Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 92

Finding that 'good twist' to tell your story

 

“I'vealways believed that a good twist is one that, when it is presented to theaudience, half of them say, 'I saw that coming.' And half of them arecompletely and totally shocked. Because if you don't have the half that saw itcoming, then it wasn't fair: You never gave the audience a chance to guess It.”– Damon Lindelof

Born in New Jersey on this date in1973, Lindelof is a television writer, producer, and film screenwriter, mostnoted as co-creator of the award-winning television series Lost.  Both praised and criticized for his writing,he says that that’s exactly what any writer worth his or her salt should hopeto achieve.  His ending for the Lost series left some viewers andcritics mystified, some angry, and some feeling great.

Regardless of how it ended, Lostreceived endless praise for its unique brand of storytelling and strongcharacters and the show never fell out of the top 30 throughout its six seasonson the air.   Since then he has had manyother award-winning efforts for both television and film, including the TVshows The Leftovers and Watchmen, and the movies The Hunt and Another Country.

 

“As clichéd as it sounds,” Lindelof said,  “if you have an original voice and anoriginal idea, then no matter what anybody says, you have to find a way to tellthat story.”

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A Writer's Moment: A testament to perserverence

A Writer's Moment: A testament to perserverence:   “Somewhere along the line, I realized that I liked telling stories, and I decided that I would try writing. Ten years...

A testament to perserverence

 

“Somewhere along the line, I realizedthat I liked telling stories, and I decided that I would try writing. Ten yearslater, I finally got a book published. It was hard. I had no skills. I knewnothing about the business of getting published. So I had to keep working atit.” –  Janet Evanovich

 

Bornon April 22,1943 Evanovich now has over two hundred million books in printworldwide, translated into over 40 languages. After those initial struggles, she gained fame and loyal readers withher contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyerfrom Trenton, NJ, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losingher job.

 

Evanovich’sdroll sense of humor (“If you want to cry, you're not going to like my books”) combinedwith a knack for setting up mystery and suspense keeps her readers involvedfrom start to finish.

 

Another“reader involvement” idea is letting readers help name her books.  “Readers were sending in their ideas fortitles,” she explained.  “Sowe thought, ‘Hey, go for it.’ Now we have a contest every year.”

 

During her early writing years she had dozens and dozens of rejection letters but shekept trying and finally connected with a romance novel for which she received$2,000.  “I thought it was an astoundingsum,” she recalled.  Today, her net worthis around $140 million.

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A Writer's Moment: 'The best way to exercise imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'The best way to exercise imagination':   “Being able to write creatively or read creative fiction is the best way to exercise your imagination. “ – Michael Pry...

'The best way to exercise imagination'

 

“Beingable to write creatively or read creative fiction is the best way to exerciseyour imagination. “ – Michael Pryor

 

Born in Australia on this date in1957, Pryor has authored more than 50 short stories and 30-plus novels, manyfor Young Adults and led by his critically acclaimed Laws of Magic series.  Several of his books have been shortlistedfor the prestigious Aurealis Award, given annually for best Young Adultnovels.   Pryor also writes as part of acollaborative for the wildly popular The Quentaris Chronicles, a shareduniverse of fantasy books set in a magical city called Quentaris. 

 

A native of Victoria who now makeshis home in Melbourne, Pryor also wrote an excellent book about “shared”writing, The Art of SuccessfulCollaboration, written (fittingly) in collaboration with Paul Collins.  A frequent speaker and writing coach, he saidhe very much enjoys shared writing and encouraging young writers.                                                    

“I always look on imaginationas one of the most powerful things we can cultivate in young people,” hesaid.  “If they have a good, activeimagination, they can cope with life better; they are... able to imaginepossibilities and to think around problems.“

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A Writer's Moment: 'A goal of clean air and water . . . and respect'

A Writer's Moment: 'A goal of clean air and water . . . and respect':   "Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality a...

'A goal of clean air and water . . . and respect'

 

"Our goal is not just an environment of clean air andwater and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency,quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other livingcreatures."- U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin

Today is Earth Day, the above noted “goal” of the Senator Nelson who envisioned that all Americans – and perhaps all people – would come together to protect the earth, air and water that weneed to survive.
Just out of college, I wasassigned to report on the first Earth Day in 1970.   My editor was skeptical that anything mighthappen but it soon became clear that people were organizing dozens and dozens of projects and I was on the frontline reporting about them.
 By the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990, I had met Sen. Nelson and invited him to be the Earth Day keynote speaker at the Minnesota college where Iwas working. He chose our small school over dozens of other opportunities and spoke eloquently and passionately about his ongoing hope for our world.
  [image error]Gaylord Nelson
“Earth Day achieved what I had hoped for and then some,” hetold the students. “People were given the opportunity to demonstrate their deep concernabout pollutedair, rivers, lakes and oceans; health threatening hazardous waste; urbanblight; pesticide and herbicide poisoning of people, plants, birds and animals;and the destruction of scenic beauty and wildlife habitats."  The author of several books, including Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise, Nelson said Earth Day became the first major opportunity to send a message to politicians "To wake up and do something.  We must recognize that we're all part of a web of life around the world.”

'Why poetry endures'

 

“Poetryendures when it possesses passionate and primally sincere clarity in theservice of articulating universal human concerns.”–  Franz Wright

Wright, born in 1953, won the 2004Pulitzer Prize for his book of poetry WalkingTo Martha’s Vineyard.    In winning the Pulitzer, Wright joined hisfather James Wright in winning the prestigious award – making them the onlyfather-child pair to win in the same category. James Wright won for his 1972 volume, Collected Poems.

 

Unfortunately the Wrights haveanother distinction, both dying fairly young from cancer – James at age 53 andFranz at 62.  But in their short livesthey each left us with a legacy of plowing new ground in the poetic world.   Here, for Saturday’s Poem, is  Franz Wright’s,

 

MorningArrives

 

Morning arrives
unannounced
by limousine: the tall
emaciated chairman

of sleeplessness in person
steps out on the sidewalk
and donning black glasses, ascends
the stairs to your building

guided by a German shepherd.
After a couple faint knocks
at the door, he slowly opens
the book of blank pages

pointing out
with a pale manicured finger
particular clauses,
proof of your guilt.

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A Writer's Moment: 'Why poetry endures'

A Writer's Moment: 'Why poetry endures':   “Poetry endures when it possesses passionate and primally sincere clarity in the service of articulating universal huma...

'Speaking to the thoughtful mind'

 “Greatthoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to allmankind.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Outsideof his political career, Roosevelt, born in New York in 1858, was both a voracious reader and tirelesswriter.  He wrote thousands and thousandsof letters and essays and had 25 books published about a range of subjects,including history, biology, geography and philosophy.
Hiswriting about the American West, in particular, has stood the test of time and is stilloften used by those seeking an accurate depiction of life on the frontier and throughoutAmerica in those times.  And, of course,his concern for our environment and protecting our land for future generationshad more to do with the shape of our current national park system than anyother president before or after.
 [image error] Whenasked once about his decisive leadership in many of these things, he said, “Inany moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the nextbest thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”