John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

A thought on lives lived ... and described

"Discretion is not the better part of biography."
- Lytton Strachey 

Writing, and not just for the pennies

Another bon mot from Stephen King (who is not my favourite author, although he comes close when he writes on writing): 

"I did it for the buzz. I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever."

Happy 70th birthday, Michael Ondaatje

"A novel is a mirror walking down a road."
- Michael Ondaatje, from The English Patient 

Who used what typewriter

I have not regularly used a typewriter for many years, although I used a Selectric for a good while (I don't think that makes me very much like Hunter S. Thompson) and had a portable like Cormac McCarthy's. 

I saw this here. 

All alone

"Facts are lonely things."
- Don DeLillo 

The Al Pittman monument in Corner Brook

Last summer, while the three of us were moseying around various parts of the province, we had a nice break in Corner Brook. One of the new additions to the city is a monument to Al Pittman, the late poet and author of plays like West Moon and children's books like Down By Jim Long's Stage.

It's a lovely monument, and a labour of considerable and obvious love by his good friend, Gerry Squires. [Read more about its unveiling last year here.] The monument can be seen in a small park downtown, and quite near the offices of the Western Star, where Al worked for many years.  

True grit

"Language is courage: the ability to conceive a thought, to speak it, and by doing so to make it true."
— Salman Rushdie

Writers' days

"Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days nothing else matters."
- Neil Gaiman 

Doubling back

"Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly." 
- Edward Albee 

On research

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."
- Zora Neale Hurston  

 

Why you need to travel with two pencils

"Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can’t sharpen it on the plane, because you can’t take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils."
- Margaret Atwood

[This is the first of Margaret Atwood's 10 rules for writing fiction.] 

 

Inspiration

"You can only write about what bites you." 
- Tom Stoppard  

Be careful what you wish for (international fiction deity edition)

"The Nobel prize is a fairytale for a week and a nightmare for a year."
- Mario Vargas Llosa

The above quote from the 2010 laureate appeared in this article published Friday in The Guardian. 

 

I'm sorry, but this meal doesn't fit within our budget

I've worked independently a couple of times during my career, and can relate to the humour in this video, although I think it will be even more biting for the independents (the graphic designers, the web developers, the writers, and so on) that have astonishingly frustrating conversations with clients about pricing. 

Getting slathered in writers' block

It sometimes does feel like you've been covered in something. 

As seen here. 

One more reason to love pencils

I love this ad for Staedtler, as seen here. Although I compose almost always with keyboards, and have become accustomed to tapping notes into devices, I still always tote around notebooks. I have a mugful of pencils, and can't imagine not having a supply reading for jotting quick ideas, making a list, dreaming big ... whatever. 

Might I refer you again to this wonderful quote by Henry Petroski, author of The Pencil? 

 

Plotting in the kitchen

"The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes." 
- Agatha Christie  

Never use a verb to modify 'said', and other great writing tips

And, for that matter, don't use other verbs instead of plain but reliable said. 

Elmore Leonard gave these bits of advice (you can read more in the cartoon above) that are included in this admirable collection on Open Culture of writing tips from a variety of esteemed authors. 

It's all good stuff, and I must say I felt pleased to read Leonard's advice on avoiding alternatives to "said." It's a tip I pass along the time. (We don't have to worry about it broadcast journalism, as the clip speaks for itself; in print and in online, though, we by necessity quote people.) 

I remember once reading a piece from a newspaper that involved a lengthy interview with a single source - and the verb "said" was replaced each and every time by a different altenative. The verbs used were ones like "exclaimed," "posited," "related," "explained," "joked,' and so on. And so on. There were, indeed, more than 20, no two alike, and I know this because I counted them after noticing the trend. 

And that explains the very point why it's best to avoid such verbs: they draw attention to themselves, and not what's being said. Plain old "said" carries the writing along, keeping the focused on what actually matters: the content. 

Resetting the kettle

I just put the kettle on for the fifth or sixth time today ... I'm not actually sure. When I have a chance to do some extended writing, I make a lot of tea. Yes, I'm primarily a coffee drinker, but making tea is as much about getting up, stretching my legs and thinking something out as it is about getting the next caffeine hit. (It definitely, though, is about that caffeine hit.)

The image above was spotted here. 

 

Just enough fame

"The best fame is a writer's fame; it's enough to get a table at a good restaurant, but not enough that that you get interrupted at dinner." 
- Fran Lebowitz  

Gathering wool

"I’m the sort who works very hard on something for years. And then there are years where I do nothing, just a bit of wool-gathering or whatever. I like doing nothing, if I can avoid doing something."
- Vikram Seth

[This quote was referenced in Sunday's edition of Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4, in which Seth was the featured guest. I tracked it down to this 2008 interview. Seth revealed that he has been working on a sequel to A Suitable Boy, to be called A Suitable Girl, for many years. We'll have to wait a bit later to see it.]  

Flexing

"The muscles of writing are not so visible, but they are just as powerful: determination, attention, curiosity, a passionate heart."
- Natalie Goldberg  

Writing, as commitment

"Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one's luck." 
- Iris Murdoch 

The writers

This afternoon, while Martha was off to a social event with her mom, Nick and I decamped to the coffee shop. It was his idea. We each bought brought a laptop; he's been flexing his own writing muscles, and is developing what he hopes to turn into a novel. It's his second go. I've been more than encouraging, as I've been studiously ignoring my own manuscript! Maybe I'll get disciplined when 2012 rolls around. In the meantime, we've had a great afternoon, sipping our respective beverages (coffee for me, milk for him) and chatting every few minutes.

These are the good old days. 

 

 

What keeps novelists up at night

"One always has a better book in one’s mind than one can manage to get onto paper."
- Michael Cunningham