Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 159

A Writer's Moment: 'Say it clearly . . . with style'

A Writer's Moment: 'Say it clearly . . . with style':   “Have something to say and say it as clearly as you can.   That is the only secret of style.”   - Matthew Arnold   ...

'Say it clearly . . . with style'

 

“Have something to say and say it as clearly as you can.  That is the only secret of style.”  - Matthew Arnold

 

Arnold, born in Liverpool in 1822, is sometimes called the third great Victorian poet, along with Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning.  "Poetry," he wrote, "is simply the most beautiful, impressive and widely effective mode of saying things."  For Saturday's Poem, here is Arnold's,

 

Longing

 

Come to me in my dreams, and then
By day I shall be well again!
For so the night will more than pay
The hopeless longing of the day.

Come, as thou cam'st a thousand times,
A messenger from radiant climes,
And smile on thy new world, and be
As kind to others as to me!

Or, as thou never cam'st in sooth,
Come now, and let me dream it truth,
And part my hair, and kiss my brow,
And say, My love why sufferest thou?

Come to me in my dreams, and then
By day I shall be well again!
For so the night will more than pay
The hopeless longing of the day.

 

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A Writer's Moment: 'The swirl of words tangling with human emotions'

A Writer's Moment: 'The swirl of words tangling with human emotions':   “I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” – James A. Michener A native of Pennsylvan...

'The swirl of words tangling with human emotions'

 

“I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” – James A. Michener
A native of Pennsylvania, Michener was born on this date in 1907 and during his long life (he died at age 90), he wrote 40-plus books, hundreds of essays and short stories, and several screenplays and radio pieces.  The majority were fictional, lengthy family sagas covering generations in particular geographic locales while incorporating solid history.    I first got tuned in to both Michener and my own itch to become a writer when my high school English teacher Clarke Hoover  handed me a copy of Hawaii and said, “Read this and maybe some day you can write like he does.  You have it in you.” 
Trained as a historian, Michener started writing while serving in the Navy during World War II.   His first novel was Tales of the South Pacific.  The book won the Pulitzer Prize and became the foundation for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s long-running award-winning Broadway show and movie South Pacific.
 His novels have sold 80 million copies, almost all based on detailed historical, cultural, and even geological research. Another of my Michener “favorites” was Centennial,    set in my adopted state of Colorado and written to coincide with the state’s 100th birthday in 1976.   Like Hawaii, it documented generations of families whose lives and cultures shaped the history of the state. 
“I think," Michener said, "the crucial thing in writing is to find what you want to do and how you fit in.    What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.” 

'Listen more, talk less'

 

“I always credited my mother with inspiring me to be a writer because she was such a passionate reader. She read poetry to me as a child. But rather late in life, I've come to appreciate my father, the accountant. He was a solid, organized, get-the-job-done kind of person-and you need that piece of it to be a writer, too.”– Judith Viorst
Viorst – a native of New Jersey born on this date in 1931 – is best known for her Children’s classic, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, written from the point of view of a 5-year-old boy and based on her own sons, Alexander, Anthony and Nick (the names of Alexander’s brothers in the story). The book has sold millions of copies around the globe in multiple languages.
In addition to several “Alexander” books, she’s also known for her “Lulu” series and the book The Tenth Good Thing About Barney.  All told, she’s written some 30 books, both fiction and nonfiction.  Her books for adults have often been related to her work as a psychoanalyst researcher.   Also a well-knownnewspaper columnist, she wrote frequently for The New York Times and The Washington Post and was acontributing editor to Redbook.                                               
She once noted that she got steered toward writing in a unique fashion.   “My Girl Scout leader. … told me if I listened more and talked less, I could grow up to be a good writer. I thought that was interesting advice at age 12.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Listen more, talk less'

A Writer's Moment: 'Listen more, talk less':   “I always credited my mother with inspiring me to be a writer because she was such a passionate reader. She read poetry to me as a child....

A Writer's Moment: 'Live your prime whatever its time'

A Writer's Moment: 'Live your prime whatever its time':   “ Be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur.   You must then live it to its fullest.” – Muriel ...

'Live your prime whatever its time'

 

“Be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur.  You must then live it to its fullest.” – Muriel Spark
Born on this date in 1918, Spark applied that philosophy to an award-winning writing career.   In 2008, shortly after her death, she was named by The Times of London as the 8th greatest British writer since World War II – a war in which she served as an Intelligence officer for the British army.   It was during her Army years that she realized she had a knack for the clever use of words, and once the war was over she began a serious writing career.   While serving as editor of Poetry Review she authored several critically acclaimed poetry collections and books of criticism before turning to short stories and novels.
  Best known for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, also adapted as both a play and a movie, Spark lived and wrote in Britain, America and Italy.  She was awarded the Golden PEN Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature in 2006.

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The author of 22 novels and 21 books of nonfiction and poetry, this mother of three also wrote several best-selling children’s books.  

 

 “Parents,” she said, “learn a lot from their children about coping with life.”

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A Writer's Moment: 'An expression of life'

A Writer's Moment: 'An expression of life':   “I arise full of eagerness and energy, knowing well what achievement lies ahead of me.” – Zane Grey   Best known ...

'An expression of life'

 

“I arise full of eagerness and energy, knowing well what achievement lies ahead of me.”– Zane Grey

 

Best known for his novels of the Old West, Grey idealized the American frontier and wrote some 9 million words in his lifetime.  His 1912 best-seller  Riders of the Purple Sagewas the highlight of an amazing 90 books in the genre, many adapted into films and television productions. Overall, his novels and short stories have been made into 112 films, 2 television episodes and the series, The Zane Grey Theater.

 

Born on this date in 1872, Grey grew up in Zanesville, Ohio, a city founded by his maternal great-grandfather Ebenezer Zane, an American Revolutionary War patriot.  From an early age he was intrigued by history and even though he first chose dentistry as a career, he gravitated to writing. 

 

Grey struggled to get his work published and actually self-published his first novel.  Harper & Row, his publisher of choice, consistently rejected his work, including “Riders.”  But Grey wrangled an audience with a senior vice president, made an impassioned plea and got the book accepted.  The rest, as they say, is history – both literally and figuratively.

 

Besides his Westerns, he wrote 2 hunting books, 6 children’s books, 3 baseball books, and 8 fishing books.   His total book sales – which made him a millionaire many times over – have been over 40 million (and still counting).

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A star baseball player in college and as a minor leaguer and a frequent brawler as a young man, his writing depicting both athleticism and fistfights were often cited by readers when talking about the "realism" in his books.  

 

 “Well, what is writing,” he responded,  “but an expression of my own life?”

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