Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 99

'Like a piece of ice on a hot stove'

 

“Likea piece of ice on a hot stove a poem must ride on its own melting ... Read it ahundred times, it will forever keep its freshness as a metal keeps itsfragrance.  It can never lose its senseof a meaning that once unfolded by surprise as it went.”

 – Robert Frost

 

This morning, unlike the bird that bothers Frostin the poem below, a bird on our roof was not creating music, but noise.  It was a Flicker that decided to “mark” itsterritory – or maybe it was attract a mate – by drumming with its beak on oneof our vent pipes. 

 

But after giving it further thought, I decideda bird on the roof is still better than no bird at all.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is Frost’s,

 

A Minor Bird

 

I have wished a bird would fly away,
And not sing by my house all day;

Have clapped my hands at him from the door
When it seemed as if I could bear no more.

The fault must partly have been in me.
The bird was not to blame for his key.

And of course there must be something wrong
In wanting to silence any song.

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'Dance to music that's yet to be heard'

 

“Createa compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then translatethat vision into a reality.” – Warren Bennis

Bornon this date in 1925, Bennis was a scholar, organizational consultant andprolific author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of LeadershipStudies.  He was Founding Chairman of TheLeadership Institute at the University of Southern California.
Aleader and innovator almost from his earliest days, Bennis grew up in the NewYork-New Jersey area, was a standout scholar and athlete, and at age 18 becameone of the U.S. Army’s youngest World War II officers.   Winner of the Bronze Star (for bravery) andPurple Heart, he studied at Ohio’s Antioch College after the war, then went onto earn a Ph.D. at MIT.            Hiswriting career began in the early 1970s after he was named President of theUniversity of Cincinnati.  While there heauthored two books on leadership: The Leaning Ivory Tower and TheUnconscious Conspiracy: Why Leaders Can’t Lead.   Bennis,who died in 2014, went to USC in 1979 where hewrote most of his 27 books,including the bestselling Leaders and On Becoming A Leader, bothtranslated into 21 languages.   His book, An Invented Life was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. “There are two ways of beingcreative,” Bennis once said.   “One can sing and dance. Or one can create anenvironment in which singers and dancers flourish.   Leaders must encourage their organizations todance to forms of music yet to be heard.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Dance to music that's yet to be heard'

A Writer's Moment: 'Dance to music that's yet to be heard':   “Create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then translate that vision into a reality.” – Warren Bennis B...

'The heart and core of ages past'

 

“Forbooks are more than books, they are the life, the very heart and core of agespast, the reason why men lived and worked and died, the essence andquintessence of their lives.” – Gene Fowler
Fowler, a longtime journalist, screenwriter and novelist, was born inColorado on this date in 1890.  Duringhis lifetime (he died in 1960) he wrote 20 books, several plays and a coupledozen movie scripts while simultaneously serving as syndication manager forKing Features – a major newspaper service.
I first learned about Fowler whenresearching my book And The WindWhispered because of his interviews and connections with Buffalo Bill Cody,a key character in the book.  Fowler alsowas close friends with actors John Barrymore and W.C. Fields and did one of thebest books ever written about Jimmy Durante, simply called Schnozzola.                                                                Fowler's philosophy for success, he said,was simple:   “Just believe in yourselfand your abilities.  It is always easier tobelieve than to doubt.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The heart and core of ages past'

A Writer's Moment: 'The heart and core of ages past':   “For books are more than books, they are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men lived and worked and died, th...

Avoiding temptation

 

“A goodmany young writers make the mistake of enclosing a stamped, self-addressedenvelope, big enough for the manuscript to come back in. This is too much of atemptation to the editor.”  – RingLardner  I’ve always liked Ring Lardner, an old-timesportswriter from the early part of the last century who wrote with satirical humor and the kind of description that always put you onthe field, on the court, in the boat, or in the locker room with athletesabout whom he was writing.  Friends with F. Scott Fitzgerald and admired by Ernest Hemingway, he also started the column “In The Wake of the News” for the Chicago Tribune and did it so well that it became an establishedpart of that newspaper’s vernacular even to this day. 
I dug out his quote of his after finding an old letter I hadreceived from one of my publishers.  Itwas in one of the Publisher’s envelopes (always a good sign for a fledglingwriter).  Included with their letter of interest in my manuscript was afolded up self-addressed, stamped envelope I had sent to them.  And, like Lardner implies, it was one ofthose full-size 9x12 models, big enough to hold the entire manuscript (which Ihad foolishly sent thinking, “Gee, how could they possibly not want mybook?”  And yet, there was this telltaleenvelope showing that I really didn’t have all that much confidence that theywere going to keep it.).
So, a quick piece of advice to aspiring writers,whether you’re sending it by old-fashioned mail or electronically.  Always send justa “sample” of your work and not the whole piece.  Cover it with a short, concise, descriptiveintroductory letter, telling the editors about what you’ve written, why you’llbe a good “fit” for them, and how much you’re looking forward to working ashard as you can to make them glad that they send you back a positive reply – intheir envelope, and not yours.
Half the battle is getting them to read more of your work in the first place and nothing does that better than how you introduce yourself to them.

A Writer's Moment: Avoiding temptation

A Writer's Moment: Avoiding temptation:   “A good many young writers make the mistake of enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope, big enough for the manuscript to come back i...

A Writer's Moment: Serving 'The only world we have'

A Writer's Moment: Serving 'The only world we have':   The natural world is the only one we have. To try to not see the natural world - to put on blinders and avoid seeing it...

Serving 'The only world we have'

 

Thenatural world is the only one we have. To try to not see the natural world - toput on blinders and avoid seeing it - would for me seem like a form ofmadness.” - Rick Bass

 

Bass, who was born in Texas in Marchof 1958, started writing short stories on his lunch breaks while working as a geologistin the petroleum and gas industry.  Eventuallyhe left that field and gravitated toward environmental activism.

 

Among his more than two dozen booksare the award-winning Where the Sea Used to Be; his short storycollection The Lives of Rocks; and his autobiographical Why I CameWest.  Also a noted essayist, hismost recent book is With Every Great Breath: New and Selected Essays,1995-2023.   In addition to writing,he is a noted public speaker, appears often on television, and is a frequentcollege lecturer.

 

While Bass has authored an equalnumber of nonfiction and fiction works, he said approaching the latter genre’is a more delicate proposition.

 

“I think a novelist must be moretender with living or 'real' people,” he said.  “The moral imperative of having been entrusted with their story loomsbefore you every day, in every sentence.”

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The 'Normalcy' of writing every day

 

“Ithink we have a great deal of mythology around writing. We believe that only afew people can really do it. I wrote a book called 'The Right to Write.' In it,I argued that all of us have the capacity to write. That it's as normal towrite as it is to speak.” – Julia Cameron

Cameron, born on this date in 1948, has been a teacher, author, artist, poet,playwright, novelist, filmmaker, composer and journalist.  Led by her best-selling book The Artist's Way, she has written a remarkable 35nonfiction books, 2 novels, 6 plays and 4 books of poetry.  She also has written many short stories,essays and screenplays.  Her latest book is 2023's Write for Life:  A Toolkit for Writers.

“I grew up (in Chicago) in what you might call arelentlessly creative household,” she said. “We were given art supplies, music supplies... Our mother knew enough toget us started and then stand back and not meddle. My parents never said to us,'Don't you think you'll need something to fall back on?' They acted as thoughcreativity was completely normal.”
Her writing career startedat the Washington Post before she movedover to Rolling Stone.  She married film director MartinScorsese but after a fairly    tumultuous marriage, they divorced but maintained aclose relationship, including collaborating on several films.

“I have learned, as a rule of thumb,never to ask whether you can do something,” she said about her successful writingand teaching career.  “Say, instead, thatyou are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable thingsfollow.“