Writing Well

Louis L'Amour

 Yondering:

 

 "Yet to write well one must never cease from

  learning, absorbing, observing, and sensing."

Louis L'Amour

Perhaps my favorite author is Louis L'Amour.  In search of broadening my exposure to different types of writing I walked through the large print section of the library. Only the most popular writers make it to large print. If a writer had lots of books, I sampled one. L'Amour had a shelf full.

Those authors I liked I tried some more of their books and tried some of the books in their genre. L'Amour isn't just Westerns but he has written a lot of them. So I also tried Max Brand, Zane Grey, and several others.

L'Amour sounds to me like a name that should be writing romantic westerns and Zane Grey sounds to me like a western action writer. But the opposite seems to be true.

Something kept drawing me back to his books. His books seemed more than just westerns. They seem to handle the issues of young soldiers coming to grips with fear, weapons, and killing. Would they be able to do it? Would they like it too much? What would the gentle folks at home think? Could they possibly understand? Would they notice the change? Would they sense the hardness?

Yondering has a section called 'Author's Tea' that writers will find interesting.

Style

"Style ...is the ability to say in writing, with clarity and economy and grace, precisely what you want to say."
              ---- Lucile Vaughan Payne,  The Lively Art of Writing

Freewrites

For the last couple of weeks sitting down to write has been a chore. Even words for the freewrites didn't come easily. But each day or almost every day I wrote 500 words. Most of them not worth writing and not worth reading. Except there seems to be something in that process that liberates the brain or conditions it. Today six hundred and fifty words came out smooth and easy. Time to start another writing project.

The Elements of Style

About ten years ago, I entered a writing contest sponsored by SouthWest Writers. One of the options was to enter and get a critique. Critiques help me to better see my own work as others see it.

The reviewer added a piece of advice that he had found particularly useful: every year re-read Strunk and White's The Elements of Style.

I have tried to do that. This year I am focusing on five of the Elementary Principles of Composition. For examples, see the book. 

#14 Use the active voice.

 

#15 Put statements in positive form.

 

#16 Use definite, specific, concrete language.

 

#17 Omit useless words.

 

#20  Keep related words together.

 

 



William Zinsser

Thirty-eight years ago William Zinsser wrote On Writing Well. He wrote: "It's a question of using the English language in a way that will achieve the greatest clarity and strength." and "..the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components..."

Rain

I like rainy days. The cool breezes and overcast skies make sleeping-in easy. Less hurry, time for a book and another cup of coffee, and the soft gentleness of the light make rainy days great for reflection. After all, Mother Nature is watering the flowers and doing the yard work today.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU: "The world is but a canvas to our imagination."

GOETHE, FAUST: "A man can stand anything, except a succession of ordinary days."

Agent

What a great experience! At Pima Writer's Workshop in Tucson in May, an agent read the first chapter of my novel that I had sent in. She read it and commented on it, suggesting some re-write. Very helpful for not only did it give outside eyes on my work, but also gave me an insight into the thinking of agents. I was surprised that she zoomed right in on areas that other writers and editors had told me were weak.

Next she surprised me by giving me her card; I could send her the rewrite. Which I did. I had tried to rewrite that part before and never came up with anything that I liked. This time I stayed at it until it was something I liked and completed.

She wasn't thrilled with the rewrite but said, "It grew on her."  And she requested the whole novel.

I couldn't believe it! Wow! And then I waited.

But waiting was great. I made the most of it. "An agent is looking at my novel." A wonderful time.

Then came the email saying thanks and good luck. It was full of reasons why it fell short of her expectations -- all of them good, helpful comments that I can use to make a better story.

Did I feel bad? Not in the least. It was a wonderful, helpful experience that I smile upon every time I think of it. Can you believe an agent read my novel!

What next? I'll re-read the novel with her comments in front of me and do any sprucing or rewriting that I can do quickly. Then I'll seek out another agent.

Time

Mark Twain:  "Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been."

The New Writers Interface

Mary Rosenblum writes science fiction and under Mary Freeman writes mysteries. At her web site www.newwritersinterface.com you can sign up for her informative newsletter.

Another place where you can find many of her articles on the writing craft is
www.longridgewritersgroup.com . These and many by other writers are free and open to the public. I have read most of them many times. For awhile I would pick one a week to read and apply to my writing.

Direction

Still cleaning my desk.

"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."

 

-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

Chance

"Chance favors the prepared mind."

--- Louis Pasteur

Cleaning up my work area

Post-its, taped newspaper items, and pinned pictures adorn my desk and cover its work area. I'm starting to clear them away to be ready to start again on another novel. Right now working on a variety of short story roughs.

Here are two quotes torn from magazines or newspapers without any other source reference and taped to my desk:

      "The best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

--Theodore Roosevelt

 

 

"To weep is to make less the depth of grief."

-- Shakespeare

Nostalgia

When the roads were like today's back roads with countryside, cows, and curves, long trips were longer. Burma Shaves signs made good diversions.

OLD BURMA SHAVE SIGN

 

Is he lonesome

or just blind

this guy who drives

so close behind?

Burma Shave

Perspective

"W.H. Auden once suggested that to understand your own country you need to have lived in at least two others. One can say something similar for periods of time: to understand your own century you need to come to terms with at least two others."
   ---  from The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Jan Mortimer