Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 36

A Writer's Moment: Every day an adventure'

A Writer's Moment: Every day an adventure':   “Mystery writing involves solving a puzzle, but 'high suspense' writing is a situation whereby the writer thrusts the hero/heroine...

A Writer's Moment: Writing with 'a terrible honesty'

A Writer's Moment: Writing with 'a terrible honesty':   “I don't like poetry that doesn't give me a sense of ritual; but I don't like poetry that doesn't sound like people talkin...

Writing with 'a terrible honesty'

 

“I don't like poetry that doesn'tgive me a sense of ritual; but I don't like poetry that doesn't sound likepeople talking to each other. I try to do both at once.” – MillerWilliams

 

Born in Hoxie, AR on this date in1930, Williams was studying to become a zoologist when his love of writing gotin the way.  By the time of his death in 2015 he had produced some 40books, created and read a poem at the Presidential Inauguration of fellowArkansan Bill Clinton, and helped found The University of Arkansas Press.

 

His first collection of poems, EtCentera, was published while he was still an undergraduate student inbiology at Arkansas State University.  His treatise on writingpoetry, “Making a Poem: Some Thoughts About Poetry and the People WhoWrite It,” is regularly studied in colleges and universities around theworld.    

 

A critic once wrote that Miller had"a terrible honesty" and "(wrote) about ordinary people in theextraordinary moments of their lives."   

 

Among his many awards were thePorter Prize Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement in Writing, the National Poets’Prize – for his collection Living on the Surface – and theNational Arts Award for his lifelong contribution to the arts. 

 

“I respond to mood. I hear somephrase, or pick up a rhythm,” he said of his writing style.  “I alwayshave pen and paper with me.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Drawing from life . . . as you see it'

A Writer's Moment: 'Drawing from life . . . as you see it':   “[The writer] must essentially draw from life as he sees it, lives it, overhears it or steals it, and the truer the writer, perhaps the bi...

'Drawing from life . . . as you see it'

 

“[The writer] must essentially drawfrom life as he sees it, lives it, overhears it or steals it, and the truer thewriter, perhaps the bigger the blackguard. He lives by biting the hand thatfeeds him.” – Charles R. Jackson

 

Born in New Jersey on April 6, 1903Jackson wrote several bestselling novels, including The Lost Weekend, also adapted into anAcademy Award-winning Best Picture.  The novel – hisfirst – and subsequent film thrust Jackson into a limelight in which he wasn’talways comfortable, although he did enjoy a fairly distinguished lecturecircuit career from the book and film successes.

 

At Syracuse University he studiedjournalism and wrote for a number of newspapers before gravitating to books –both writing and selling them.  He wrote several more novels, anumber of well-received short stories, and had a very successful stint as ascriptwriter for radio soap operas.  

 

Hospitalized for a number of yearswith tuberculosis and alcoholism, Jackson took about a 15-year break beforewriting one more successful book, the semi-autobiographical novel ASecond-Hand Life, shortly before his death in 1968.

 

During his long hiatus, Jacksonblamed the demise more to his inability to handle his early successes ratherthan his  illnesses.  “Thewriter knows his own worth,” he lamented, “and to be overvalued can confuse anddestroy him as an artist.”

'A wise woman, indeed'

 

“A wise woman wishes to be no one'senemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim.” –  MayaAngelou

Born in St. Louis on April 4, 1928,Angelou was a poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist and recipientof dozens of awards.  She was presentedthe Presidential Medal of Freedom and more than 50 honorary degrees before herdeath in 2014.    For Saturday’s Poem, here isAngelou’s,                                                                                                                         

                             When You Come

            When you come to me, unbidden,
                         Beckoningme
                        To long-ago rooms,
                         Wherememories lie.

                         Offeringme, as to a child, an attic,
                         Gatheringsof days too few.
                         Baublesof stolen kisses.
                         Trinketsof borrowed loves.
                         Trunksof secret words,

                          ICRY.

A Writer's Moment: 'A wise woman, indeed'

A Writer's Moment: 'A wise woman, indeed':   “A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim.”  –  Maya Angelou Born in St. Louis on Ap...

Creating 'a unique bond of trust'

 

“There'sa unique bond of trust between readers and authors that I don't believe existsin any other art form.  As a reader, I trust a novelist to give mehis or her best effort, however flawed.” – Dan Simmons

 

Bornin Peoria, IL on this date in 1948, Simmons is an award-winning author ofscience fiction, horror and fantasy, sometimes all within the same novel. Atypical example of Simmons' intermingling of genres is his World Fantasy Awardwinner Song of Kali, a tale surrounding a mysterious cult thatworships the Indian god Kali. 

 

Aftera number of modest successes, Simmons became internationally renowned for Hyperion,which won both the Hugo and Locus Awards for the best science fictionnovel.    He followed that book’s success with 3 more booksand several short stories in a series that concluded with another awardwinner, The Rise of Endymion, also winner of the Locus and afinalist for the Hugo.  

 

Simmonsalso writes mysteries and thrillers and said he enjoys moving among genres. Hislatest novel is the just-released (2025) historical thriller Omega Canyon.   

 

“Ithink it's one of the strangest attributes of this profession,” he said, “thatwhen we writers get exhausted writing one thing we relax by writing another.”

A Writer's Moment: Creating 'a unique bond of trust'

A Writer's Moment: Creating 'a unique bond of trust':   “There's a unique bond of trust between readers and authors that I don't believe exists in any other art form.  As a reader, I tru...

'A fountain of gladness'

 

“The land of literature is a fairyland to those who view it at a distance, but, like all other landscapes, thecharm fades on a nearer approach, and the thorns and briars become visible.” –Washington Irving

 

Born in New York City on this datein 1783, Irving is one of America’s earliest and most beloved storytellers,best known for his tales about "Rip Van Winkle” and "The Legend ofSleepy Hollow.”  His book of shortstories, simply known as The Sketch Book, was the first widely readwork of American literature, helping advance the international reputation ofAmerican writers.

 

Also a noted essayist, biographerand historian,  he also was one of the leading diplomats of his time,serving as U.S. Ambassador to Spain in the 1840s – a time when relationsbetween our young nation and the well-established European nation werecrucial.  

 

Among Irving’s historical writingswere bestselling biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith, andMuhammad, and histories of 15th-century Spain on subjects such as ChristopherColumbus, the Moors and The Alhambra.  

 

 Irving was a tireless advocate forstronger copyright laws to protect the young American writing community at atime when their works often were pirated, and he was instrumental in helpingcreate international copyright laws.

  

Noted for his kindness and supportof others, he said, “A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everythingin its vicinity freshen into smiles.”