Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 68

'Think, Imagine, Write'

 

“Whatit takes is to actually write: not to think about it, not to imagine it, not totalk about it, but to actually want to sit down and write. I'm lucky I learned thathabit a really long time ago. I credit my mother with that. She was an Englishteacher, but she was a writer.” – Luanne Rice

 

Born in New Britain, CT on this date in 1955, Rice has been a regular on the New York Times’ Bestseller List.  Her 36 novels have been translated into 26languages and 5 have been made into movies – two of which were selected forTV’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame.”

Manyof her novels deal with love and family, although it is about nature and thesea that she truly excels.  Among herworks are The Lemon Orchard, LittleNight, The Silver Boat, and Sandcastlesand her most recent The Shadow Box .  She had her first published poem at age 11 andher first short story when she was15.  Her debut novel, AngelsAll Over Town came at age 30.

As a just-beginning novelist, Ricewould sit in on lectures on criminal law and evidence, mesmerized by how thecases would unfold and getting ideas for her writing. 

 

 She said she enjoys doing research, and also writes down herdreams – both of which make up parts of her work.  But, she said, she bases many characters onreal people, including those she knows.  

 

“While novels are fiction,” she said, “mine areusually very close to my heart.” 

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A Writer's Moment: 'Think, Imagine, Write'

A Writer's Moment: 'Think, Imagine, Write':   “What it takes is to actually write: not to think about it, not to imagine it, not to talk about it, but to actually wa...

A Writer's Moment: 'The first job of a writer: Be honest'

A Writer's Moment: 'The first job of a writer: Be honest':   “I think young writers should get other degrees first, social sciences, arts degrees or even business degrees. What you...

'The first job of a writer: Be honest'

 

“Ithink young writers should get other degrees first, social sciences, artsdegrees or even business degrees. What you learn is research skills, anecessity because a lot of writing is about trying to find information.”– Irvine Welsh

Born in Scotland in September(“Sometime in the 1950s”), Welsh is perhaps best known for his novel Trainspotting,also made into a critically acclaimed film.   His work often depicts thehardscrabble life of his native home of Edinburgh, where he grew up the son ofa dockworker and waitress.

 

After dropping out of high school,he tried his luck at a variety of jobs before getting into the London musicscene, where for a time he thought his success might rest with writingsongs.  But it was while telling some ofthe tales of his childhood and his upbringing that he was encouraged to startwriting down the stories that led to Trainspotting.  

 

Despite being lambasted by some as“too mean,” it became an almost instant success and started him on his writingpath.  He has now authored 14 novels –the most recent being this year’s Resolution–  plus half-a-dozen books of short storiesand many plays and screenplays.

 

“The first job of a writer is tobe honest," Welsh said. "Writing is about culture and should be about everything. That's what makes it what it is.”

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A Writer's Moment: Choices for 'the wise writer'

A Writer's Moment: Choices for 'the wise writer':   “My idea is always to reach my generation. The wise writer writes for the youth of his own generation, the critics of t...

Choices for 'the wise writer'

 

“Myidea is always to reach my generation. The wise writer writes for the youth ofhis own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of everafterward.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

Born in Minnesota on Sept. 24, 1896Fitzgerald is heralded as one of the greatest American writers with aremarkable output despite dying at age 44 from illnesses mostly attributed tostress and alcoholism.   Internationallyrenowned for books like The Great Gatsbyand Tender is the Night, Fitzgeraldalso wrote hundreds of short stories reflective of what’s been called “The JazzAge.”

 

Named for his distant cousin FrancisScott Key (author of “The Star Spangled Banner”), Fitzgerald attended Princetonbut dropped out to join the U.S. Army during World War I.  It was at Princeton that he both started hiswriting and met future wife Zelda, a major influence on his writing career,which took off right after the war.

 

While his writing star burnedbrightly, he said he found the process difficult. “All good writing,” he said,“is like swimming under water and holding your breath.”   He said sometimes he wished he couldstart over, leading to his famous statement: “There are no second acts inAmerican lives.”

 

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A Writer's Moment: 'Pressing each experience a little further'

A Writer's Moment: 'Pressing each experience a little further':   “My job as a human being as well as a writer is to feel as thoroughly as possible the experience that I am part of, and then press it a...

'Pressing each experience a little further'

 

“Myjob as a human being as well as a writer is to feel as thoroughly as possiblethe experience that I am part of, and then press it a little further.”– Jane Hirshfield

 

Born in New York City in 1953, Hirshfield is an essayist and poet.  Her individual poems and books of poems have been recognized with numerous national and international awards.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is Hirshfield’s,

The Heat of Autumn

The heat of autumn
is different from the heat of summer.
One ripens apples, the other turns them to cider.
One is a dock you walk out on,
the other the spine of a thin swimming horse
and the river each day a full measure colder.
A man with cancer leaves his wife for his lover.
Before he goes she straightens his belts in the closet,
rearranges the socks and sweaters inside the dresser
by color.

That's autumn heat:
her hand placing silver buckles with silver,
gold buckles with gold, setting each
on the hook it belongs on in a closet soon to be empty,
and calling it pleasure.

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A Writer's Moment: Full immersion for bestselling results

A Writer's Moment: Full immersion for bestselling results:   “I write novels, mostly historical ones, and I try hard to keep them accurate as to historical facts, milieu and flavor...

Full immersion for bestselling results

 

“Iwrite novels, mostly historical ones, and I try hard to keep them accurate asto historical facts, milieu and flavor.” – Gary Jennings

Born in Virginia on this date in1928, Jennings wrote both children's and adult tales up until 1980.  But after writing his bestselling historical novel Aztec, he switched entirely to historical fiction up until his death in1999.  

 

A self-taught writer, he startedas a war correspondent, documenting the Korean War and being awarded a BronzeStar for heroism in the process.   Afterthe war he combined writing for newspapers with his creative work beforedeciding in 1968 to devote himself full time to fiction.

 

Known for immersing himself in histopics, his sometimes massive novels were lauded for their historical detail.   He spent 12 years in Mexico researching Aztec and its sequel Aztec Autumn; and he joined9 different circus troupes to write his bestseller Spangle. 

 

In the course of his writing helearned that many words modern writers take for granted simply didn’t exist inthe time periods he wanted to represent and thought that might be a bookproject in the making.

 

 “There is a real need for a good, thick,complete-as-possible dictionary of 'What People Used to Call Things,’ ” Jenningssaid.  “I could list hundreds of wordsI've come up against in the course of my work that did not exist in the era ofwhich I was writing and for which I never could find a suitably old-time,archaic or obsolete substitute.”

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