M.D. Wiselka's Blog, page 10

Color on Emotion

Consciously or unconsciously you are aware of color in your surroundings. When spring bursts forth in all its glory the green trees and grass, purple crocuses, yellow daffodils, and red tulips accelerate your interests and give you a new lease on life. As spring merges into summer skies become bluer, the greens of nature less intense, so that all around you is an atmosphere of peace and joy. Autumn is heralded with strong bright colors as stimulating as the notes in a symphony just before the final chord, leaving you enchanted and spellbound. The hues of autumn are so vivid that you would soon tire of such a riot of color; therefore the season is brief and winter comes clothed in somber grays and browns. Have you ever stopped to think how much your moods are in tune with the seasons and how closely color is connected with each changing mood?

– Hazel Thompson Craig and Ola Day Rush, Clothes with Character, 1941

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The Decameron

If you have never read The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, you should check it out. I first learned about this delightful book while reading Character Sketches of Romance Fiction and The Drama by The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D., 1892. Or rather, Volume 1, as that series is quite a lengthy one. Several of The Decameron‘s stories were referenced in that book, which led me to look for a copy. I found a very early copy with all the wonderful misspellings that made it almost as much fun to read from an entomological standpoint as it did as a novel. And the stories are hilarious!

One of the best is Dineo’s tale of a Pisan judge who marries a young and handsome wife without the means of satisfying her very natural lust. In an effort to excuse himself from what other men would consider not only a duty but a pleasure, he hands his wife a calendar, which he’s carefully marked with all days devoted to saints on which “a man and his wife ought to keep asunder”. This proves to be NEARLY every day of the calendar year.  At the same time, he keeps “a strict watch over her, for fear some other person should teach her what belonged to working-days, as he had done with respect to holidays.” At length, the distressed damsel is rescued by a pirate, who “proceeded to administer…practical consolation; for he had lost his almanac, and had clean forgotten all distinction between workdays and holidays”.  Perfect fodder for one of day’s bodice rippers, but The Decameron was written in 15th century.

Alibech and the Monk is another wonderful tale, where a horny monk uses a little clever maneuvering to get an innocent (and credulous) young girl to please God by pleasing him! A great book–funny then and funny now!

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The Load and the Wagon

“No matter how good the load may be, you can not carry it unless you can build and drive a good wagon. Probably the majority of writers will profit most by giving their whole attention to the wagon, partly because they haven’t a sufficiently valuable load to put in it and partly because they need their undivided effort to make the wagon fit to carry anything. Certainly it is sound for ninety-odd per cent of fiction writers to master their vehicle before they attempt hauling messages and information in it.”

– Fundamentals of Fiction Writing by Arthur Sullivant Hoffman, 1922

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Damn With Faint Praise

I just read a review of a book called The Monster of Tyron Castle (by Raimon Weber). It received several good reviews, but one stinker that makes one wonder why some people bother with reviewing a book at all. “I read this Kindle Single while in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. It was a lot better than old Sports Illustrated.” It must be comforting for the writer to know that he beat out a stale periodical for the reader’s attention! Whenever giving a review, I try to point out what I liked about the book–first and foremost–and what I didn’t. I limit my criticisms to major points [too many foreign words are distracting], not matters of personal taste [hero flicked way too many noses]. Criticism is a great way for a budding writer to learn what works and what doesn’t. t received some really helpful criticism from the readers of my first novel regarding side plots that I put to good use while working on the sequel. So, by all means, tell me what you didn’t like! Just don’t tell me I was slightly better (or worse!) than US Weekly.

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Cunning Fox

“So inventive is the red fox when hunted that it has even been known to leap on the back of a sheep and ride for some distance in order to break the scent left by the glands in its feet.”

– American Wild Life Illustrated, 1952

 

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