A Web Poet

A beautiful haiku.
We stumble head first
Into another Season
the leaves watch us fall.
--Tyler Knott Gregson  has become well-known on Instagram and Tumblr.

[There is] a new generation of young, digitally astute poets whose loyal online followings have helped catapult them onto the best-seller lists, where poetry books are scarce. These amateur poets are not winning literary awards, and most have never been in a graduate writing workshop.

...their appeal lies in the unpolished flavor of their verses, which often read as if they were ripped from the pages of a diary. Their poems are reaching hundreds of thousands of readers, attracting the attention of literary agents, editors and publishers, and overturning poetry’s longstanding reputation as a lofty art form with limited popular appeal.

--Alexandra Alter, NYT 11Nov15

http://tinyurl.com/WebPoetsSociety

Curiouser and Curiouser in Translation

#wordnerd #polyglot #bats

In the October 29, 2015, Wall Street Journal there is an article by Edward Rothstein titled "Curiouser and Curiouser in Translation." The article especially interested me because "Alice in a World of Wonderlands" is on my Very Short List of books that I have most loved and that have most influenced me.

If I must choose a favorite from the translations cited, I award my coveted Curiouser and Curiouser Translation  Prize to:

Twinkle, twinkle little bat!

How I wonder where your're at!

The rendition of the translation into Slovenian reads:

Along the lake

Near Mt. Triglav

A pot drifts...

I think Lewis Carroll would have appreciated this curious translation.

And we wonder why there are rifts between nations caused by misunderstanding.

Author PR

‪#‎AuthorPR‬ ‪#‎BookPromo‬ #Halloween


I think I should start a list of tips for Author and Book Promotion. If it seems to work well, I can then share the words of wisdom.

• Rule #1. Never, ever publish a selfie.

Batwoman, ready for the trick-or-treaters.

An indignant seven-year-old insisted I could not be Batwoman.

"No, no! Not Batwoman. You have to be Batman."

But he accepted my politically incorrect Almond Joy candy bar anyway.

Should Work Like a Charm

#newyorktimes #wordnerd #Halloween

When I read the last edition of the New York Times book review, it made me think I need something apotropaic for this Halloween evening. Armed and ready. Garlic works.

How Do I Really Love Thee?

What a paean to love this is, for better or for worse, from the inimitable Elizabeth Gilbert in “Committed.”* So tender--and so funny...

I love this man. I love him for countless ridiculous reasons. I love his square, sturdy, Hobbit-like feet. I love the way he always sings “La Vie en Rose” when he’s cooking dinner. (Needless to say, I love that he cooks dinner.) I love how he speaks almost perfect English but still, even after all these years with the language, sometimes manages to invent marvelous words. (“Smoothfully” is a personal favorite of mine, though I’m also fond of “lulu-bell,” which is Felipe’s own lovely translation for the word “lullaby.”)

I love that he’s never quite mastered the exact wording or pacing of certain English-language idioms either. (“Don’t count your eggs while they’re still up inside the chicken’s ass,” is a terrific example, though I’m also a big fan of “Nobody sings till the fat lady sings.”) I love that Felipe can never—not for the life him—keep straight the names of American celebrities. (“George Cruise” and “Tom Pitt” are two prime examples.)

*P. 121

#exposition #author

If exposition is on the menu,

you had better serve it right and make it tasty.

-C.Wendig

Black and White

#brasileiríssimo

Categorizing people as simply black or white is nonsensical to my sensibilities. No one is white; no one is black. When people see the color green, there is no discussion as to whether to label it yellow or blue. Mix the two and they make green. Green is green. How about describing the physical appearances we see: rich cream, luscious marzipan, perfect cafe-au-lait, rich chocolate. And for anyone interested in significant differences between people, culture is a far more important determiner of how and why they differ.

Whether writing fiction or non-fiction, I think it is more effective to describe the appearance of a person/character with visually observant and descriptive terms. When writing, I can save black and white to depict a person/character who has a narrow-minded, metaphorical black-and-white perception of the world or to demonstrate that said person/character has a categorical attitude toward race. 

The following books are helpful in understanding the very significant impact of cultural differences between people:

On Race and Culture by Thomas Sowell

Intercultural Communication by Tracy Novinger

A Conundrum

#fiction #characters

Finishing the Nth book in a thriller series (yes, I confess, that is how I escape), I was bemused. I still liked the hero despite all of his flaws apparent in the unfolding of the plot, but I found I felt annoyed with the author for some plot details that I found overly sordid. What? Feeling pro the fictitious protagonist and annoyed with the author? How ironic. What does that mean? It clearly means a tour de force by the author in creating his character. Kudos.

Making Sense

We like fiction because it often gives us the illusion that our world makes sense.

One of the most prominent characteristics of our left brain is its ability to weave stories. This story-teller portion of our left mind is specifically designed to make sense of the world outside of us, based on minimal amounts of information. It takes whatever details it has to work with, and weaves them together in the form of a story. Most impressively, our left brain is brilliant in its ability to make stuff up, and fill in the blanks when there are gaps in its factual data.

I like the above observation, paraphrased from neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor. Her book "My Stroke of Insight," memoir of a stroke she suffered, allows the reader to share in the experience as seen from the inside out by a person who is better qualified than most to examine the workings of her own brain.

Faces...

#tuesdays #faces #stories

 I look into faces, seeking their stories.

What stories do these  FACES  tell you?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZwPB5cm3bs

Beyond Craft

#tuesdays #writing #wordcraft #wordmagic

On writing: "We are talking about tools and carpentry, about words and style...but...you'd do well to remember we are also talking about magic."  --Stephen King

A "Total Re-Looking"

#travel #broad-mindedness

Mark Twain said that travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness... What another good rationale for travel!

Take a quick virtual trip. Travel offers a mental Total Relooking.

On Wordiness

#verbose #terse #quantitative

Lost in translation...or gained?

Because of my interest in words and languages, I often get lost in arcane considerations.

Trivia which you may have been dying to know:

Different languages often require different numbers of words to express the same thing. This table of percentage increases and decreases of number of words needed, as compared to English, is intrinsically interesting to me. It also can be useful in planning such things as advertising and publishing layouts. Finnish allows the most concise expression of the languages on this list, with French, German, Italian and Spanish shown as the most verbose.

Source: Financial News 11Jul11 p. 27

http://culturespan.blogspot.com/2012/02/lost-in-translationor-gained.html

Pixar's 22 Rules

#fiction  #novel  #theme

I would like to have the 22 rules printed in color and affixed to a storyboard by my desk. At first glance #3 struck a chord with me. After five drafts of my manuscript, I have stepped back for a few weeks to just consider my story's concepts. No writing allowed. I came across this list of 22 and at first glance, #3 jumps out at me. Yes. It's true that I now understand what my theme is--what the story is actually about. For the next complete rewrite I will write to that theme.

http://mic.com/articles/101740/the-22-rules-to-perfect-storytelling-according-to-pixar?utm_campaign

http://mic.com/articles/101740/the-22-rules-to-perfect-storytelling-according-to-pixar?utm_campaign

Beware!

#fiction #plot #laborious

I am plotting!

Writers in 2015

#write  #writemore  #in-your-write-mind

A 100 Best Websites list.

And the Plot Thickens...

What an exquisite image! J.K. Rowling plots...

Reality is Perception

#writing #WordNerd

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.

--Thoreau

My Best Days

#writing  #inspiration

The days you work are the best days.

--Georgia O'Keefe