Friday Feature: My Favorite Thing I Read this Week and Why
The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof shit detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it.
Ernest Hemingway, interview in Paris Review, Spring 1958
In search of ideas for blog posts, I scoured the internet for interesting quotes on writing. My thought: when struggling for a post, insert a quote. If inspired, a post would follow. If not, I would post the quote and ask for readers to comment. Simple.
This Hemingway quote jumped out at me. I'm a shit detector in life; I don't always call people out on their shit, but I usually sense it. Too often, I excuse it. I am a softy for people's stories. If their story explains their shit, I can let is slide. (My mom is NOT going to like how often I used shit in one paragraph).
Then, thanks to two wonderful books I've read in the past year, the quote took on a whole new meaning. The Help and The Art of Racing in the Rain are great books, but they will stay with me due to the shit scenes in them. I refuse to be a spoiler, so I won't detail the scenes. Suffice it to say, characters you come to love in both books get vindication with shit.
Originally, my favorite thing I read this week and why was going to be a link to my review of The Art of Racing in the Rain at my Mom in Love with Fiction blog. A great book and my favorite reading of the week, but the Hemingway quote brought it all together.
All of this to say, I guess I'm a good shit detector in writing, life and reading!
Are you ever surprised what element of a story stays with you?
In search of ideas for blog posts, I scoured the internet for interesting quotes on writing. My thought: when struggling for a post, insert a quote. If inspired, a post would follow. If not, I would post the quote and ask for readers to comment. Simple.
This Hemingway quote jumped out at me. I'm a shit detector in life; I don't always call people out on their shit, but I usually sense it. Too often, I excuse it. I am a softy for people's stories. If their story explains their shit, I can let is slide. (My mom is NOT going to like how often I used shit in one paragraph).
Then, thanks to two wonderful books I've read in the past year, the quote took on a whole new meaning. The Help and The Art of Racing in the Rain are great books, but they will stay with me due to the shit scenes in them. I refuse to be a spoiler, so I won't detail the scenes. Suffice it to say, characters you come to love in both books get vindication with shit. Originally, my favorite thing I read this week and why was going to be a link to my review of The Art of Racing in the Rain at my Mom in Love with Fiction blog. A great book and my favorite reading of the week, but the Hemingway quote brought it all together.
All of this to say, I guess I'm a good shit detector in writing, life and reading!
Are you ever surprised what element of a story stays with you?
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