A Writer's Portfolio: October 2011

Review: Inside the Whale by Jennie Rooney

A broadly comedic novel featuring two characters separated by fate (in this case the second world war), with a plethora of attendant eccentricities, quickly turns into a deeply affecting story of thwarted circumstances and belated wisdom. It is the summer of 1939. Stevie and Michael are lovers until Michael joins the Royal Signals, disappears to Africa and doesn't return. Fast forward half a century, and Stevie cannot mourn the recent death of her husband or reveal a lifetime's secret to her daughter and granddaughter. Meanwhile, Michael lies in a south London hospital. Unable to speak, he writes down his story for a sympathetic nursing assistant. Rooney confidently moves between two narrators and shifting times, vividly recreating Blitz-torn London and the Africa of the same period. This book is seriously GREAT!!!

Review: When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

Review:
Why do good things happen to bad people? For some of us, this is one of life’s big questions, bigger perhaps than those all-stars: What makes Iago evil? How can a country justify firing both missiles and schoolteachers? The undeserved job promotion, the bequest without cause, the random assigning of accolades or attention: when unmerited rewards are doled out to others, some of us are capable of descending into decades of moping.

More reviews from the Book Review's Summer Reading special issue. Thus it’s refreshing to read a book that causes us to ask that question’s obverse — the more traditional, Why do bad things happen to good people? Such a book is Sarah Winman’s wonderful, darkly comic first novel, “When God Was a Rabbit.” Starting in England during the 1960s and ’70s, then moving on to New York before and after 9/11, the book is primarily the story of its English narrator and heroine, Elly, and in particular her intense and loving relationships with her brother, Joe, and her very strange best friend, Jenny Penny. The misfortunes heaped on all three are outsize and seemingly never-ending. Job, in comparison, may have gotten off easy.

The troubles begin when Elly’s grandparents die in a bus crash, sending her mother into a long and deep depression. Then Elly learns that she was the result of an unplanned pregnancy and starts to ask a lot of questions about her creator.

“If this God couldn’t love me,” she resolves, “then it was clear I’d need to find another one that could.” This new divine entity is encountered some time later, after she tells her brother that she’s been sexually abused by their neighbor, Mr. Golan. “I’ll get you a proper friend,” her brother declares, as he holds her “in the darkness, as defiant as granite.” The new friend Joe finds for his sister turns out to be a Belgian hare, a pet she names “God,” who sometimes talks to her. Although Joe swears never to reveal Elly’s dark secret about their neighbor, it turns out to be mere prelude to total eclipse: the mentally disturbed Mr. Golan (who has lied about being a Holocaust survivor) commits suicide. And we’re only up to Page 27, kids!
Remarkably, “When God Was a Rabbit” never feels melodramatic or unkind to its characters. Much of this has to do with Winman’s mastery of tone: the narration is dry-eyed but glinting. Of Jenny Penny and her vagabond mother’s home, Winman writes, “They lived in a temporary world . . . that could be broken up and reassembled as easily and as quickly as Lego. Fabric hung from most walls in staggered strips, and around the door frame was a pattern of flowered handprints in pinks and reds that in the dingy light looked like the bloodied hands of a crime scene searching for an exit.”

Winman simultaneously captures the occasionally overwrought self-consciousness of childhood and gently satirizes it. Young Elly quotes Nietzsche at the family dinner table and auditions for the school Nativity play with a monologue about needing money for an abortion and gin. The proceedings are also leavened by the fact that the supporting characters fare much better than the children. Elly’s parents win a lot of money in the football pools, allowing the family to relocate to a huge house in Cornwall. Elly’s lesbian aunt, Nancy, meets with much approbation, both as a film actress and as the family’s unofficial guardian angel.
Though “When God Was a Rabbit” is studded with era-specific references like the Tet Offensive and the shooting of John Lennon, Winman is, with the exception of a 9/11 plotline late in the book, ultimately less interested in historical resonance than in developing complicated relationships between believable characters. This is the kind of book in which a husband, on learning that his sister has consummated a longtime crush on his wife by kissing her, responds: “At last! At least we’ve got that out of the way.” Such moments give the book the feel of real life, which may cause the reader to be caught unawares, as I was, by its heart-rending conclusion.

Winman has an authorial tendency to pick at life’s proverbial scabs. But while her plot traffics heavily in grim incident, she maintains a winning proportion of whimsy throughout. At the very least, she’s created the most amusing and emotionally satisfying work of rabbit deism to come down the pike in a long time. I give it five carrots.

Review: The Help

Synopsis:

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

Review:

A new classic has been born. Kathryn Sockett's "The Help" will live in hearts and minds, be taught in schools, be cherished by readers. The three women who form its core, idealistic Skeeter, loving Aibileen, and sarcastic, sassy Minny, narrate their chapters each in a voice that is distinctive as Minny's caramel cake no one else in Jackson, Mississippi, can duplicate.

These stories of the black maids working for white women in the state of Mississippi of the 60s have an insiders' view of child-rearing, Junior League benefits, town gossip, and race relations.

Hilly is the town's white Queen Bee with an antebellum attitude towards race. She hopes to lead her minions into the latter part of the century with the "enlightened" view of making sure every home in Jackson, Mississippi, has a separate toilet for the help. Her crusade is, she says, based on clear hygienic criteria, which will save both blacks and whites from heinous diseases.

Despite the fact that the maids prepare the food, care for the children, and clean every part of every home, privy to every secret, many of the white women look at their black maids as an alien race. There are more enlightened views, especially those of Skeeter, a white, single woman with a college degree, who aspires to more than earning her MRS. Skeeter begins collecting the maids' stories. And the maids themselves find the issue of race humiliating, infuriating, life-controlling. Race sows bitter seeds in the dignity of women who feel they have no choices except to follow their mamas into the white women's kitchens and laundries. Aibilene says, "I just want things to be better for the kids." Their hopes lie in education and improvement, change someday for their children.

There is real danger for the maids sharing their stories as well as danger for Skeeter herself. The death of Medgar Evers touches the women deeply, making them question their work and a decision to forge ahead, hoping their book can be published anonymously and yet not recognized by the very white women they know to the last deviled egg and crack in a dining room table.

The relationships between the maids and the white children, the maids and some kind employers, including "white trash" Cecilia Foot, illuminate the strange history of the South. The love Aibileen shows for Mae Mobley matches the love Skeeter felt as a white child from her maid-nanny Constantine.

This is the best book I have read in years. But I would have liked to have seen characters that were a bit more multi-dimensional. The maids depicted here were for the most part without failing, their white female employers almost universally despicable. As a male reader, I couldn't help but notice that the few men depicted were pretty miserable people, from the stereotypical wife-beating husband of Minny to the mostly one-dimensional husbands. The one standout was the senator, who was an entertaining character that leapt off the pages and added some variety.

Then again it is compulsively readable while teaching strong truths about the way the United States evolved from a shameful undercurrent of persistent racism to the hopes and dreams of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Ultimately, will the next generations children learn (and be taught) that skin color is nothing more than a wrapping for the person who lives within?

Review: The Sky Is Everywhere


"One boy helps her remember . The other lets her forget."

Summary -

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey.

But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding.

Review - Nelson's debut novel is a largely introspective exploration of grief and how that affects your choices, actions and those around you. In the aftermath of her sister's death, Lennie starts living a different life - one without Bailey, one without colour and purpose. Lennie's existing rather than living letting her friends fall away, her music and even her relationship with her grandmother.

Death, grief, secrets and guilt are all strong themes throughout this novel which makes it an emotional read. That being said, the numbness that cloaks Lennie seems to permeate onto the reader at times. Nelson beautifully shows the movement of Lennie's feelings, memories and loss within poems that periodically appear but some are more effective than others.

The edge of the book comes in the relationship that forms between Lennie and Bailey's boyfriend, Toby. This pairing might come from left field for some readers as they had previously had very little relationship to speak of. In their united grief they find a connection, one that shows itself in an overtly physical way. Loss manifests itself in many ways and both characters have chosen to punish themselves while touching on the person they miss most. It's a complex idea, one strongly rooted in their ability to voice their emotions instead choosing to expend them physically. It's dark and hot and tinged with much sadness.

The light and shade of grief and all the emotions that colour it were truthfully conveyed throughout. The addition of Joe and his preoccupation with Lennie and their attraction for one another contrasts well with the primal connection she shares with Toby. The author has presented an emotional tug of war that Lennie can't voice or even choose, it just is. The boys are both layered and interesting without being "bad". They are distinct from one another and each offer her something different, immediate solace or the promise of forever. Both are flawed in that their previous relationships have strongly impacted their dealings with Lennie. It's an interesting conundrum - I do wish there had been further exploration of Toby's dilemma as it is by far the most complex of the three. There is no bad person in this triangle, only strong emotions, grief and compulsion.

Lennie is serious, contemplative and very aware of the beauty that exists around her in sight and sound. She is wallowing her grief and in some respects its the romantic in her that permits hers the missteps that she makes. She makes mistakes, she allows herself to make choices that would not have occurred before her sister's death. She's not a dynamic character but she possesses a soulfulness that you don't often read.

Nelson's language and depiction of grief is beautiful, thoughtful and at times complex. Lennie is a nuanced character who subtly and quietly navigated her loss. The language was slightly problematic at times as it felt forced when the majority of the wording was so effortless. Some of the transitions between Lennie's feelings, particularly the strength of her attraction versus that of her love could also have been smoother. Nelson's attempted something complex and subtle and she's largely been successful.

The Sky is Everywhere is an all encompassing study of grief, the strength of a sisterly bond, the power of attraction and love and ultimately the importance of being true to one's self. Jandy Nelson has debuted onto the YA stage with a sensitivity and sensuousness that conveys a multitude of feelings from grief to desire to love. An absorbing read.

I never liked any YA novel, but this was an exception. It's a must read for all.

REVIEW: Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant

REVIEW

Sacred Hearts, author Sarah Dunant's latest, is an engrossing, fascinating story about cloistered nuns set in 16th century Italy in the fictional convent of Santa Caterina. Inside the walls of this world apart, a community of women works, prays and lives out its life. While many women heard the call of God and followed, many were placed without their consent, by families unable or unwilling to pay a marriage dowry in a time and place where women had no options apart from marriage.

As the novel opens, a young woman named Serafina has just arrived; gifted with a rare singing talent, and one of those confined against her will, she rails against what she believes to be imprisonment and pines for her lover, a music teacher. Serafina is ministered to by Suora Zuana, the convent's de facto doctor and a middle aged woman cloistered since the death of her father years ago. Zuana is charged with helping the young novice to adjust by Madonna Chiara, the powerful and skilled abbess, who has her own hands full with the political and religious turbulence of the counter-Reformation and a rival within the convent, her second-in-command Suora Umiliana.

What follows is an immensely satisfying novel, full of rich characters, suspense, intrigues and twists and turns. Dunant drew me in from page one and held my attention throughout; her style is nimble and graceful- readable and intelligent without being too dense or heavy. She paints a picture of a largely contented community of women, full of people who may not have chosen the veil but who have found a way to make a life within its limitations. Chiara is as skilled and wily as any politician and Dunant shows a place where the women are encouraged to use their natural gifts for the betterment of all, whether they be gifted singers, artists or diplomats. There is also mystery and mysticism, and somewhere, real faith on display as well. It's a book about religion- and about a particularly oppressive form of religion- that manages to critique it quietly, with respect for those who embrace it. Sacred Hearts is a beautifully written novel that captures what we fear- and was fascinates us- about a life we will never know, and a world that no longer exists.

REVIEW: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, by Winifred Watson

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, by Winifred Watson. Originally published 1938. This edition 2008 by Persephone Books.

I picked up Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day after seeing the movie of the same name. The movie was delightful- sunshine on the screen. The book is sunshine on the page.

Miss Pettigrew is the story of a poor single woman, Guenivere Pettigrew, in 1930s England who is having trouble finding work. She ends up, quite by accident, in the employ of one DelysiaLaFosse, a gorgeous, bubbly young actress who needs someone to keep her head on straight and her boyfriends at bay. As we watch her bumble her way through a thicket of romantic entanglements, we wonder, which man will Delysia end up with? Will Miss Pettigrew be cast out on to the streets? What will become of either woman?

First of all, if you've seen the movie and you want to read the book, be aware that there are some differences between the two. The filmmakers took license to create dramatic situations in the movie that don't exist in the book, and certain characters that barely merit a mention in the book are major players in the movie. The book also has some drug references absent from the film. But you'll recognize it nonetheless- the premise is the same, and Miss Pettigrew and Delysia, Delysia's dilemma, and the romantic entanglements, and the story's slapstick humor and pacing, remain the same.

The story is told hour by hour from Miss Pettigrew's point of view, and recited in a delicious, delightful period voice that captures the heady chaos of Delysia's and Miss Pettigrew's life. As the hours tick by, we see Miss Pettigrew change from a shy mouse who feels like an impostor and believes herself unworthy of love, to a more confident woman who just might be ready to change her life. Delysia learns that she deserves more too, and these transformations- and the sweet friendship between the two women- are what makes this Cinderella story so wonderful. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a delight from start to finish. As I came to the end I actually teared up a little at Miss Pettigrew's happy ending. You will, too!

REVIEW: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,

by Sherman Alexie. Published 2007

by Little, Brown and Company.

Alexie's book is the story of a young boy known as Junior who's growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation. He's got some medical problems and he gets bullied a lot; his parents are unhappy; his older sister runs away. But he's got some things going for him, too- he's determined to get a good education and manages to get himself transferred to an all-white school off the reservation, where he excels at basketball and learns to believe in himself.

I loved this book. I loved it. I laughed and cried with his struggles, his victories and his defeats. Junior'sAlexie tackles some tough issues- racism, poverty, addiction, discouragement and the deep pessimism that comes when you feel like the whole world is against you. Things don't always go well for Junior and he doesn't always win but he does his best and he does well.

The Absolutely True Diary is a book I wish I could give to every kid I know and everyone who ever was a kid. It's brilliant and beautiful and wonderful. I loved Alexie's writing, which, although clearly enough for a teen audience, doesn't condescend or talk down and shows craft and skill enough for any adult to appreciate. Ellen Forney's comic-like illustrations, which pepper the story, are cute and sweet and darkly funny. I burned through it in about three days over the summer when I was home sick and can't think of a better way to spend time than reading this lovely gem of a book. dysfunctional family is every dysfunctional family, and his problems are the problems of every kid who ever felt like he didn't fit in or that nobody understood him (or her). He pushes his way through the pain of racism, defeatism and adolescence with a tenacity that was so affecting for being so real.

Review: Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

The Bottom Line

Stephen King's On Writing provides insight into how a writer is formed and how one persists over time. King's ideas on craft and technique are astute and down-to-earth.

Pros

Stephen King's approach to writing is down-to-earth and often funny.
Highly readable with much useful advice on writing.
King is passionate both about writing and about conveying what he has learned about it.

Cons

There are better-written books on writing, but his insights are always worth reading.

Description

One of the best, and most well-known, books on writing in recent years.
Insightful and down-to-earth.
Worthwhile for both beginning and professional writers.

Guide Review - Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Though Stephen King may not be the all-time best writer out there, he is certainly one of the most prolific, and for that alone, this book warrants attention. The first section of the book is exactly what the subtitle leads one to expect: a memoir of one writer's life, from childhood experiences that shaped him as a writer to the experiences that hindered him in adulthood, in particular King's struggle with alcoholism.

Though King credits his prolificness to good health and a stable relationship, I imagine that his down-to-earth approach to writing also helps. This healthy attitude toward craft comes through in the second section of the book, which includes advice on everything from grammar to choosing an agent. My favorite bit of advice, and somewhat surprising considering his prodigious output, was,

"Put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around."

The toolbox metaphor that pervades this section further speaks to his humble approach to his calling.

It's obvious from reading On Writing that King loves to write and feels lucky to have done it for a living all of these years. This joyful approach to writing, and his real insights into craft more than make up for a sometimes-clunky writing style.

You will find an even better review here by Mameve Medwed.

Verb Workout

1. Sit down with a stop watch or set the timer on your microwave and see how many action verbs you can write down in two minutes. Now, use your dictionary and/or thesaurus to find at least three synonyms and three opposites (antonyms) for each one. Memorize them all.

2. Find a passage from a book or magazine story you’ve recently enjoyed and re-read it, marking (or making note of) all the verbs you can find. Analyze the passage critically, taking notice of such things as active vs. passive voice; action verbs vs. linking verbs; the specificity of the verbs (does the author use a lot of adverbs or do the verbs paint a clear enough picture all on their own?).

3. Now look at that same passage on another level: Note any images that particularly touch you or spark your imagination. Can you identify what is affecting you? If so, try duplicating the technique in your own work (at this stage, imitation is a perfectly legitimate way to start finding your own voice as a writer).

This Creative exercise is from Ements of Creative Writing I: Grammar And Mechanics

Storyteller Exercise

This writing prompt is based on one in Julia Cameron's book The Right to Write. Fans of her better-known book The Artist's Way, will enjoy this exercise, which exercises the subconscious.

Instructions
Imagine that you're sitting against a tree. A storyteller is sitting on the other side of the tree. On a piece of paper, list five stories you would like to hear. Choose one of the ideas, and write down what the storyteller says.
Use the exercise as an opportunity to free associate. The goal is to let go of your conscious mind as much as possible and force you to listen to your subconscious. Think about what it was like as a child to have someone tell you a story. Try to recreate that experience with your imaginary storyteller. What kinds of stories did you like to hear as a kid? What stories do you like now?
If you're having trouble getting started, you might begin by describing your storyteller. Does she look like a librarian or like a gypsy? Maybe he has a long beard like a wizard or a tramp. Who would you like to have tell you a story?

Review of Oxford American Writer's Theasaurus

The Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, billed as "the first thesaurus for writers, by writers," attempts to adapt and augment the standard dictionary-style thesaurus to better serve writers. Additions include excerpts from Garner's Modern American Usage, an overview of basic grammar, and lists of words, in spectrums and toolkits, to help you choose the best one.

Essays from Contemporary Writers

The biggest difference between the Writer's Thesaurus and others are the mini-essays on selected words written by eleven contributing authors, including David Foster Wallace, songwriter/musician Stephin Merritt, Francine Prose, and Zadie Smith. Whether or not these essays add value to the standard reference book will depend on the reader. Fans of the writers will be curious to read their take on certain words. Teachers and librarians, trying to persuade students to use books rather than the Internet, will recognize the value of having famous — even celebrity — writers on board. How better to seduce young people into using a reference book than by including indie musicians and trendy novelists?

Older versus Younger Thesaurus Users

However, for older writers, these essays will be interesting, but gratuitous. Most people only buy one thesaurus in their lifetimes; over the long run, pieces like these only take up valuable pages. While the Writer's Thesaurus has the same number of synonyms as the gold standard Roget's International, the entries are shorter and the price higher. (The Writer’s Thesaurus only comes in hardcover.) As for the usage notes, experienced writers will probably have picked up a usage book in the course of their educations. Young writers, on the other hand, might appreciate having everything between two covers. Given the current pressures on the book industry, these features are smart for marketing; whether or not they’re as valuable for the consumer is another matter.

Conclusion

If you don't own either a thesaurus or a usage book, or if you're a fan of one or more of the contributing authors, then the Writer's Thesaurus is a worthwhile investment. The entries for synonyms are as good as most thesauri, and you'll enjoy having everything in one place. For writers who seek the best thesaurus, don’t need a usage guide, and don’t mind veering from the standard dictionary format, the classic Roget's International will be more satisfying in the long run.

Review of The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

When I picked up The Artist’s Way a year ago, I very much resembled the skeptics Julia Cameron describes in her opening chapter. And like them, I found that despite my cynicism, her technique worked, helping me unpack the life experiences that led to that particular moment of writer’s block and build new habits to overcome it.

A recovering alcoholic, Cameron provides a 12-step program to help readers through a process of “creative recovery.” Readers study one chapter a week and then respond to questions such as “Time Travel: List three old enemies of your creative self-worth. . . . Your historic monsters are the building blocks of your core negative beliefs.” In addition, the 12-week course supplies readers with daily and weekly assignments — morning pages, artist dates, and exercises — that help them to develop creative habits.

This book is an absolute must for beginners.

(You can find the book here)

A Question Asked

Today I am going to share a question that Kristen has asked and answer it as well.

***********************************************************************
Raisa B. H.
I seriously want to write perfect prose but I just dont know where to start from. Some say grammar is more important for lush prose. Others say a huge vocabulary is more important.But I think my main problem is that I cant express myself, how I feel or what I see or smell or hear. Can U tell please tell me how I can overcome this problem and be able to express myself properly?

Kristen
***********************************************************************

Hello Kristen,

You should be praised for trying to perfect your prose. Yes, grammar and a good vocabulary are very important, but many people who have excellent grammar and an extensive vocabulary, are not good writers.

One suggestion is to obtain books by fine writers, read their prose and then try to imitate it. For example, read a paragraph and get the idea into your head. Then put the book away and see if you can rewrite the paragraph. It does not have to be word-for-word, but the ideas should be very close. In this way, you can use your vocabulary or extend it, and then when you compare your paragraph to the original one, you can see if you have used correct grammar. Do this every day, and soon you will be writing better prose. You could also buy a current magazine that has well written articles. Again, read a paragraph and try to imitate the idea and style. You will begin to imitate the usage and phrasing. All of this takes time, but the amount of time you invest will pay off. Soon you will be writing on your own without needing to imitate.

Another idea is to find a native English speaker and ask that person to read something you have read and make suggestions or corrections. This person should be willing to work with you and not just say, "That sounds good to me."

Let me know if these suggestions help, and good luck.

Capture A Dream

Dreams are strange and wonderful things. We have only tantalizing hints at what function, if any, they perform, what service they provide. They could be as simple a thing as the semi-conscious mind attempting to turn flashes of memories into sense, into stories. Or they could be more complex, as if your mind were turning over thoughts and ideas on its own, unbidden by you, working out problems, thinking of outcomes. Perhaps, at the extreme of possibilities, when sleeping the mind enters or opens to different quantum states and see into the infinite dimensions and parallel universes. The least likely possibility is that dreams are prophetic.

Dreams are often fragmentary, strange, and unsettling. And they are the place where writing begins.
The telling of stories, the act of experiencing them, is so fundamental to humans that it’s literally built in. Some say that movies are dreams made real, but I say that movies are pale things in comparison to dreams. Someday, perhaps, when fully immersive virtual reality is perfected, we might spend time, fully conscious, inside dreams. But for now we must rely on our fading memories of what we dreamt.

For the writer, paying attention to dreams, recording them, playing with them, is a potential gold mine. When you write, you strive for unleashed creativity and it’s very difficult to achieve, but in dreams that’s the natural state, the place where you begin. It is very useful for writers to jot down their dreams, to capture what they can of the experience of dreaming, and record not just the events of the dream, but the emotions, the experiences, and the turning points. When you wake, what did the dream make you feel? That may be as important as the dream itself.

I am personally very poor at capturing and recording dreams, but I intend to get better at it. I don’t think I can immediately wake and capture a dream, but I can try and let dreams echo around until I have the time to sit down and make a few notes. You can do the same thing.
For today’s writing assignment, record a dream. It could be a dream from last night, if you can remember it, or it could be one that stuck with you, even one that reoccurs. Try and capture everything you can about it, the events, your dreaming thoughts and emotions, and what it made you think and feel upon
waking.

“Thirteen billion years ago the universe exploded...”

Yeph. That's right! Write a story with that.

Working With Cliches

This week’s writing assignment is as easy as pie. We all know that idle hands are the devil’s playthings, so pick up your pen and put your shoulder to the grindstone.

Yes, today we’re working with cliches.

I remember when I first read Hamlet. As I was working my way through it I couldn’t help but think, “This the most cliche-ridden piece of hack work I’ve ever read!” It took me a bit to discover that Shakespeare wasn’t the hack I thought he was. It’s everyone after him who reuses his phrases that has made them into cliches.
Cliches, the little phrases, the shortcuts, that litter our common speech and language, aren’t necessarily the poison that English teachers have led us to believe. They’re the way that people talk, and if you’re writing dialog you can’t avoid them without sounding stiff and unnatural. And they do offer shortcuts, easy ways to quickly pull a reader in, to convey complex information.

As long as you don’t overdo it. Limit them to once in a blue moon.

You can also twist a cliche to change its meaning, to redirect a reader, to make them pause and say, “Wait. What?” This is especially useful when you combine cliches in interesting ways. It may help you get out of the woods and into the frying pan.

For today’s assignment, write a short piece packing it with as many cliches as possible. Your object is to have fun, but also try to communicate an idea or thought.

For help finding cliches, use the helpful http://www.clichesite.com/site.

Copy! Its Good.

One of the best ways for an artist to practice a craft is to emulate the style of its masters. It’s harder than it sounds. You have to do more than just copy surface attributes. You have to understand how they do what they do, what makes it work, and why it affects you. As you practice and emulate different artists, you’ll discover your own style.

Musicians work this way, and in their early careers they’re often labeled as “a young Charlie Parker” or “the new Jerry Lee Lewis” (we still have the old one, by the way, no need for another). Some never grow out of copying and fade away, but others develop their own sound, their own style, and become the models for future artists.

For writers, it’s particularly easy to fall into copying great writers and that’s a perfectly cromulent way to practice one’s craft. Write a piece like Jane Austin or Ernest Hemingway. Write like Edgar Allen Poe or Arthur Conan Doyle. Try Vonnegut or Capote or Greene. I dare you. It’s much more difficult than you might imagine.

I, for one, have been reading my favorite books from my favorite author, Mark Twain. These novels are masterworks. I find that as I lose myself in these books that his style creeps into my own. It’s fun to try and see how the language works in practice. And it’s damned difficult.

For today’s exercise, select one of your favorite authors and write a short piece using their style. You do not have to use their subject material, just their personal style. For example, write a short piece about preparing a meal using this appropriated style.

This is a good assignment to repeat as often as you can.
You may leave your completed assignment in the comments section below.

This assignment is from Writing Assignments by Randy Murray.

How to journal ?

The Easy Way - You don't have to be a great writer, perfect speller, or creative thinker to keep a personal journal. Journal writing means that you regularly write down your thoughts and experiences.

The Hard Way - A journal is a continued series of writings made by a person in response to their life experiences and events. Diaries contain a description of daily events. A journal may include those descriptions, but it also contains reflections on what took place and expresses emotions and understandings about them. It doesn't matter what you call your writing, either a diary or journal, as long as you see the distinction between these two ways of writing.

Ever wondered why, when you read your journal, you are left with a question mark? Why you don't "feel" anything although you probably wrote down every single emotion you had felt ?

Here's the reason:

We journal only so that we can preserve our memories forever and so that we can experience the same thing over and over again. Its not only writing YOUR thoughts and YOUR feelings, but capturing the experience itself. It must contain what led to the situation, what happened during it, what was happening elsewhere or what others were doing, the climate, the weather, in fact everything that will allow you to re-live that part of your life, and then, only then you can finally look back and describe your thoughts. Journaling means capturing life and just wriggling down some words about thoughts and feelings wont make that happen, in fact if you write in such a way , after a few years when you read your journal you will be left with a big question mark. Write, in whatever way it requires, to transfer yourself completely, fully to a certain day of your life. This is the key to true journaling and this is the the key to any great piece of writing.

Why You should Keep a Diary or a Journal

The Story Of Charles Lidenberg :

Diaries, the ultimate in personal writing, can sometimes lead to writing that is the most widely read of all. Such was the case for Anne Morrow Lindbergh in the 1950s.

Taking a break from her difficult marriage to Charles Lindbergh and from her hectic family obligations, this dedicated diarist took some days for herself in a remote cottage on Florida’s Gulf Coast. There her reflections, initially written only for herself, eventually came to print in 1955 in a short book titled Gift from the Sea. It became one of the bestselling books of the century, striking a responsive chord with American women on the eve of the feminist movements of the 1960s.

It means that each day is something more. At least you’ve done something to make it stay by putting something down.

The Story Of Irving :

While Anne Lindbergh was reflecting near a warm sea, an ambitious young reporter was covering the Cold War from inside Khrushchev’s Soviet Union, for the new medium of television. With his serious reporting on NBC and ubiquitous bow tie, Irving R. Levine became a television icon to a generation of Americans.

Irving has kept a diary and personal correspondence dating back to the 1940s. He recently re-read some old letters, finding things he had totally forgotten until he relived them half a century later.

"I have a letter describing my trip over to Europe the first time, on the Queen Elizabeth, and striking up an acquaintance with an Eva Pawlik, who was an Olympic skater, and then having dinner with her in Paris. I had forgotten that," he said in a recent interview.

This former newsman is a fast typist, and these days he writes his diary on the computer before printing it out. His diary also serves a metaphysical purpose.

"It means that each day is something more. At least you’ve done something to make it stay by putting something down. I like grabbing the day in some form."

The Story Of Darlene Kostrub:

"I tell people to keep a five-year journal, and nobody values it until they do."–Darlene Kostrub

Darlene Kostrub, the executive director of the Palm Beach County (Florida) Literacy Coalition, keeps several journals, each by hand. They are an important part of what keeps her centered in her busy professional and family life. She keeps a regular diary (usually starting a new one each year), a gratitude journal for occasional lists of what she is thankful for, and a book of days, sometimes called a five-year journal. This last kind of journal devotes just a few lines for each day, and each page holds entries for that same day for five years.

Of her book of days, Darlene explains: "I only put something there if it’s significant—when somebody dies, is married, if my kids broke up with somebody, or where we spend our family birthdays or the Fourth of July. I can tell you where we were and what we did."

Each year, on her close friend’s birthday, the two of them go out to celebrate. This year Darlene told her friend what they had done for each of the last five birthdays, "She couldn’t believe it. She was really impressed; it was gone from her mind," Darlene says. "I tell people to keep this kind of journal, and nobody values it until they do."

It’s not too late to start your own journal. No matter how little you write, or how irregularly, it can yield rewards in the coming years that will be worth far more to you than the minutes you invest in it today.

They say a friend is a gift you give yourself. So is a journal.

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