Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 44

A Writer's Moment: 'Using history as the writing engine'

A Writer's Moment: 'Using history as the writing engine':   “Once you have your characters, they tell you what to write, you don't tell them.” – Alan Furst    Born in New York City on this ...

'Reflecting life as you see it'

 

“I think that when you're writingfiction what you're doing is reflecting life as you see it, and putting downhow you think and how other people think, and the sort of confusions that youdon't normally like to admit to.” – Helen Fielding

 

Born in England on this date in1958, Fielding is the novelist and screenwriter who created one of the most successful“characters” of all time – Bridget Jones.  And,Fielding said, it all came about because she was hung up on how to complete adifferent book on which she was working. 

 

“I was writing an earnest novelabout cruises in the Caribbean and I just started writing 'Bridget Jones' toget some money, to finance this earnest work,” she said, “and then I justchucked it out.”

  

Bridget was an outgrowth of Fielding’snewspaper column about single life in London.  That led to Fielding’snovel Bridget Jones's Diary, named by The Guardian of London asone of ten novels that best defined the 20th century. There havenow been 4 Bridget books and 4 movies.  Thenewest movie Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is just out intheaters and getting great reviews.

 

Fielding has earned numerous writingaccolades and is listed as one of Britain's 500 Most Influential People.  The BBC’s “Woman’s Hour” included BridgetJones as one of the 7 women who had most influenced British female culture overthe last seven decades – the only one who was not a real person.  In asurvey conducted by The Guardian newspaper Bridget Jones'sDiary was named as one of the ten novels that best defined the 20thcentury and in 2024, The New York Times named it one of the 22funniest novels since Catch 22.  

                   

“If we can't have comedy bookswritten about aspects of womanhood without going into a panic attack about it,then we haven't got very far at being equal,” Fielding said.  “Comedy tends to come out of things which arequite painful and serious.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Reflecting life as you see it'

A Writer's Moment: 'Reflecting life as you see it':   “I think that when you're writing fiction what you're doing is reflecting life as you see it, and putting down how you think and h...

A Writer's Moment: 'Fascinated with people . . . and what they do'

A Writer's Moment: 'Fascinated with people . . . and what they do':   “I don't know that I am fascinated with crime. I'm fascinated with people and their characters and their obsessions and what they ...

'Fascinated with people . . . and what they do'

 

“Idon't know that I am fascinated with crime. I'm fascinated with people andtheir characters and their obsessions and what they do. And these things leadto crime, but I'm much more fascinated in their minds.” –  Ruth Rendell

 

Bornin England on Feb. 17, 1930 Rendell created a brand of crime fictionthat explored the psychological background of both criminals andvictims.  In the process she became one of the world’s leading crimeand mystery writers.

 

Rendellstarted writing in her late 20s and then just never really stopped until herdeath in 2015.   During that 60-year career, she wrote hundredsof novels and short stories, 24 featuring a Chief Inspector named Wexford, and somesuccessfully adapted for television. 

 

Shealso wrote 30 stand-alone mystery and crime novels and 15 under the pseudonymBarbara Vine.  She won virtually every major mystery and crimewritingaward and was honored with the title of Baroness by the Queen.  

 

“Ihave had quite a lot of prizes,” she said, “but I don't think it makes anydifference to the ease or difficulty to the writing process.”

'You create - like a sculptor'

 

“I think most serious writers,certainly in the modern period, use their own lives or the lives of peopleclose to them or lives they have heard about as the raw material for theircreativity.” – Chaim Potok

Born in New York City on this date in 1929, Potok’s very first book, TheChosen, ended up on The New York Times’ bestseller list for 39consecutive weeks and sold more than 3.4 million copies. Not a bad firsteffort. Ultimately – up to his death in 2002 – he would write 20 books, many plays and dozens of essays.

 

Raised in a strict Jewish householdand encouraged to read and study only orthodox Jewish writings, he said knew hewanted to take a different writing path after reading Evelyn Waugh'snovel Brideshead Revisited as a teenager.  He said Waugh was lifelong writing hero androle model after that. 

 

Potok produced his first fiction atthe age of 16 and at 17 submitted his first story to The AtlanticMonthly. Although it wasn't published, he received a note from the editorcomplimenting his work and softening “the sting” of rejection.   Less than 10 years later he had his firstbook on the market.   

 

Also an artist, Potok permeated hiswritings with the language of art.  Onecritic called him "The Michaelangelo of the written word."  Hewryly answered that the only time he felt like Michaelangelo was when he wasdoing revisions.   

 

“I think the hardest part of writingis revising,” he said.  “A novelist, like a sculptor, has to createthe piece of marble and then chip away to find the figure in it.”

A Writer's Moment: 'You create - like a sculptor'

A Writer's Moment: 'You create - like a sculptor':   “I think most serious writers, certainly in the modern period, use their own lives or the lives of people close to them or lives they have...

A Writer's Moment: 'Roads to good intentions'

A Writer's Moment: 'Roads to good intentions':   “Well, I had this little notion - I started writing when I was eleven, writing poetry.     I was passionately addicted to it; it was my gr...

'Roads to good intentions'

 

“Well, I had this little notion - Istarted writing when I was eleven, writing poetry.   I waspassionately addicted to it; it was my great refuge through adolescence.” –Harry Mathews

 

Born in New York City on Valentine’sDay, 1930 Mathews was the author of many volumes of poetry and several novels.   He also worked as a translator of Frenchlanguage writings and was the first American chosen for membership inthe prestigious French literary society Oulipo.  He wrote right upuntil his death in 2017, and among his best-known poetic works were ArmenianPapers: Poems 1954-1984 and The New Tourism.  ForSaturday’s Poem, here is Mathews’,

 

                                        Shore Leave

Allroads lead to good intentions;

Eastis east and west is west and God disposes;

Timeand tide in a storm.

Allroads, sailor’s delight.

(Manyare called, sailors take warning:

Allroads wait for no man.)

 

Allroads are soon parted.

Eastis east and west is west: twice shy.

Timeand tide bury their dead.

Arolling stone, sailors delight.

“AnyPort” – sailor take warning:

Allroads are another man’s poison.

 

Allroads take the hindmost,

Eastis east and west is west and few are

                                                chosen,

Timeand tide are soon parted,

TheDevil takes sailor’s delight.

Onceburned, sailors take warning:

Allroads bury their dead.

'The hardest thing I know'

 

“Writing is the hardest thing Iknow, but it was the only thing I wanted to do. I wrote for 20 years andpublished nothing before my first book.” – KentHaruf

 

Born in Pueblo, CO, on this date in1943, Haruf finally broke through the barrier in 1984 with The TieThat Binds, not only establishing his writing credentials but also earningboth a Whiting Award and a Hemingway Foundation/PEN citation for excellence.

 

His novel, Plainsong, ahuge bestseller published in 1999, is considered one of the best ever writtenabout Western U.S. small town life.  And his last novel, OurSouls at Night, completed just before his death in 2014, was adapted into apopular film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.

 

The son of a Methodist minister,Haruf first started writing in high school and further studied writing atNebraska Wesleyan University and at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he earnedhis MFA.   All of his novels are set in thefictional town of Holt, CO, based on the small Western plains’ town of Yumawhere he resided in the early 1980s.

 

“I write in a journal first,briefly,” he said of his writing process.  “Then (I) read somethingI've read many times before, for about half an hour, then rework what I wrotethe day before.   You have to believe in yourself, despite theevidence.”