're writing. If you scribble your thoughts any which way, your readers will surely feel that you care nothing about them. They will mark you down as an egomaniac or a chowderhead --- or, worse, they will stop reading you.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not. Don't you yourself like or dislike writers mainly for what they choose to show you or make you think about? Did you ever admire an emptyheaded writer for his or her mastery of the language? No.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So your own winning style must begin with ideas in your head.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>1. Find a subject you care about</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way --- although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. A petition to the mayor about a pothole in front of your house or a love letter to the girl next door will do.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>2. Do not ramble, though</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I won't ramble on about that.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>3. Keep it simple</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As for your use of language: Remember that two great masters of language, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. "To be or not to be?" asks Shakespeare's Hamlet. The longest word is three letters long. Joyce, when he was frisky, could put together a sentence as intricate and as glittering as a necklace for Cleopatra, but my favorite sentence in his short story "Eveline" is this one: "She was tired." At that point in the story, no other words could break the heart of a reader as those three words do.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Simplicity of language is not only reputable, but perhaps even sacred. The Bible opens with a sentence well within the writing skills of a lively fourteen-year-old: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>4. Have guts to cut</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It may be that you, too, are capable of making necklaces for Cleopatra, so to speak. But your eloquence should be the servant of the ideas in your head. Your rule might be this: If a sentence, no matter how excellent, does not illuminate your subject in some new and useful way, scratch it out.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>5. Sound like yourself</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The writing style which is most natural for you is bound to echo the speech you heard when a child. English was Conrad's third language, and much that seems piquant in his use of English was no doubt colored by his first language, which was Polish. And lucky indeed is the writer who has grown up in Ireland, for the English spoken there is so amusing and musical. I myself grew up in Indianapolis, where common speech sounds like a band saw cutting galvanized tin, and employs a vocabulary as unornamental as a monkey wrench.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In some of the more remote hollows of Appalachia, children still grow up hearing songs and locutions of Elizabethan times. Yes, and many Americans grow up hearing a language other than English, or an English dialect a majority of Americans cannot understand.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">All these varieties of speech are beautiful, just as the varieties of butterflies are beautiful. No matter what your first language, you should treasure it all your life. If it happens to not be standard English, and if it shows itself when your write standard English, the result is usually delightful, like a very pretty girl with one eye that is green and one that is blue.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I myself find that I trust my own writing most, and others seem to trust it most, too, when I sound most like a person from Indianapolis, which is what I am. What alternatives do I have? The one most vehemently recommended by teachers has no doubt been pressed on you, as well: to write like cultivated Englishmen of a century or more ago.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>6. Say what you mean</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I used to be exasperated by such teachers, but am no more. I understand now that all those antique essays and stories with which I was to compare my own work were not magnificent for their datedness or foreignness, but for saying precisely what their authors meant them to say. My teachers wished me to write accurately, always selecting the most effective words, and relating the words to one another unambiguously, rigidly, like parts of a machine. The teachers did not want to turn me into an Englishman after all. They hoped that I would become understandable --- and therefore understood. And there went my dream of doing with words what Pablo Picasso did with paint or what any number of jazz idols did with music. If I broke all the rules of punctuation, had words mean whatever I wanted them to mean, and strung them together higgledy-piggledy, I would simply not be understood. So you, too, had better avoid Picasso-style or jazz-style writing, if you have something worth saying and wish to be understood.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Readers want our pages to look very much like pages they have seen before. Why? This is because they themselves have a tough job to do, and they need all the help they can get from us.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>7. Pity the readers</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">They have to identify thousands of little marks on paper, and make sense of them immediately. They have to read, an art so difficult that most people don't really master it even after having studied it all through grade school and high school --- twelve long years.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So this discussion must finally acknowledge that our stylistic options as writers are neither numerous nor glamorous, since our readers are bound to be such imperfect artists. Our audience requires us to be sympathetic and patient readers, ever willing to simplify and clarify --- whereas we would rather soar high above the crowd, singing like nightingales.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That is the bad news. The good news is that we Americans are governed under a unique Constitution, which allows us to write whatever we please without fear of punishment. So the most meaningful aspect of our styles, which is what we choose to write about, is utterly unlimited.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>8. For really detailed advice</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For a discussion of literary style in a narrower sense, in a more technical sense, I recommend to your attention The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. E.B. White is, of course, one of the most admirable literary stylists this country has so far produced.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">You should realize, too, that no one would care how well or badly Mr. White expressed himself, if he did not have perfectly enchanting things to say.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0QxZdQTDXcOth-V651CvaV3yWum523NLbsENk_uMw0fTBSc7S6IvofJaPZJ5uyAEtbx5hmE2oPtlwiOEPIcZiWeqe-gMHheF5-uNzj2gB41ounmDKPr_z33Awkzhqf1W0ts5cdWZM4WA/s1600/fox_vonnegut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0QxZdQTDXcOth-V651CvaV3yWum523NLbsENk_uMw0fTBSc7S6IvofJaPZJ5uyAEtbx5hmE2oPtlwiOEPIcZiWeqe-gMHheF5-uNzj2gB41ounmDKPr_z33Awkzhqf1W0ts5cdWZM4WA/s400/fox_vonnegut.jpg" width="295" /></a>In Sum:</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1. Find a subject you care about</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2. Do not ramble, though</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3. Keep it simple</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4. Have guts to cut</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">5. Sound like yourself</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">6. Say what you mean</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">7. Pity the readers</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">from: How to Use the Power of the Printed Word, Doubleday</div>TheWritersDenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11906707226438261959noreply@blogger.com1