Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 138

'Pay attention! Your novel's right there!'

 

 “Ialways tell my students, 'If you walk around with your eyes and ears open, youcan't possibly live long enough to write all the novels you'll encounter.'” – JillMcCorkle
Born in Lumberton, NC on this date in 1958, McCorkle is not only one of America’s pre-eminent short story writers, but also a longtime writing professor -- most recently at North Carolina StateUniversity.   Before that current stint, she also taughtat Tufts, UNC, Duke, Harvard and Bennington, but has always found time to do writingfor herself, too.  In the process she’s won numerous awards, including theprestigious "Dos Passos Prize."
While her short stories shine – particularly stories like Going Away Shoes – she also wrotea wonderful novel, Life After Life,about the residents of a retirement center. I can guarantee you all the emotions when reading thiswonderful book.
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McCorkle says she follows an unusualwriting style.   “I work in a way that is not linear orchronological at all, even with the short story.  I will just be writingbits and pieces, and then when I have all the pieces on the table, that for meis when it feels like the real work begins.”

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A Writer's Moment: 'Pay attention! Your novel's right there!'

A Writer's Moment: 'Pay attention! Your novel's right there!':     “I always tell my students, 'If you walk around with your eyes and ears open, you can't possibly live long enough to write all...

A Writer's Moment: 'That vicarious experience of history'

A Writer's Moment: 'That vicarious experience of history':   “Writers displace their anxiety on to the tools of the trade. It's better to say that you haven't got the right pencil than to sa...

'That vicarious experience of history'

 

“Writers displace their anxiety on tothe tools of the trade. It's better to say that you haven't got the rightpencil than to say you can't write, or to blame your computer for losing yourchapter than face up to your feeling that it's better lost.” –  Hilary Mantel

Born on this date in 1952, Mantel was the first woman to win the prestigious BookerPrize twice – for the first two novels in her fictional trilogy of ThomasCromwell’s rise and fall in the court of Henry VIII.  Wolf Hallwon a basket of awards and was adapted to a stageplay and a BBC Masterpiece Theater production. 
Bring Up the Bodies, wasa multiple writing award-winner and also a BBC show.  And while not a Booker winner, the third installment, TheMirror and the Light, was honored with other awards and showcased Mantel’s ability to reach readers of all ages.  “History offers us vicariousexperience,” she said.   “(And) it allows the youngest student topossess the ground equally with his (or her) elders.”         

Mantel, who died from a stroke in 2022, established herself as a great historical writer as well as agreat biographer and autobiographer with many of her tales based on her own experiences, includingthe terrific EightMonths on Ghazzah Street, set in Saudi Arabia.
“If you get stuck (in your writing), get away from your desk," Mantel advised. "Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music,meditate, exercise.  Whateveryou do, don't just stick there scowling at the problem.  Don't make telephone calls or go to a party; (because)if you do, other people's words will pour in where your own lost words shouldbe.”

'The most interesting expression'

 

“Literature is one of the mostinteresting and significant expressions of humanity.” –  P. T.Barnum

Politician,showman, and businessman, Barnum was born on this date in 1810.  He foundedthe internationally acclaimed Barnum & Bailey Circus, and promoted some ofthe most widely sought after events of his time, including concerts – truly thefirst promoter of what today would be called “rock star” tours.  His promotion and nationwide tour of Swedishopera singer Jenny Lind earned hundreds of thousands for himself and Lind andshowed him the true power of great marketing.
He staged dozens of theatrical productions - also the first to be“toured” -  organized flower shows, beauty contests, dog shows and poultrycontests.  His most popular were babycontests (fattest baby, handsomest twins, etc.)         .

Barnum also was an author,publisher, philanthropist, and for some time a politician, but he always saidof himself, "I am a showman by profession...and all the gilding shall makenothing else of me.”  As a writer andeditor, he started a pictorial weekly newspaper Illustrated News andwrote an autobiography, which through many revisions sold more than one millioncopies.  An avid reader, he encouragedeveryone to read, read, read, especially newspapers.  “He who is without a newspaper is truly cutoff from his species.”

 

But, of course, it is hisshowmanship and marketing that have stood the test of time.  “Without promotion,” he once said, “somethingterrible happens... nothing!”

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A Writer's Moment: 'The most interesting expression'

A Writer's Moment: 'The most interesting expression':   “Literature is one of the most interesting and significant expressions of humanity.”   –   P. T. Barnum Politician, showman, and bus...

A Writer's Moment: 'Nudging the world a little'

A Writer's Moment: 'Nudging the world a little':   “I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge t...

'Nudging the world a little'

 

“Idon't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you getthe right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little or make apoem which children will speak for you when you're dead.”– Tom Stoppard
Born on this date in 1937 in what isnow the Czech Republic, Stoppard left as a child when the Nazis invaded andbuilt his life in Great Britain where he was Knighted for his contributions to literature and the literary arts.  Stoppard has written prolifically for thestage, TV, radio, and film on the themes of human rights, censorship and politicalfreedom. 
Nearly all his works (including his newest Tony Award winner "Leopoldstadt") havewon some type of award.  He has authored 3 dozen plays, 17 original pieces for radio andtelevision, and 15 movies.  He won a“Best Original Screenplay” Oscar for Shakespearein Love, and additional Tony Awards for Rosencrantzand Guildenstern are Dead, The Real Thing, Travesties, and The Coast of Utopia.
 Listed among the all-time most important cultural figures in British history, Stoppard was selected for "The America Award," a lifetime achievement literary awardgiven to international writers.                                      

“When I began writing, Ihad a need to know more about the play before I got into it,” Stoppardsaid.   “...... But myactual experience is that the best way to find out what the structure is, is bywriting the play out laterally. You just have got to be brave enough to startwithout knowing where you are going.”

A Writer's Moment: 'An entrance to the world'

A Writer's Moment: 'An entrance to the world':       “A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to b...

'An entrance to the world'

 

 

 “A good question is never answered. It is nota bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear moreseed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.” –John Ciardi

 

Born in Boston on June 24, 1916 Ciardi opened thedoor to the wonders of poetry to generations of young peoplewho continue to study his works worldwide.  To see the breadth and depth of his poetic style, check out – Homeward to America and OtherSkies,  A much sought after teacher,he directed the famed Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont and once noted,"The classroom should be an entrance into the world, not an escape fromit.”  For Saturday’s Poem, here is Ciardi’s,

 

                                                 Lines

I did not have exactly a way of life
but the bee amazed me and the wind's plenty
was almost believable. Hearing a magpie laugh

through a ghost town in Wyoming, saying Hello
in Cambridge, eating cheese by the frothy Rhine,
leaning from plexiglass over Tokyo,

I was not able to make one life of all
the presences I haunted. Still the bee
amazed me, and I did not care to call

accounts from the wind. Once only, at Pompeii,
I fell into a sleep I understood,
and woke to find I had not lost my way.

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