Secondhand Inspiration

Flame: The Snare of Style

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I don’t want a style. Or I don’t want to be defined by a particular style. It’s taken years to evolve to this viewpoint, but I prefer each writing project, big or small, to invent itself without preset limits.

Once a writer determines what his or her style is, they are finished. Because then they’ve defined their own boundaries and subconsciously resist crossing them. They hear the voice of restriction resonating inside their heads louder than the voice of creativity. At that point they might as well tap out.

So I want to believe that I don’t have a style. I have poems and books and stories and undefined literary blobs that develop on their own and discover their own voice - their voice, not mine. And I want to maintain this blissful illusion until I die.

Secondhand Inspiration: How can more time = less writing?

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“More time to write can be just as daunting as no time to write.” Christi Craig contemplates on her blog how the rare anomaly of having too much time set aside for writing can actually impede progress. She also provides some key suggestion of how to overcome this phenomenon. Worth the read.

http://christicraig.com/2015/05/20/ive-got-all-day-to-write-um-now-what/

Secondhand Inspiration: April = National Poetry Month

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April is almost here. Which means it's time for National Poetry Month. Below are several sites/resources for those always-helpful prompts to write poetry. Since I’ve been creatively constipated lately, I'm looking forward to using these offerings to help kick-start my poetry practice in April.

2015 Poetic Asides PAD (Poem-A-Day) Challenge

http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2015-april-pad-challenge-guidelines

Poetry Super Highway Prompt-A-Day for National Poetry Month

http://poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/a-poetry-writing-prompt-a-day/

NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month)

http://www.napowrimo.net/about/

Guidelines are guidelines-not suggestions.

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The well-written piece by C. Hope Clark linked below talks about the pitfalls of writers not following submission guidelines or familiarizing themselves with a publication before sending their work in. When you think about it, doing these two things can reduce wasted energy by both writers and editors.

http://www.fundsforwriters.com/follow-the-guidelines-is-not-a-cliche/

Spark: Kurt Vonnegut Writing Tips

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In his book Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Vonnegut listed eight rules for writing a short story:

  • Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
  • Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
  • Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
  • Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
  • Start as close to the end as possible.
  • Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
  • Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
  • Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Secondhand Inspiration: Kevin Young’s Essay on Langston Hughes

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Occasioned by February being Black History Month, but worth reading at any time: Kevin Young on Langston Hughes’s The Weary Blues.

Langston Hughes became one of my favorite poets when I first got serious about writing. After reading Kevin Young’s splendid essay about the context in which The Weary Blues was published (as well as background on the jazz aesthetic and blues form), I want to revisit some of Hughes work, both for muse and pleasure. Add that to my reading list.

Flame: “How We Write About Love”

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Happy Corporate Sponsored Synthetic Romance for Profit Day. Believe me…I'm not anti-love, but I am against the systematic pimping of love to spike revenues for no truly logical reason during mid-February.

On this Valentine’s Day, here are some keen observations on how we write about love, from Daniel Jones, who edits the “Modern Love” column for The New York Times. Enjoy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/style/how-we-write-about-love.html?_r=1

Secondhand Inspiration: About Talent…

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"Talent is a wonderful thing, but it won't carry a quitter." - Stephen King, from Duma Key

I’m not one to normally quote Stephen King, but he’s spot on with this statement – both in writing and everyday life.

Think about how many people you’ve known with immense talent or a knack for success. Then think about how many of those folks sustained that success. Proves one thing – there’s just no substitute for hard work.

Secondhand Inspiration: Insights from a Contest Judge

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I present to other aspiring fiction authors this revealing article from Nina Badzin: “Your Cover Letter Does Not Matter, and Other Insights from a Contest Judge.”

Read it with an open mind and you’ll get something out of this piece. The keen thoughts Ms. Badzin has on carefully using the f-bomb in flash fiction is well worth the read.

Spark: 500 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing

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For those who need a sharp kick to the seat of their pants to write, I present a motherlode of golden prompts to re-up your creative juices.

The list found at the links below touches on categories ranging from sports to travel, education, gender roles, video games, fashion, family, pop culture, social media and more. May you find the right prompt amongst these to spark you towards your next great story or essay.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/500-prompts-for-narrative-and-personal-writing/?_r=2

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/learning/pdf/2014/500PromptsNarrativeAndPersonalWriting.pdf