How pedestrian

Yesterday during my roll around town I was thinking about Emily Dickinson. I saw The Belle of Amherst a few weeks ago on Netflix, so she's been on my mind, particularly the soliloquy about words, gossip and the hilarious 'reading the paper' scene.



I wasn't thinking about that as I swerved around tree roots, angled up and down curb cuts, or avoided screeching cars as they took corners on a dime. Lines of poetry were rolling through my head and I kept fighting to keep them there despite the distractions.

Then someone down the block swung into a driveway right in front of my power chair without using a turn signal. Power chairs have no brakes. I threw the joystick into reverse to try to avoid a collision, and the lines flew out of my head after I realized I was still alive.

I told myself: maybe this is why Emily stayed home.

I want to write at the most inopportune times. Lines of poetry come to me when I'm in bed. I'm too tired to get up, transfer out, start up my laptop and voice recognition software and write them down. I tell myself I'll remember them the next day. I think of them in the shower, surrounded by wet towels and slippery surfaces. My muse is not amusing. It's downright mean and it cares not a whit about access.

Emily Dickinson wrote about immortal consciousness:

Behind Me – dips Eternity-
Before Me – Immortality -
Myself – the term between –

For me it's more about-

Behind Me- coming up quickly is a BMW going 20 mph over the speed limit
Before Me- a crumbled curb cut
Myself- a statistic waiting to happen

Very pedestrian, wouldn't you say?

Yet even if I never get down one line of poetry because my voice recognition crashes or my laptop isn't waterproof, that doesn't mean the poem was never written, I tell myself.

I could get a tape recorder. The thought of rolling around muttering into one makes me wonder whether there isn't a better way to get my poetry down.

But if I did that - oh the gossip! Emily would get a chuckle out of that.

And for a most delightful ending.....

As Meredith finishes up her book, eking out the last of her inspiration (and perspiration), I found this delightful short animation called The Danish Poet that won an Oscar in 2007. It's narrated by Liv Ullmann. From You Tube:

...we follow Kasper, a poet whose creative well has run dry, on a holiday to Norway to meet the famous writer, Sigrid Undset. As Kasper's quest for inspiration unfolds, it appears that a spell of bad weather, an angry dog, slippery barn planks, a careless postman, hungry goats and other seemingly unrelated factors might play important roles in the big scheme of things after all.

If you 've never been around an author finishing up a book, perhaps you'll enjoy the film for its clever animation and delightful humor. If you have - or if you are a writer, you'll thoroughly enjoy the message that those who think their creative well has run dry are oh so wrong :)

Joe the Author

Upon hearing that Joe the Plumber has a book deal, a NY Times guest columnist wrote about how unfair it is:

Most of the writers I know work every day, in obscurity and close to poverty, trying to say one thing well and true. Day in, day out, they labor to find their voice, to learn their trade, to understand nuance and pace. And then, facing a sea of rejections, they hear about something like Barbara Bush’s dog getting a book deal.

Writing is hard, even for the best wordsmiths. Ernest Hemingway said the most frightening thing he ever encountered was “a blank sheet of paper.” And Winston Churchill called the act of writing a book “a horrible, exhaustive struggle, like a long bout of painful illness.”

Yes I know this because I know authors.

I'm watching a number of my friends, both with and without disabilities, losing their jobs. That's not fair either. Sometimes it's about working in the wrong place at the wrong time, as I read this morning and yet - the personal devastation runs deep.

And then I found this original song, that talks about having a change of heart. And God. And mercy. So I decided to post it.


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The lyrics via YouTube-
Oh, when you look back, do you smile on all that or have, or do you cry, cry out in pain cause it's not what you thought it would be?

Oh life's not fair
when you try to win everything by hand
Oh life's not fair, but I will be there
when you change your mind.

So, when you look on all your old burned pictures of God, then do you still think that the steriotype fits with the mercy He's shown you? He's always known you by name.

When everything feels like nothing is safe, you can call me and I'll change your heart. Hold still for a moment and hold your soul open and let me love you.

Worst writing award of 2008

The winner compared his love to a New York city street in the worst writing award contest of 2008 that asks folks to submit the bad opening lines of imaginary novels. The prize is $250 and, perhaps, the chance to joke about the whole thing.

Humor and writing don't necessarily go together, although many times they should. It would make the process easier. Learning the craft of writing is a process. Being able to laugh at ourselves helps.

I used to write lyrics on napkins in dark coffeehouses in my youth for friends in a band who would compose music on the spot. Most of them were awful and my friends would toss the napkins over their shoulder, grinning at me, but every now and then there would be a good song, one they would keep and perform.

I haven't written lyrics in umpteen years, not since I stopped playing guitar after my accident. I suppose, since I was a classical guitarist and played some rock and blues, that there's no coincidence to the fact that my current writing often includes a character who is a musician or who pretends to be one. But there are no lyric writers. I forgot the napkin thing.

Until this morning.

Novel no-no's

I'm reading How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them--A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide (Paperback)
by Howard Mittelmark (Author), Sandra Newman (Author)

Yes, dear blog readers, I'm actually studying the craft which I hope will spare future editors *some* of the mistakes that, although obvious to readers, are not as obvious apparently to writers. This book has made me laugh out loud at times and blush at others. In fact, since it's written by those who have spent many years rejecting books for mistakes that could have been fixed, my theory is that it's worth a read. Or two. I warn you, however, that it is written with a humorous attitude that takes no hostages so if you're of the sensitive bent, you might not like it. However, if you're that sensitive, you probably don't want to deal with rejection slips either.

Some are obvious mistakes and others may not be. Mistakes such as: plots that forget cell phones exist. If the character doesn't have one and the plot is set in the present, you better explain why. Writing styles that are redundant, sound like an inventory, or work only to flaunt the writer's vocabulary at the sake of taking away from the book are discussed. Making villains ALL bad, which results in cardboard characterization. How not to write dialog. And on and on.

I've also found some great software programs that help organize writing. PowerWrite and Power Structure for PC and I'm checking out Scrivener for Mac which is a powerful, affordable program that appeals to me since it has a virtual corkboard and timeline as well as the ability to look at several screens at once to check research or edit related passages for those domino plot changes - when you change one thing and it affects five others. I used to use index cards but these software programs provide accessible and virtual forms of organization that are very helpful.

So why do I want to do this? I don't know!!!! (oops too many exclamation points)

I've already written a few novels, one of which Meredith really likes, although I feel I've moved on from the Voice Of That Character (too many caps).

My next character could be an elf, a dragon - or another human. Anybody. Just not cats, they warn, unless it's your main character. And if you do have to write about a cat, don't give it a two word name. Like Mister Fluffy. No, not good.

Which blows the idea I had of an undercover feline. Investigator Underfoot? No, huh?

Catholic Writers conference online...

The Catholic Writers Conference Online is almost over, sadly. I've enjoyed it very much, particularly the fact that I can attend without traveling and choose which presentations will help me the most. I'd like to thank all the volunteers who are giving so generously of their time.

We were talking about typewriters before one of the chats (as in the chat before the chat) and reminiscing about IBM selectrics. And when I spoke to a friend about it, she told me of this adorable children's book that was quite successful despite the fact that it is about typewriters which a lot of children today don't know much about, if at all. (It contains other amusing animal tales and is available at amazon.com). Apparently the farmer is quite upset at the noise the cows are making from typing all day! I think the cover is adorable and what a great book idea.

Anyhow, thanks to everyone for sharing their hard earned knowledge with me and for your kind and warm welcome.


[visual image: The cover of a book that reads on top Click clack Moo Cows That Type has three cows in front of a typewriter.]

Catholic Writer's Conference Online

The Catholic Writer's Conference Online runs from May 2-May 8, 2008, as you can see in the widget I have toward the right, but if you want to sign up to attend, April 25 is the last day to do that. If you're interested, click on the widget. It's free to attend, although donations are appreciated. It is presented by the Catholic Writer's Guild and Canticle magazine.

Meredith Gould, the author of Come to the Table and The Catholic Home, will be hosting a session for those interested in self publishing: "Self Publishing as a First Resort." Tuesday, May 6, 8:00 PM and Thursday, May 8 at 11:00 AM. Her talks are both witty and informative!

Go on over to their site. There are many authors and professionals who will be hosting and helping to run this event,including Mark Shea, Tim Powers, Melanie Rigney, Hope Clark (who writes about funding for writers and shy authors for those who may hesitate) and many more -it is a wonderful resource for Catholic writers at all levels.

Read it and weep - or laugh

This is really no more than a few observations about my blog - and blogging.


To date I've had over 33,000 visitors to this site.

This blog will be a year old next month.

I've put up 1345 posts so far.

I"ve had to moderate fewer than a dozen comments.

I've met (and continue to meet) hundreds of great people I never would have met otherwise.

No one seems to like my posts about my cat but I put them up anyhow and everyone tolerates them. Politely.

I receive email on a daily basis from allies and people with disabilities who enrich my life.

The generosity of the human spirit is revealed in many of the comments to my posts - as folks reach out in community to each other.

I cry when I get emails from kids who are bullied because they are disabled.

I started writing this blog because I wanted to make the world easier for my nephew who is also disabled by promoting inclusion.

I continue writing this blog because I met many other people also working toward inclusion.

My nephew probably cares more about going to the movies with me rather than about me writing this blog.

I enjoy reading other blogs more than writing my blog.

I don't think Sr. Mary Martha is really a sister. But I'll bet she has a ruler.

I've never written this blog on the road. But I will someday if someone will carry my laptop. If I do I will no longer have a laptop but a doorstop.

My secret ambition in life was to be a sportswriter after I received my grandfather's typewriter from World War I in a handy carrying case.

I wanted to write novels so badly as a kid I taped conversations and listened to the way people talked to improve how I wrote dialogue. I lost several tape recorders while going through this phase.

As a result of all my experiences, I'm writing a book about inclusion and it's almost half done. I haven't shown it to a soul. I suppose I'll have to get over that at some point.

My book will be dedicated to my nephew and all of our children as they live and work toward inclusion in their daily lives.

Sister, I never did pass gym.....

I've always been a dreamer. When I was a kid, the nuns who taught me encouraged me to use my imagination and write.

So when I got to public high school, I was surprised to find that using my imagination landed me into big trouble within the first month after I wrote a piece for the high school newspaper making fun of gym class.

There was a big hullabaloo about the whole thing. The editor, a senior, protected me, a freshman. It was like a Deep Throat incident. Newspaper staff were leaving each other notes in the girls' restroom as to what they told the administration about the author of the controversial piece. The minute I found out about it, I marched into the office and announced I was the one who wrote the article, which ended the whole thing. I didn't even get detention, just a stern warning not to make fun of anything at the high school ever again.

Right.

As you can see from looking over my blog, I took that advice to heart - not. I think I was too far gone in my outspoken ways by the time the nuns were done with me to ever recede back into the shadows and keep my mouth shut. I was not only a dreamer by the time I finished eighth grade - but an outspoken, articulate one.

To be blunt, I left high school prematurely, obtained a GED and went on to college early mostly because I felt as if I was dying intellectually. The high school I attended had textbooks that were 20 years old, teachers with low expectations and an administration that thrived on keeping the status quo. I never looked back or regretted leaving and moving on.

Of course, they refused to issue me a diploma although I'd completed enough credits in the few years I went there and was ranked first in my class. The reason?

I didn't have enough credits in gym class.