Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier is one of my all-time favorite books. Whether as literature or history, this book is a wealth of writing inspiration for all levels of creative writing courses . Writing students can learn from Frazier’s varying degrees of deprivation, attention to detail, and characterizations. I would love to talk to Mr. Frazier about some of the passages in Cold Mountain. If you know him, please direct him to this blog. (Mr. Frazier, if you read this, please comment.)
It may be unfair to point out symbolism in Cold Mountain. Some authors, Hemingway for one, preferred his audience read for enjoyment rather than pick and digest his work like a roasted chicken (my words not Hemingway's).
Still, I’m compelled to share my thoughts about this vivid story. I’ll start with the some chapter titles.
Chapter 1 – the shadow of a crow. Things are not as they appear. Look at these examples.
Inman sails his hat out the schoolroom window, and it settles near the edge of a field "black as the shadow of a crow squatted on the ground."
Pages further, Inman's friends say their goodbyes, when the army sends Inman to a hospital in his home state to die from a neck wound. The neck does not bring death.
From Inman’s perspective, the war is not as it appears, neither is Balis (another wounded soldier), or freedom from the army hospital.
Chapter 2 – the ground beneath her hands. Life is at its lowest for Ada. She's not prepared to cope with mountain life. The daughter of a preacher, she has no domestic skills, no money to get to back to Charleston, SC, and no social life. She even believes the flogging rooster wants to kill her. Ada touches the dry ground, full of chicken feathers and chicken poop.
Chapter 3 – the color of despair. This phrase is from a curse, “To Destroy Life,” taught to Inman by his Cherokee friend, Swimmer. Inman repeats the curse "aiming it out at the world at large, his enemies." He speaks it out for several miles until he thought "the words were just flying back to strike him alone." In the despair of this chapter, Inman finds a glimmer of hope (when do you see it) but can't bring it to fruition in his mind. He sinks low again.
Next time, a few more chapters. But, I am curious what inspires you as you read a book, any book?
If you haven't read Cold Mountain, consider reading it this year. Mark the passages that teach you creative writing. Learn to read like a writer. Any questions?
Cold Mountain - Literature or History
Notebooking Part 3 of 3 - Skill Bill
Notebooking Part 3 of 3 - Skill Bill
Whether writing is a full time job or not, skill building is an important step towards getting published. Meet Skill Bill. My homework, assignment, writing prompt, note taker.
When I study the craft of writing, I shift into student mode. I underline in my books, write comments in the margins, and work my assignments in Skill Bill.
Page After Page and Chapter After Chapter both by Heather Sellers has writing assignments at the end of each chapter. In Skill Bill, I outlined the chapters of Between the Lines by Jessica Page Morrell.
Andy Couturier teaches great techniques in Writing Open the Mind: Tapping the Subconscious to Free the Writing and the Writer. One of my favorite exercises is in the first chapter.
Important notes, writing mantras, teacher comments are quick to find in Skill Bill. Now, remember I said, no writer knows it all. Good writers are forever learning, better writers are practicing what they learn.
Remember I said, study interviews of other writers. Sent you over to Paris Review. Encouraged you to subscribe and get the four-volume set. Skill Bill holds quotes by Truman Capote, William Falkner, and others. More recent entries include assignments from Dancing With The Gorilla blog.
Learning to construct great sentences, analyzing short stories, reading author interviews, working through writing exercises, are just a few of the ways to improve our writing. Use a notebook to keep everything you learn in one convenient, easy to find, pseudo-reference book created by you for you.
Without a doubt any writer can keep a number of notebooks. Right now, my magic number seems to be three.
Any questions?
When I study the craft of writing, I shift into student mode. I underline in my books, write comments in the margins, and work my assignments in Skill Bill.
Page After Page and Chapter After Chapter both by Heather Sellers has writing assignments at the end of each chapter. In Skill Bill, I outlined the chapters of Between the Lines by Jessica Page Morrell.
Andy Couturier teaches great techniques in Writing Open the Mind: Tapping the Subconscious to Free the Writing and the Writer. One of my favorite exercises is in the first chapter.
Important notes, writing mantras, teacher comments are quick to find in Skill Bill. Now, remember I said, no writer knows it all. Good writers are forever learning, better writers are practicing what they learn.
Remember I said, study interviews of other writers. Sent you over to Paris Review. Encouraged you to subscribe and get the four-volume set. Skill Bill holds quotes by Truman Capote, William Falkner, and others. More recent entries include assignments from Dancing With The Gorilla blog.
Learning to construct great sentences, analyzing short stories, reading author interviews, working through writing exercises, are just a few of the ways to improve our writing. Use a notebook to keep everything you learn in one convenient, easy to find, pseudo-reference book created by you for you.
Without a doubt any writer can keep a number of notebooks. Right now, my magic number seems to be three.
- Blog Heaven for scrawling out blogging ideas ahead of time
- Infernal Journal for insights into myself and life
- Skill Bill for note taking, writing exercises, mantras, and etc
Any questions?
Notebooking Part 2 of 3 -- Infernal Journal
Notebooking Part 2 of 3 -- Infernal Journal
Last Tuesday, I panicked, when I thought I left my briefcase in the conference room. My Infernal Journal. What if someone takes it out, just to ID the case? What if the page spills open to where I'm calling names, less than nice, spurred by incompetent, rude work associates.
An email, notice pops up. Subject: "I read your journal. Your are messed up."
OMG. My heart could not pound harder. I spun in my chair and caught sign of my briefcase parked by the office door in my rush to do who knows what.
Okay, I embellished a bit. (I am a writer) I don't fill my notebook with slurs against my co-workers. And I didn't leave my briefcase in the conference room. But...
My Infernal Journal is private. It's about me. I don't be ugly. I be honest. I write letters to me expressing my thoughts, responses, reactions. I explore my inner self and discover me, entry by entry. I can process my feelings in my Infernal Journal. On occasion, I go back to my earliest memories and write about my feelings now concerning what happened then.
My Infernal Journal helps me stay real with my fiction. I borrow phrases written straight from the heart to use in a short story scene or dialog. This notebook keeps me balanced. I can forgive me, encourage me. When I need to get away, I can time travel to the past or the future.
I can set goals, tap into my writer's intuition, and open a new world -- a world discovered by me, for me.
My notebook is a diary of sorts, a friend, a confidante. My expressions increase the love I have for me. And self love can bring about healing and personal growth. The Infernal Journal loves me, and I love the Infernal Journal. I keep it close, just in case I need a solid unmovable shoulder.
If you don't keep a notebook for recording your thoughts and feelings, try it. It just might set you free, help you find your creative self, and give you the strength to chisel through your writing challenges, which in turn can set your writing free. Keep a notebook. It's good advice.
Any questions?
An email, notice pops up. Subject: "I read your journal. Your are messed up."
OMG. My heart could not pound harder. I spun in my chair and caught sign of my briefcase parked by the office door in my rush to do who knows what.
Okay, I embellished a bit. (I am a writer) I don't fill my notebook with slurs against my co-workers. And I didn't leave my briefcase in the conference room. But...
My Infernal Journal is private. It's about me. I don't be ugly. I be honest. I write letters to me expressing my thoughts, responses, reactions. I explore my inner self and discover me, entry by entry. I can process my feelings in my Infernal Journal. On occasion, I go back to my earliest memories and write about my feelings now concerning what happened then.
My Infernal Journal helps me stay real with my fiction. I borrow phrases written straight from the heart to use in a short story scene or dialog. This notebook keeps me balanced. I can forgive me, encourage me. When I need to get away, I can time travel to the past or the future.
I can set goals, tap into my writer's intuition, and open a new world -- a world discovered by me, for me.
My notebook is a diary of sorts, a friend, a confidante. My expressions increase the love I have for me. And self love can bring about healing and personal growth. The Infernal Journal loves me, and I love the Infernal Journal. I keep it close, just in case I need a solid unmovable shoulder.
If you don't keep a notebook for recording your thoughts and feelings, try it. It just might set you free, help you find your creative self, and give you the strength to chisel through your writing challenges, which in turn can set your writing free. Keep a notebook. It's good advice.
Any questions?
Notebooking Part 1 of 3 -- Blog Heaven
Notebooking Part 1 of 3 -- Blog Heaven
Keep a notebook, a suggestion echoed by writers since time began, my time anyway. The value of toting spiral notebooks in my back pack didn't weigh much until I gave each book a name. The one I scribbled in today is Blog Heaven. In one thunderous brainstorming session, I jotted down topics for seven (7) weeks of blogs. Celestial, huh? It is for me.
Magically, when I visit Blog Heaven I root around in my subconscious unearthing the acorns of ideas covered over by the cares of work, life, and responsibility. Ideas waiting for me to dig them out, like buried treasures.
Blog Heaven is my nirvana of blog ideas. In between, posting topics I scrawl quotes, character sketches, and plot points. The more I visit Blog Heaven the more I can depend on it to ignite my inspiration. Weird as it sounds, I've got an intimate relationship with my notebook. Blog Heaven shelters my ideas and encourages me to scratch, scribble, and scrawl until I've emptied my mind. I visit every day just to glance over the fruits of my storming sessions and, sometimes, stroke the pages as though to comfort a mourning friend.
For me, using a notebook is like using a pastry blender. You won't see the benefits until you use it as intended. So, give notebooking a try. It's an old idea that can yield new surprises and inspiration. Next week I'll discuss the other two notebooks I use. Infernal Journal and Skill Bill.
In the meantime, any questions?
Magically, when I visit Blog Heaven I root around in my subconscious unearthing the acorns of ideas covered over by the cares of work, life, and responsibility. Ideas waiting for me to dig them out, like buried treasures.
Blog Heaven is my nirvana of blog ideas. In between, posting topics I scrawl quotes, character sketches, and plot points. The more I visit Blog Heaven the more I can depend on it to ignite my inspiration. Weird as it sounds, I've got an intimate relationship with my notebook. Blog Heaven shelters my ideas and encourages me to scratch, scribble, and scrawl until I've emptied my mind. I visit every day just to glance over the fruits of my storming sessions and, sometimes, stroke the pages as though to comfort a mourning friend.
For me, using a notebook is like using a pastry blender. You won't see the benefits until you use it as intended. So, give notebooking a try. It's an old idea that can yield new surprises and inspiration. Next week I'll discuss the other two notebooks I use. Infernal Journal and Skill Bill.
In the meantime, any questions?
Writing Craft and Art
Writing Craft and Art
Encarta defines craft as "a profession or activity that requires skill, training, experience, or specialized knowledge.
Master crafters are the best of the best. And being a master takes years of practice, learning, perfecting. Endless hours serving as an apprentice.
Dedication lives in the heart of a master. For writers, this means writing every day, studying other writers, and rewriting to improve and to apply (to our work) the skills we learn.
Most of us don't have the privilege of a mentor. Neither did Checkhov, Poe, or Joyce. If we're graced with talent, we still devote hours honing our craft.
When writing is life-changing, thought-provoking and beautiful, it is art. Consider craft and art as the preparation and presentation of writers.
Sometimes, we get ahead of the process and make a presentation of our work before the preparation is complete. This can leave an unappealing, unsatisfying taste in a reader's palate. Quite discouraging for a writer.
Don't be so anxious to send your work to an agent or an editor. Let the story perculate, simmer. When it rises, punch it down like bread dough; let it rise a second time. Patience and hard work will pay off in the long run.
Write, rewrite, study. Prepare. Present. Any questions?
Master crafters are the best of the best. And being a master takes years of practice, learning, perfecting. Endless hours serving as an apprentice.
Dedication lives in the heart of a master. For writers, this means writing every day, studying other writers, and rewriting to improve and to apply (to our work) the skills we learn.
Most of us don't have the privilege of a mentor. Neither did Checkhov, Poe, or Joyce. If we're graced with talent, we still devote hours honing our craft.
When writing is life-changing, thought-provoking and beautiful, it is art. Consider craft and art as the preparation and presentation of writers.
Sometimes, we get ahead of the process and make a presentation of our work before the preparation is complete. This can leave an unappealing, unsatisfying taste in a reader's palate. Quite discouraging for a writer.
Don't be so anxious to send your work to an agent or an editor. Let the story perculate, simmer. When it rises, punch it down like bread dough; let it rise a second time. Patience and hard work will pay off in the long run.
Write, rewrite, study. Prepare. Present. Any questions?
Priceless Writing Inspiration
Priceless Writing Inspiration
A 500-sheet pack of paper, $12.00; a 1950's Royal typewriter at a yardsale, $5; two boxes of ribbon for the typewriter, $10; my mother's memoirs, priceless.
Mom was my best friend, and losing her in September was devastating. The dysfunctional family situation surrounding her funeral was traumatic and enough to send lesser women to a therapist for life. But I have my mother's strength, a fact that has crystallized as I've read the memoirs she left behind. Memoirs I encouraged her to finish. And she did. This alone is inspiration for me.
Though we shared a lasting closeness, Mom withheld some pleasant and surprising secrets throughout the years. She concealed these only to reveal them in her writings. And each revelation has brought tears of joy and sadness. There are lessons, truths, and wisdom in her words.
If you've ever considered writing your memoirs, even for posterity, I encourage you to do it. The world you leave behind will be richer for your gift. Mom's story is not eloquent. She wasn't educated. Her book will never be a New York Times Bestseller. Yet she changed one life. Mine.
Isn't that what writing is about? Having an impact? Touching a reader? Take a little bit of time everyday to write a sentence or two about your life. Don't worry who will care. Maybe no one. Until after you've passed.
Just tell your story. Your words. Your way. Any questions?
Mom was my best friend, and losing her in September was devastating. The dysfunctional family situation surrounding her funeral was traumatic and enough to send lesser women to a therapist for life. But I have my mother's strength, a fact that has crystallized as I've read the memoirs she left behind. Memoirs I encouraged her to finish. And she did. This alone is inspiration for me.
Though we shared a lasting closeness, Mom withheld some pleasant and surprising secrets throughout the years. She concealed these only to reveal them in her writings. And each revelation has brought tears of joy and sadness. There are lessons, truths, and wisdom in her words.
If you've ever considered writing your memoirs, even for posterity, I encourage you to do it. The world you leave behind will be richer for your gift. Mom's story is not eloquent. She wasn't educated. Her book will never be a New York Times Bestseller. Yet she changed one life. Mine.
Isn't that what writing is about? Having an impact? Touching a reader? Take a little bit of time everyday to write a sentence or two about your life. Don't worry who will care. Maybe no one. Until after you've passed.
Just tell your story. Your words. Your way. Any questions?
Reading List
Reading List
My 2010 reading list includes The Bible. Now, I'm not like a super religious person or fanatic. And I don't consider myself a Christian Writer, though I don't write (or read) porn. I think there are lots of advantages to reading The Bible cover to cover. First, the stories are bountiful. Writing prompts and ideas springboard off the books and chapters in The Bible.
Second, there are some great quotes to reference in our writing. A writing reference library will include a book of quotes.
Third, a myriad of themes run throughout The Bible. In a way similar to Aesop's Fables, 'the moral of the story' is easy to identify. And the book of Proverbs is loaded with morals to build a story around. Look at Proverbs 21:9 -- "It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house." How many stories can you spin off of that verse?
Finally, The Bible is poetry and literature...enough said.
I'm going to read The Bible through in 90 days instead of the typical one year. I've created a great Excel spreadsheet set up to track my progress. I can start any day of the year and finish in 90-days. I'll send the spreadsheet out to anyone interested. It does work only with a Thompson Chain Bible, because that's what I bought. If you read a Zondervan NIV Bible, I can send a PDF file.
Try it once. Read The Bible through. See how many stories you can create from it. It's a great piece of literature. Any questions?
Second, there are some great quotes to reference in our writing. A writing reference library will include a book of quotes.
Third, a myriad of themes run throughout The Bible. In a way similar to Aesop's Fables, 'the moral of the story' is easy to identify. And the book of Proverbs is loaded with morals to build a story around. Look at Proverbs 21:9 -- "It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house." How many stories can you spin off of that verse?
Finally, The Bible is poetry and literature...enough said.
I'm going to read The Bible through in 90 days instead of the typical one year. I've created a great Excel spreadsheet set up to track my progress. I can start any day of the year and finish in 90-days. I'll send the spreadsheet out to anyone interested. It does work only with a Thompson Chain Bible, because that's what I bought. If you read a Zondervan NIV Bible, I can send a PDF file.
Try it once. Read The Bible through. See how many stories you can create from it. It's a great piece of literature. Any questions?
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