Karinwritesdangerously

He was born in West Virginia, where his forbears were once slaves. His mother died when he was a little boy and the children in his family were scattered in different directions by the tragedy. He was taken in by a family in Harlem, where he grew up in the 1940s. Frustrated by teachers and books that he couldn’t relate to, Walter Dean Myers dropped out of high school and joined the army where he trained in the south in the 1950s and endured racial abuse. 

His father was a janitor during the day and a dockworker at night: He was a hard worker and role model, but he never learned to read or write, so he never was able to truly appreciate the accomplishments of his son. Even so, Walter credits his dad for inspiring his own discipline and drive to achieve. What achievements he can point to and celebrate!

Walter wrote some eighty books, was a widely respected author of young adult novels, and served as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Many of his young adult novels focus on urban and inner city life with all its dangers and disadvantages — themes and historical backdrops that his readers know well and can connect with.

At a time when many people have retired, he and a colleague collaborated over five years to present reading and writing workshops for teachers and students, with the goal of igniting an appreciation for words as a pathway to their hopes and dreams. At age 70, Walter still woke up early in the morning and wrote every day. He and his wife enjoyed spending up to six months a year in London doing research and enjoying the city’s rich culture.

What an inspiring story! Walter endured and broken family and left high school but educated himself and found his calling. He created a rewarding life for himself and his family doing work that he loved. He’s admired and widely read. He helped shape the lives of both teachers and students by sharing his love of the written word and his strong belief in the power of literacy—by giving back. What bigger success can there be than this? Bravo, Walter! Inspire on! 

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« It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. »
Sir Edmund Hillary

I found some advice from the author of a business book called Out-Executing the Competition, that seems relevant to our writing which suggested four steps job holders can take to succeed. Since I believe that we are actually often battling or competing against ourselves when we write, its pointers seem worth noting: 

Don’t say no: If someone asks you to do something you don’t know how to do or are afraid to fail at, say yes instead of no. Writing takeaway: If a writing challenge comes our way — a skill we need to improve, like writing dialogue, instead of shying away from it, let’s embrace it. Let’s figure out how to do it and keep on doing it until we get better at it. 

Keep learning:  Always work for someone you can learn from. Writing takeaway: Let’s find mentors who can help us get where we want to go. They can be writing instructors or the authors of helpful guides, or writers we love whose work we analyze closely to learn how they touch and hold their readers.

Take on something big: To really demonstrate on-the-job value, take on a tough assignment — one that may take you out of your comfort zone. Writing takeaway: Let’s not play small, let’s go big! Let’s take on writing challenges that really stretch us in new directions. Let’s play around, experiment. The sky’s the limit!

Build a support system: In today’s complex world, we all have to learn to function as part of a team. Writing takeaway: We all need to receive help — and give it. We need seasoned advice about craft and guidance as we navigate the publishing world. While it’s easy to isolate ourselves, we need to care and connect with fellow scriveners. And all write on!

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« It is not the mountain we conquer,

« All the fun’s in how you say a thing. »
Robert Frost

Sometimes, we’re so busy getting our story out of our head and down on paper, or so obsessed with working out plot glitches, that we become inattentive on the wordsmithing front. When this happens, we can easily find ourselves relying on clichés, using the same words and phrases too often, or settling for flabby constructions. Or, at the other extreme, we can end up over-reaching: coming up with clever synonyms that muddy our meaning instead of clarifying it. 

Here are a few manuscript snafus worth striving to avoid in a first draft. If they sneak in, work hard to ferret them out in later ones:

Qualifiers:

Pesky qualifiers like “little” as in “he was a little disappointed” or “quite” as in “she wasn’t quite sure,” drain the energy from a sentence. Instead of hedging your bets with a qualifier, simply say what you want to say or find a more colorful way to make your point. 

Clichés:

When editors come across a cliché, they can easily view a writer as unimaginative or even lazy. When readers come across a cliché, they can feel disappointed or as if they’ve hit the same old pothole instead of being taken down a fresh, untraveled road. Any or all of these responses are far from the feelings we want to evoke. 

Cliché cutting, swift and ruthless, is your best defense. Read your work aloud and these worn-out phrases will jump out at you. Circle them and get out your scalpel: When you spot one, you have three options: 1) cut it out altogether; 2) replace it with a more pungent or specific phrase; or 3) refresh and transform it into something inventive by changing a key word or using it in a surprising way or unexpected context.

Fall-back words:

These are “crutch” words that we tend to use over and over without even realizing it. Often, they seem to crop up in drafts like mushrooms after a spring rain. Words like “just” or “even so,” or “though.” While these words have value, all too often, they don’t add impact, but diffuse it — and readers can easily find them annoying. Since they are hard to spot, the best way to catch crutch words and eliminate them is to have someone else review your draft. If there’s a word you know you’ve overused, you can also hit the “Find” function and slice and dice them to be sure they don’t overstay their welcome.

Consciously clever words:

Fueled by our eager desire to add spice and originality to our stories, we can easily fall into another trap: substituting cleverness for clarity. Using an awkward synonym or simile is one form of this. Coming up with exciting replacements for the word “said” in dialogue like “exclaimed,” or “observed,” is another. Often these words, which add little to a story, jump out at readers, forcing them to pause when they should simply glide over them.

Pruning helps our prose sparkle and dance, so let’s snip away as we write on.

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« Children, like animals, use all their senses to discover the world.
Then artists come along and discover it the same way all over again. »
Eudora Welty

Exciting new research suggests that there’s a lot going on in our brains when we view visual art. One study analyzed brains scans of people looking at paintings. The results? Predictably, viewing art triggered brain activity related to visual understanding and recognizing objects. But viewing artwork also sparked activity associated with inner thoughts, emotion, and learning.

Other research indicates that viewing art can be transformative: It can change the way we view the world. For instance, after a museum visit, students display stronger critical thinking skills, and there’s growing evidence that exposure to art can help older adults remain mentally alert and resilient. 

And here’s a finding for us as writers: Visiting a museum has the same positive power to restore and refresh as taking a break and going outdoors. According to research, taking a stroll through a museum can relieve mental fatigue and restore the ability to focus. 

For most of us, going to a museum is what’s called a “novelty-seeking venture” — it takes us out of our ordinary rounds and signals to our brain that we’re open to learning. Not only does this have a powerful impact on our brains, it’s also connected to a personality trait most associated with creative achievement: openness to new experiences.

In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron advises making a weekly “Artist’s Date” with ourselves, in which we experience something new — art, a film, an exotic food. What a great way to refill our creative wells and discover fresh new ideas! It’s not just refreshing, it’s fun—a form of play that enriches and enlivens me. What better way to prime ourselves to write dangerously? Something to ponder and apply as we all write on!

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Picture-Books in Winter
Robert Louis Stevenson

Summer fading, winter comes —
Frosty mornings, tingling thumbs,
Winter robins, winter rooks,
And the picture story-books.

Water now is turned to stone
Nurse and I can walk upon;
Still we find the flowing brooks
In the picture story-books.

All the pretty things put by,
Wait upon the children’s eye,
Sheep and shepherds, trees and crooks,
In the picture story books.

We see how all things are
Seas and cities, near and far,
And the flying fairies’ looks,
In the picture story-books.

How am I to sing your praise,
Happy chimney-corner days,
Sitting safe in nursery nooks,
Reading picture story-books.

“Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.” Jim Rohn

Here’s an inspiring story: When Dave Brailsford became the General Manager and Performance Director for Team Sky, Britain’s professional cycling team) he was asked to win the most grueling sporting event in the world: The Tour de France. 

He came up with a simple plan, “the aggregation of marginal benefits,” which he described as “the 1 percent margin for improvement in everything you do.” He believed if his riders improved every area of their performance by just 1 percent, then those small changes would add up to major improvement and a winning edge. 

Brailsford started by fine-tuning some predictable aspects of his riders’ training: optimizing nutrition, tweaking their weekly training regimen, improving bike fit. Then he looked for 1 percent improvements in overlooked areas: pillows that offered the best sleep and the best massage gel. He searched for tiny improvements everywhere. Three years later, in 2012, British cyclist Bradley Wiggins won the Tour and the British Olympic cycling team won 70 percent of the gold medals.

Mmmm. How does this apply to our writing? So often we set overly ambitious goals for ourselves and put ourselves under pressure to achieve them. If we don’t get there, we feel defeated. Why not opt for the 1 percent approach? Instead of earth-shaking improvement, let’s go for small changes for the better. At first, they might not even be noticeable, but in the long run, they can really add up. Over time, these small better decisions can bridge the gap between where we are and where we want to be. 

What are some 1 percent improvements we can put into action? A few ideas:

We can extend our writing sessions by just 15 minutes a day for 30 days. This would add up to 7-1/2 hours in a month — a full extra day of writing. 

We can consistently put just a little more time into strengthening an area we’re weak in: dialogue, for example, by writing little snippets and scenarios.

We can improve our inner ear and rhythm by reading a poem aloud every day. 

Any ideas for making small improvements over time? I’d love to hear them! Write on!

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As we honor Abraham Lincoln’s birthday today, let’s remember that he endured a host of setbacks, personal and political. He knew what it felt like to fail and to fight another day. We all face obstacles. Whatever is happening for you right now, considering the following:

Lincoln “Failures” List

Lost job in 1832.
Defeated for state legislature in 1832.
Failed in business in 1833.
Elected to state legislature in 1834.
Sweetheart died in 1835.
Had nervous breakdown in 1836.
Defeated for Speaker in 1838.
Defeated for nomination for Congress in 1843.
Elected to Congress in 1846.
Lost renomination in 1848.
Rejected for land officer in 1849.
Defeated for U.S. Senate in 1854.
Defeated for nomination for Vice President in 1856.
Again defeated for U.S. Senate in 1858.
Elected President in 1860.

And now, words from a brilliant wordsmith to inspirit and inspire us:

Whatever you are, be a good one.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.

I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser than he was yesterday.

If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Abe really knew how to turn a phrase, didn’t he? Let’s do the same! And now, inspired by his brilliance and resilience, let’s all write on!

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« The brain is more powerful than we think it is. We pay more attention than we think we do. When we’re not so obstructed with the tools of recording, we’ll actually pay attention more. » Verlyn Klinkenborg

Verlyn is a highly regarded essayist frequently compared to E.B. White, a teacher, and author of a guide called Several Short Sentences about Writing. 

One concept that Verlyn embraces wholeheartedly is that of creative attention — noticing the world around us and what seems important to us without feeling compelled to record it right away. He calls this an exercise in not writing, in “catching your sleeve on the thorn of the thing you notice, and paying attention as you free yourself.”

In Verlyn’s view, based on years of observing his own writing habits and those of students, all too often, we rush to commit words to paper prematurely, when our ideas are only half-formed. We don’t give them time to ripen and rob them of their full potential. As an alternative, he suggests “Imagining sentences instead of writing them.” 

I often do this myself. Sometimes, when I’m very relaxed — lying in bed, for instance — a sentence will float into my head and I’ll start playing with it, moving phrases around, substituting better words, listening to the rhythm of the new versions I come up with. Only after I feel totally satisfied, will I commit it to paper. Have you ever tried this? It’s a kind of mental gymnastics and it’s lots of fun. 

One of the goals of Several Short Sentences is to shake up some of the conventional wisdom about writing. As Verlyn observes, “I hear a lot of emphasis on correctness from my students. What is the correct way to write? And the fact is, writing is such a mystery. There is no way to write. There’s only the way you find to write.”

Well said, Verlyn! Bringing creative attention to the world as we find the way to write that works for us—great advice as we all write on!

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“There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world; and that is an idea whose time has come.” Victor Hugo

Today, February 10, is Boris Pasternak’s birthday—he was born in 1890.

Abe Books sold an original, Russian language copy of Boris Pasternak’s Nobel Prize-winning novel, Doctor Zhivago, for $11,000. As part of the sale, the bookseller researched the tortured history of the book and found a story almost as tragic and star-crossed as the novel itself. Pasternak penned his novel in the early 20th century, but wasn’t published and made available to readers until 1957. 

Though it’s been called “the greatest literary event of postwar Russia,” Pasternak’s novel wasn’t published in his homeland until 1988, more than 30 years after its Western release. Censors feared its revolutionary impact and expelled Pasternak from the Soviet Writer’s Union. His novel was rescued from oblivion by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, an Italian publisher who discovered Doctor Zhivago through a literary scout and after reading it, felt a deep responsibility to see it published.

It was originally planned for release in both Russia and Italy, but the Russian publication was blocked. Feltrinelli had the manuscript smuggled out of Russia and into Milan, where it was released in Italian in 1957. Less than a year later, more than 1,000 copies were secretly published in the United States in the original Russian. The novel went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958; intense pressure from the Soviet government — including the threat of exile — forced Pasternak to refuse the prize. In 1965, it was made into a popular film which won five Academy Awards.

The US original edition of Doctor Zhivago was actually published by the CIA, which distributed copies in 1958 to Soviet citizens visiting the Brussels World’s Fair as part of a Cold War propaganda campaign.

What a fascinating story! And how amazing to think that the American government “recruited” the poet Pasternak to help fight the Cold War. Write on!

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Ah, there it is again: the ever-present, ever-critical inner editor. You know the feeling: You can be writing along on a creative roll, when suddenly, your inner editor is at it again, whispering in your ear

What’s that pesky little know-it-all saying? It’s never anything good. It’s always kvetching and nitpicking: THAT’S NOT CLEVER, IT’S CLICHÉD. THAT’S NOT FUNNY, IT’S LAME. THAT’S NOT LYRICAL, IT’S LIMP.

If there’s one thing we all know about our inner editor: Yours, mine, Shakespeare’s, Stephen King’s, and J.K. Rowling’s: IT’S NOT HELPING US, IT’S HOLDING US BACK! 

What to do, what to do? some time ago, I came across a Writer’s Digest article by Noelle Sterne, editor, writing coach, and author. In the article, she describes vanquishing her inner critic by typing one word: FIX. 

FIX reminds Noelle that what she’s written isn’t cast in stone—she’s writing a draft, a work in progress and it “gently confirms that the writing process is one of trial and error, coaxing and courting, boldness, patience, and courage.” I love that!

A few final words from Noelle about the fixative powers of using FIX : “So, next time you hear your own version of the frightful condemning inner editor’s voice, just greet it with a FIX. This little word enables you not only to keep going, meeting your word or minute count for the day. It also, astoundingly, sets your creativity free. And you’ll be thrilled to discover greater confidence in your mind, your abilities, and your work. Accept the process. You’ll see that you can FIX anything.”

Let’s NIX those inner editors, FIX those drafts of ours — and write on!

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