You think it woulda happened sooner...

I have always loved to read. But, when the question was posed about what book saved my life, I was at a loss. This was weird because I have read so many books -- I mean when there were difficult times in my life, I escaped into a book. However, I cannot recall any one specific book. Also, in a literal sense, I don't think I was ever in a position where a book saved my life, like my Webster's Unabridged Dictionary stopped a stray bullet from hitting my forehead. So, I just kept on thinking...and it finally hit me -- WHAMMO! I'm not sure if this counts, but the book that saved my life is my journal, which is still a work-in-progress and helps to save me a little each time I crack it open to make an entry. Let me explain: Back in February of this year, my mom was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer and, well, the whole situation was surreal seeming to have come out of left field. The doctors gave her six months. I was reeling from that news, as well as from some other things happening in my life. I felt that I was going to explode and I started shutting down because I didn't want to deal with anything. About a week later, a close friend gave me a beautiful journal and told me to write, it will help with what I'm dealing with. I'm thinking, "I write all the time..." but there is something different about putting the pen to paper literally. Of course, computers make things easier sometimes, and maybe faster...but I couldn't track my writing process (all the scribbles, arrows, carrots, etc.); I couldn't bring my computer anywhere I felt like; and, I couldn't doodle during thinking with a computer. My friend said that the journal was meant to be a therapeutic tool and it is. Who knew there was someone out there who understood me better than myself? I started writing thoughts, then some poems and eventually started what I hope will morph into a novel. I lost my mom in July and when I'm alone at night and the grief gets a little too much to bear and I can't sleep no matter what, that journal keeps me company and helps me work through it. My journal is my buoy.

Hunter S. Thompson

I know that the topic of "politics" is kind of a no-no, but with the upcoming election and everyone a political pundit, it's a topic that is hard to escape. BUT this is going somewhere regarding writing, people, don't worry! A friend of mine recently recommended that I read the works of Hunter S. Thompson because the author has a unique writing style that I might find entertaining. (There are some of you who have heard of the movie "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" starring Johnny Depp -- it's about Thompson.) Now personally, I'm not a big fan of non-fiction, but I trust my friend's opinion, so I picked up two books: Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie Trapped Like a Rat in Mr. Bill's Neighborhood and Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of and Outlaw Journalist (The Gonzo Letters, Volume II). I began the Better Than Sex book and I haven't been able to put it down. It follows Thompson's experience during the campaign of the '92 election and it's a doozy. Thompson's sometimes crude, almost always humorous, and his analogies are "out there," but it is informative (albeit biased) regarding the happenings during a big-time political campaign that We The People aren't typically privy to. I cannot wait to finish this book and continue on with Thompson's other works. On a tangent, a question that is sometimes thrown out there to people are "name three people you would like to have lunch with." There are different variations on this query, such as the number of people or that the people can be alive or dead. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is Hunter S. Thompson I have added to my list. Unfortunately, he would be on the "dead" list thanks to a self-inflicted gunshot wound back in 2005.

When is it overkill?

Okay, so the topic today is how does a writer know when to stop with the details in a story. What is reasonable to assume your readers know? This is a subject I'm constantly struggling with in my own writing. From an artist's viewpoint, I want to paint as clear a picture as possible to my audience of what is happening in the story -- a mental movie, if you will. But there are instances when I am reviewing my work and I'm like, "Dang! I'm like that person who won't shut up at a party!" I believe that everyone knows someone who is so intent on describing the minutae that they lose their audience, whether it be out of boredom or because he or she has strayed so far off topic, they have no idea what the hell the point is anymore. When reviewing some of my pieces, it is hard for me to figure out what is relevant and what isn't to the story. I mean, I KNOW what I want to say, I can SEE the story/movie playing in my head, but I'm afraid of ASSUMING that the reader knows what I'm talking about. So I end up in Overkill Land. The only solution I have come up with is when I finish writing something, I hand it off to a friend for review, preferably to someone I haven't been brainstorming with because they know what my intentions are in a story. Also, the value of workshopping can not be underrated either. What I would like to know is for all of those professional writers out there, do they struggle with this issue also? Or do they hand off their work for review to either friends or editors in order to find out if they need to add or subtract from their stories? It would help to know what the Chosen Ones think on this topic of details.

Muse Online

Sometimes inspiration doesn't visit me when I need it. That pressure of "oh you have to write an 8-page story due in, hmm, two days" sometimes sparks some ideas, but more often it just creates an incoherent whirlwind in my head, ideas flashing by like the occasional cow or maybe pick-up truck in a tornado -- saw enough to know what the object it, but it is gone before you can get any specifics. So, when I visited Big Window and saw all the writing exercise ideas, it was a huge relief. Hopefully, I will never have to suffer through another Writer's Block again! (yeah, right HAHA!) Below are just a few of my favorites:

http://theothermother.typepad.com/bigwindow/2008/08/im-a-blur.html -- Try this while riding on a train, subway, bus, or car. At a high speed, the familiar suddenly becomes the unfamiliar. Try writing while riding. Capture the blur. Warning: it is illegal to try this writing exercise while driving in the state of California.
I suffer from motion sickness, so I'm usually staring out the window in a moving car, train, etc. I thought this was a cool idea because trying to write about the little blurred peek of the new "surroundings", which is totally abstract, could create some great writing. Colors, the feeling I am experiencing about my destination and where I just left, the people traveling with me -- all into the mental melting pot dripping onto the page.


http://theothermother.typepad.com/bigwindow/2007/07/altering-alters.html -- Altering Alters All -- Dan has posted some great new work on his Altered Books blog.
I like that the poem is a piece of art when it is completed. There is no stress to this writing because the words are right there in front of you. Depending on what the tone of the poem you chose to highlight is, you can emphasize the effect with the use of color. I’m actually going to try this!

http://theothermother.typepad.com/bigwindow/2006/03/open_19.html -- Write a poem consisting solely of overheard conversation. (Source: Charles Bernstein, 66 Writing Experiments)
I love to people-watch. I also amuse myself with some of the conversations I overhear. I never thought to put it together into a poem, but I can see how this would be interesting. Especially when it's really crowded and people are moving fast all around you, like in a mall around Christmas time.

James Joyce

Okay, I'm going to admit it: I'm not a big James Joyce fan. My opinion of his work is (1) either I'm too ignorant to understand his genius, or (2) that he purposely made his work so confusing and no one wanted to admit that they didn't "get it", so they touted it to be some of the greatest writing of all time. Personally, I'm going with No. 1 because that many scholars can't be wrong. Anyway...that isn't really the assignment here, so forgive my digression.

In my research of James Joyce, I was surprised to find out that his family dealt with poverty. I always assumed (yes, I know where assuming often leads...) that he came from a wealthy family. He seems to have a good grasp of the elite, but then again, it was as if he was poking fun at them. I understand that his father was a tax collector, but because he aired some negative opinions in a poem, he ended up losing his job. Good for him, however, not when you have ten kids to feed. Which leads me to the next fact I learned: I was surprised to find out that James Joyce came from such a large family -- I always thought that a sense of lonliness pervaded his works. Why that led me to believe that he was an only child, I don't have a clue.

I wish I had known a little more background on James Joyce prior to my assigned readings in the past. I think I would have read into his stories a little more and maybe even enjoyed them a bit. Once all this craziness of the semester settles down, I'm going to have to give ol' Jimmy another chance...