The Story: Word Shop Newsletter November 2007
In this information age, attention is a limited commodity. We work to focus, to scrape together some leftover scraps of attention for the task at hand. Perhaps the attraction of a work of art is that it has captured not only an object, but also the attention of the artist. A leaf is only a leaf. But a drawing of a leaf holds both the leaf and the artist's attention.In the act of writing/drawing/building/gardening our attention resonates between inner and outer realities. We are able to stop and listen to ourselves, and at the same time, to look deeply at something outside ourselves. The act of bringing anything--a thought, a picture, a song--from our inner reality into the physical world can be transformative.
It is also difficult. Now, in this Christmas season, we work to find objects that will reflect our love and care for each other. Whether we decide to make something, or scurry around trying to find the perfect present, we are in the throes of creation. We are trying to calcify our attention into some object, trying to incarnate or enflesh our love in such a way that the recipient will get the message. What a novel idea!
"The only gift is a portion of thyself." -Ralph Waldo EmersonOne night my soul felt brittle, like a tree out of water. A few pages into Ann Patchett's The Patron Saint of Liars, I felt something inside soften--the whitened branch expanding with moisture. Amazing what good writing and the promise of a story worth reading can do. I had seen an ad for Patchette's newest book, Run, and remembered that I'd enjoyed Bel Canto. In The Patron Saint of Liars, lives intersect at a home for unwed mothers. $12.99 new. I'll be finished with this half-priced copy before the week is over.
"A good book is the life blood of a master spirit." -John MiltonWhat is Joyce Meyer's name doing on a novel? She is a prolific Christian teacher/inspirational writer...but a novel? The Penny showed up in a box of inspirational romances. It is by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford. Maybe Meyer gave her name to help Bedford sell the book. Maybe it was her idea and Deborah fleshed it out. I was intrigued enough to read the book. Not bad. A child's eye view of life with an abusive father. Hope and horror running side by side. $6 for this nice hardback copy.
Dave Empey, long time Toastmaster and member of the First Tuesday Writers Group, took the nanowrimo.org challenge. That's NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth: write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. As of this writing he's up to 47,733 words and counting. He'll be sharing his experience at The Word Shop on the First Tuesday in December. 7:15 PM. You're welcome to join us.
"It's splendid to be a great writer, to put men into the frying pan of your imagination and make them pop like chestnuts." -Gustave FlaubertMeanwhile there's energy coalescing around having a novel writers' group on Monday afternoons in 2008. That's novel writing as in narrative fiction--not novel writing as in "what a novel idea." I suppose we'd let in people working on short stories or creative nonfiction as well. But no poets. Gotta draw the line somewhere. Well....maybe ballads.... Twice a month, I think. $25 registration plus $5 for every meeting you miss. Maybe some required texts as well.
"There are three rules for writing a good novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." -W. Somerset MaughamI am pleased to announced that people are actually buying my book, Using the Word. Some are even buying multiple copies for Christmas presents. O wonder of wonders. Comments from friends are coming in: "It actually had content! I thought it would just be fluff." "Surprisingly good." With friends like these...
Shawn has laid the foundation of a usingtheword.com website. I'm trying to figure out how to fix the READERS COMMENTS page so that readers can actually leave comments. The PURCHASE page at least has price with shipping. Nonetheless, the only way you can buy it so far is through me. $5.99. You won't find it cheaper at Costco or Amazon. Tra La Tra La. Hit reply, write words.
"All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography." --Federico FelliniSeven Story Mountain is an autobiography by Thomas Merton. We once sold a first edition for $700. Even though I thought I had read it, I couldn't remember anything about his early life. I brought it home (not a first edition this time) and on the opening page was a quote that I've used for years:
"The integrity of an artist lifts a man above the level of the world without delivering him from it." --Thomas MertonSo I must have started it. But why don't I remember anything? A little bit later I came to the part where he roasts the C of E. I remember reading that, I remember where I was lying on what bed when I read that. Pre 1989--the rooms have changed. But why don't I remember anything else? Either the book is singularly forgettable or I stopped at the roast. Well, I'm a third of the way through now. $7 when I'm done.
"What's the use of religion without personal spiritual direction? Without Sacraments, without any means of grace except a desultory prayer now and then, at intervals and an occasional vague sermon?" --Thomas MertonWhat's the use of Christmas without Jesus?
Once upon a time when the nights were cold and the roads were old, a couple traveled to a far city. She was pregnant...
Blessings,
Alliee +
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