Writing Notebook

Thursday, November 14, 2002

Think You Have A Book In You, Think Again has been widely quoted on the web and generated heated rants from many folks. Epstein wrote "why should so many people think they can write a book, especially at a time when so many people who actually do write books turn out not really to have a book in them -- or at least not one that many other people can be made to care about? Something on the order of 80,000 books get published in America every year, most of them not needed, not wanted, not in any way remotely necessary."

Needless to say most people pointed out that we could have all done without his comments.

Well now Alma Hromic seems to be taking herself too seriously when she launches into an attack on the concept behind NaNoWriMo. What is it with these people?

Thank goodness for Rainer Maria Rilke who wrote A Letter to A Young Poet

Saturday, November 09, 2002

According to this little piece of nonsense I am earth. Perhaps you could have one of your characters in your NaNoWriMo piece of cotton candy fiction do this quiz. At best it will help you reach some portion of today's quota.




You're earth! You are very motherly and love mankind. You think of mankind as your children and you are very giving and protective. No one should mess with you though, because you can turn mean if someone pisses you off.




What element are you?

Thursday, November 07, 2002

Grinding Ink
Keri Smith's words seem particularly relevant as Soul Food Patrons face the daily grind and get those words on to the page.

Grinding Ink -a writer's process…
I do not claim to be a great writer. Believe me I'm not trying to critical here about my ability. The truth is it is not my goal to be a great writer, or even a great illustrator for that matter. What is most important for me is to JUST WRITE (and paint), to get things out and feel good about that. It is hard enough to sit down with my notebook and pen and let the words flow out onto the page, when I know no one will read them. Just thinking about doing that gives me little pangs of nervous excitement, sometimes followed by a second thought like, "I'm too tired right now", or "I'll do it later". In fact it is hard enough for me to sit here right now in front of my computer and continue to type this. I feel instantly compelled to clean up a pile of papers sitting next to me on the floor. Yet I know that I need to be here because there is something in it that feels important, this urge is much bigger than me. And it is strange to be on a path and not know where you are going. I just know I need to be here, just sharing my thoughts.


NaNoWriMo participants will be inspired by Smith's perserverence. Read more.

Wednesday, November 06, 2002

Nothing Trashy About This
We' ve all heard about or seen the works of artists who collect trash and sculpt it into interesting forms and meaningful shapes. Although "Trashlog" indeed also deals in found objects, it is very different. Nico Van Hoorn, from the Netherlands, has found a way to photograph bits of trash he finds along the roadside so that each and every piece looks like a simple, well-planned contemporary work of art. Each day, Mr. Van Hoorn picks up something that fits his parameters --paper, plastic or metal, never bigger than 10 x 15 cm, as flat as possible -- then photographs it and posts the resulting photo on his site. The archives go back to May of this year, and each day's offering is interesting and, in its own way, a thing of beauty. The meaning of all this is left to the viewer. Van Hoorn does not clutter his site with needless words. He is a collector, but a collector of a very different sort. Apparently he is looking for a more permanent home for his photo collection, but until he finds one he will continue to post his works on his website, and we will be the richer for it.

NaNoWriMo participants may fit a bit of trash into their writing today.

Saturday, November 02, 2002

What is NaNoWriMo?
When the patrons at Soul Food found out about NaNoWriMo they set up tables in this quirky writing cafe and are spending the month writing. They are aiming to write 50,000 words this month. Feel challenged?