Ned Hayes's Blog, page 33
September 30, 2015
September 29, 2015
Perhaps it’s time for a Reader’s...
"I have a thought about ‘kill your darlings.’ There seems to be a general notion out there in the..."
I have a thought about ‘kill your darlings.’ There seems to be a general notion out there in the ether that the phrase means, ‘Hunt down every sentence or image you really love and cut it down like a pernicious weed.’ That, my dears, is bullshit.
In my opinion, what it really means is, ‘If you’re rewriting a whole scene just so that a paragraph or conversation you’re in love with will work, and it still kind of doesn’t, maybe it doesn’t really belong in this story and you should print it out and put it in a lovely, decorative folder labelled DARLINGS to read on those days when you hate every sentence you’re writing.’
”- Delia Sherman, American fantasy writer (via ellenkushner)
michaelmas
(St. Michael the Arch-Angel’s Day – Michaelmas, Sept 29)
“Ten years ago, Michaelmas. Summer hours fading into dusk, day dying slow. I had fallen out of the straight path into a place of harsh rocks and broken brambles, like the legend tells Satan fell from heaven on St. Michael’s Day. But I had fallen from no heaven, and those who pursued me were no angels.”
— from the novel Sinful Folk
September 28, 2015
BOOK QUOTE:“Ten years ago, at Michaelmas, the early autumn...
BOOK QUOTE:
“Ten years ago, at Michaelmas, the early autumn hours were fading into dusk. The day was dying slow. I had fallen off the straight and narrow into a place of harsh rocks and broken brambles, like the story of Satan falling from heaven on Saint Michael’s Day. But I had fallen from no heaven, and those who pursued me were no angels.” – from the novel SINFUL FOLK
BOOK QUOTE:“The sound of a distant ocean covers me with...
BOOK QUOTE:
“The sound of a distant ocean covers me with surf, that tide that bears me back eternally into the past, back to the place where I was born. My mother took me out in our little fishing boat, out on the open water of the sea. The thrum and hiss of surf upon the shore behind us, the breaking rhythm never ceasing. My mother waited until we were out of sight of land."
September 27, 2015
A Reader’s Manifesto
In the digital age of Android and iPads, Facebook and Instagram, I think there’s the need for a new Reader’s Manifesto, a statement of action that will remind readers everywhere of their identity and the difference that reading makes in a busy world.
As a reader,
I will read when I am bored, instead of checking my phone or tablet. I will read a story instead.I will read in the bathroom when I have an extra moment, instead of checking my phone.When I wake in the morning, I will read a chapter from my book instead of doing a first checkin on email and social media. Because I know that beginning my day with a good book will make me happier, better adjusted and more ready for a long day.When I go to bed in the evening, I will read a chapter from my book instead of doing a last checkin on email and social media. Because I know that ending my day with a good book will make me happier, and will lead to better sleep.I will read a book when I am bored in a grocery line, instead of checking my phone. Perhaps I might even converse with the people around me, and hear their stories.I will read on airplanes. I will read on buses. I will read on subways. I will read on trains. I will read on submarines. I will read on aircraft carriers. I will read everywhere!In fact, I will read on the subway and the bus, even if I have to take quick gulps, just a sentence or two that I can ponder, instead of checking social media for the last insipid update. Perhaps I might even read and ponder a poem. Both take the same amount of focus, both may lead me to the same car-sickness, but one is meaningful and long-lasting, and the other is the beat of a mayfly’s wings.When I am waiting and bored, I will pull out my book and immerse myself in an alternate world of wonder and insight, instead of checking my phone. I might, if I forgot my book, simply allow myself to be bored, and drift into that place of emergent creativity through my moment of boredom.I will read in the waiting time. I will read when I have to wait for an appointment. I will read when I’m waiting for an interview to begin. I will read when I’m holding on a conference call. I will read when my flight is delayed. I will read when my bus is stuck in traffic. I will read when I have to wait, instead of doing anything else.
I will read on my breaks at work. I will read on my breaks from home chores. I will read when I don’t have a break at all, and just want to know what happens next in the story!When I am with my children, I will turn off my phone and read to them, or focus on them. They will always remember that moment, for the rest of their lives. I will never remember, two seconds later, what I read on my phone in that same fleeting moment.When I am with my parents or siblings, I will turn off my phone and focus on them. I will always remember looking in their eyes and talking with them. But whatever was on my phone will be forgotten.When I am with my friends, I will focus on them, or I will read to them. And if they don’t like me reading to them, perhaps it’s time to find new friends.I will evangelize reading as a way to make the world a more interesting and better place!I will write reviews for my favorite books and tell people about the books I love.I will read when I am bored. I will read when I am happy. I will read when I am upset. I will read when I am sad. I will make time for reading each and every day.I will read. Always.
September 26, 2015
BOOK QUOTE: “Stars steam away as a pale sun rises, hot...
BOOK QUOTE: “Stars steam away as a pale sun rises, hot coal dropped in a watery sky. Light seeps across the forest as the reedy shrieks of wood fowl echo in the trees. The path from our village to the King’s Highway is no road at all. To the east, that faint track leads up through the forest until it reaches, finally, the open country and paths that lead to other places. Hob is taking us beyond the bounds of the known world.” — from the novel SINFUL FOLK
Picture by: WHILST I WANDER ǀ NOMAD VIBES ǀ INSTAGRAM
