Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 76

A Writer's Moment: 'Information In; Creative Responses Out'

A Writer's Moment: 'Information In; Creative Responses Out':   “One of the great joys of life is creativity. Information goes in, gets shuffled about, and comes out in new and intere...

'I never write to disappear or escape'

 

“I never write to disappear and escape. Thetruth is exactly the opposite. Most people strike me as escaping anddisappearing in one way or another - into their jobs, their daily routines,their delusions about themselves and others.” – Steven Millhauser

 

Bornin New York City on Aug. 3, 1943 Millhauser won the Pulitzer Prize for hisnovel Martin Dressler.  And while he has had several successfulnovels, he has earned even more accolades for his collections of short stories.  One of his best-known short stories isEisenheim the Illusionist, made intothe critically acclaimed film TheIllusionist.   And his 2012 collection We Others won The Story Prize, honoringthe best book of short fiction from the previous year.   

                          
A resident of Saratoga Springs, NY he taught writing at Skidmore College until retiringin 2017.  But he has maintained his shortstory writing, his most recentcollection being 2023’s Disruptions. Millhauser has a writing routine that he’s followed for decades. 

 

“Whena story or part of a story comes to me, I turn it over in my mind a long timebefore starting to write.  I might makenotes or take long drives or who knows what?  By the time I give myself permission to write,I know certain things, though not everything.  I know where the story is headed, and I knowcertain crucial points along the way.”

 

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A Writer's Moment: 'I never write to disappear or escape'

A Writer's Moment: 'I never write to disappear or escape':   “I never write to disappear and escape. The truth is exactly the opposite. Most people strike me as escaping and disapp...

Having a 'poetic' conversation

 

“Neveruse the word 'audience.' The very idea of a public, unless the poet is writingfor money, seems wrong to me.  Poetsdon't have an 'audience'.  They'retalking to a single person all the time.” – Robert Graves

Born in England on July 24, 1895Graves was a poet, historical novelist, critic, and classicist who publishednearly 60 volumes of poetry and dozens of other writings in all genres.  Among his 120-plus total volumes was aworld-renowned novel I, Claudius, and a historical memoir on WWII, GoodbyeTo All That. 

 

Graves’s sad love poems have beenlauded by critics and fellow writers as among the finest produced in the Englishlanguage during the 20th Century.  ForSaturday’s Poem, here is Graves’,

 

   A Lover Since Childhood

 

  Tangled in thought am I,
   Stumble in speech do I?
   Do I blunder and blush for the reasonwhy?
   Wander aloof do I,
   Lean over gates and sigh,
   Making friends with the bee and thebutterfly?

    If thus and thus I do,
    Dazed by the thought of you,
    Walking my sorrowful way in the early dew,
    My heart cut through and through
    In this despair of you,
    Starved for a word or a look will my hope renew:

    give then a thought for me
    Walking so miserably,
    Wanting relief in the friendship of flower or tree;
    Do but remember, we
    Once could in love agree,
    Swallow your pride, let us be as we used to be.

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A Writer's Moment: Having a 'poetic' conversation

A Writer's Moment: Having a 'poetic' conversation:   “Never use the word 'audience.' The very idea of a public, unless the poet is writing for money, seems wrong to...

A Writer's Moment: 'Like going on a journey'

A Writer's Moment: 'Like going on a journey':   “I have likened writing a novel to going on a journey, with some notion of the destination I will arrive at, but not th...

'Like going on a journey'

 

“Ihave likened writing a novel to going on a journey, with some notion of thedestination I will arrive at, but not the whole picture - which emergesgradually as a series of revelations, as the journey goes along.”–  Rose Tremain

English author Tremain, born on thisdate in 1943, is a historical novelist and short story writer.  She said she approaches her subjects"from unexpected angles, concentrating her attention on unglamorousoutsiders," an approach that has won her most of historical fiction’smajor awards.

 

Also a long-time professor ofcreative writing (starting in 1988) at her alma mater, the University of EastAnglia, she was the first UAE graduate, first woman, and first writer to benamed Chancellor at the school, a post she held from 2013-2016.

 

She wonBritain’s prestigious Whitbread Prize for Best Novel (Music and Silence) in 1999; the Orange Prize, given to Britain’stop female writer, for The Road Homein 2008; and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for Merivel: A Man of His Time in 2013.   Her 2023 novel, Absolutely & Forever, also has been nominated for the WalterScott Prize.         

  

 Tremain said even though her work is “historical,”there’s a bit of herself in each of her characters, male and female, and shealways goes into her writing with the belief that the day’s output is waitingto be discovered.  “I'm always amazed bywriters who tell me they plan everything at the beginning,” she said.   “I feel their writing days must be verybland.”

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'Constructing consciousness out of words'

 

"Novelists are in the business of constructingconsciousness out of words, and that's what we all do, cradle to grave. The Self is a story we tell." – James Gleick

Born in New York City on this date in 1954, Gleick is a historian of science whose work has chronicled the cultural impact oftechnology on our lives.

A three-time finalist for thePulitzer Prize, he also was a finalist for the National Book Award for TheInformation:  A History, a Theory, a Flood.  Among his other awards are the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and the Royal Society Winton Prize forScience Books. 

 

And,Gleick was the first editor of “The BestAmerican Science Writing Series.”

  

“It is not true that people who accomplish thingsdon't waste time and that people who waste time don't accomplish things,”Gleick said.  “The very concept isill-informed. You can't waste time and you can't save time; you can only choosewhat you do at any given moment.”

 

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On a side note, today marks the 10th anniversary of mywriting this blog.  It's been fun, interesting and a definite "kickstart" to my writing day.  I’veenjoyed finding out about other writers, sharing their words and honoring theirachievements.    Thanks for readingwhat I’ve found.   

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A Writer's Moment: 'Constructing consciousness out of words'

A Writer's Moment: 'Constructing consciousness out of words':   "Novelists are in the business of constructing consciousness out of words, and that's what we all do, cradle t...

A Writer's Moment: 'Like cracking a safe - when you're in, you're in'

A Writer's Moment: 'Like cracking a safe - when you're in, you're in':   “Writing a nonfiction story is like cracking a safe. It seems impossible at the beginning, but once you're in, you&...