In honor of the immortal Emily Dickinson, who was born today, December 10 in 1830:
We never know how high we are
Till we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan
Our statures touch the skies.
The heroism we recite
Would be a daily thing,
Did not ourselves the cubits warp
For fear to be a king.
—Emily Dickinson
« Life is like a book with many different chapters. Some tell of tragedy, others of triumph. Some chapters are dull and ordinary, others intense and exciting. The key to being a success in life is to never stop on a difficult page, to never quit on a tough chapter. Champions have the courage to keep turning the pages because they know a better chapter lies ahead. » Rich Ruffalo, Award-winning Athlete
Rich Ruffalo knows how rough it can be to keep going. Legally blind since his youth, he went through many bouts of despair, but he never gave up on his dream to become an elite athlete. Ultimately, he triumphed over circumstances and won a sheaf of international and national medals as an outstanding athletic competitor and motivator.
His book, P.E.P.: The Seven Ps to Positively Enhance Performance tells his gritty, inspiring story. in it, he talks about simple tools we can all use to jumpstart our own projects if they’re stalled:
He had a mission: Rich had a tremendous drive to excel on the playing field. He ignited that drive into a burning desire to prove that even a major physical impediment was no obstacle to outstanding performance. That desire became his mission and motivator.
He had support: Throughout his many ups and downs, Rich was surrounded by family and friends who believed in him. Along with his own belief in his abilities, this support gave him the courage to break free of despondency, set failure aside, and go for the gold.
He made it about others: Over and over in his book, Rich stresses the importance of putting others first. When we get outside our own heads, we move beyond self-imposed boundaries. His inspiration was bigger than his limitations.
Better chapters lie ahead! Let’s reach out for support, push past self-imposed limits, and overcome the obstacles we face. Write on!
Along with consistent practice, expert advice from seasoned writers can help us hone our craft. A few pithy words may spark us to push to the next level. A cornucopia of wisdom:
“Nothing you write, if you hope to be any good, will ever come out as you first hoped.” Lillian Hellman
“There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly: sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.” Ernest Hemingway
“Writing is just work–there’s no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type or write with your toes– it’s still just work.” Sinclair Lewis
“When I finish a first draft, it’s always just as much of a mess as it’s always been. I still make the same mistakes every time.” Michael Chabon
“Real writers are those who want to write, need to write, have to write.”
Robert Penn Warren
“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. . . .Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. . . .” E. L. Doctorow
“I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English–it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them — then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.” Mark Twain
“I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” James Michener
“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” Samuel Johnson
“Don’t get it right, just get it written.” James Thurber
“You fail only if you stop writing.” Ray Bradbury
The Fallow Deer at the Lonely House
One without looks in tonight
Through the curtain-chink
From the sheet of glistening white;
One without looks in tonight
As we sit and think
By the fender-brink.
We do not discern those eyes
Watching in the snow;
Lit by lamps of rosy dyes
We do not discern those eyes
Wondering, aglow,
Fourfooted, tiptoe.
Thomas Hardy
“Could ‘Hamlet’ have been written by a committee, or the Mona Lisa painted by a club? Could the New Testament have been composed as a conference report? Creative ideas do not spring from groups. They spring from individuals. The divine spark leaps from the finger of God to the finger of Adam.”
A. Whitney Griswold, from The Teachers’ Book of Wisdom
There’s something both intimidating and comforting about the notion that creativity is an inside job and that you have to fly solo. On the one hand, it means that everything is up to us — we have to go to the page alone and wrestle with it alone. Sure, we can get help from time to time — advice from mentors or from our critique group. But when it comes to the actual job of creation — it’s up to us. No one else can say what we have to say, but us. And no one can put their butt in the chair and write it, but us.
And ironically, that’s the good news, too. Because no one else can write what we want to write. We don’t have to depend on anyone but ourselves to get it done. We don’t have to wait for permission. We don’t have to wait for approval. We don’t have to wait for a green light. We are the green light. All we have to do is green light ourselves and get going.
Now, I know as well as anyone how tough this can be. We face obstacles — all kinds of obstacles: family concerns, day-to-day work demands, health issues. Any and all of these can seem to be stumbling blocks. And then, of course, there are the distractions that pull us from the page: entertainment, social obligations, social media.
But in the midst of this, let’s remember that what really counts is our commitment to our own creativity, our own decision to take the divine spark inside us and fan it until it shines and we can share it with others around us and those we may never meet personally, but who will meet and know us through our words on the page.
Let’s keep our lights shining! Let’s keep our divine sparks fueled with intention and action as we all write on!
“I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may never complete the last one, But I give myself to it … I have been circling for thousands of years, And I still don’t know: Am I falcon, a storm, or a great song?” Rainer Maria Rilke
What lovely words and how inspiring for us! Rainer reminds us that we writers and creatives have whole worlds within us. We embrace contradictions — we are the storm and the song. And the falcon!
When we give ourselves to our work freely and joyously, who knows what we’ll discover? We might find that we’re:
Sowers — We plant the seeds of ideas that can take root and grow.
Witnesses — We reveal hidden and apparent truths in fresh ways.
Interpreters — We help make sense of the world and ourselves.
Tricksters — We can push life past its ordinary boundaries.
Magicians — We create kingdoms with a wave of our hands.
Menders — We can bring wholeness and harmony to the soul.
What wonderful powers we possess! And as we give ourselves to them and let them grow and begin to shine, we can transform everyone and everything around us. Not always, but sometimes. And those moments are golden.
We are so many things and on any given day we can be one or all of them! We can be the magician who creates and banishes. The mender who repairs broken hearts and worlds. The trickster who challenges.
Who will we be today as we all write on?
‘The artist, having chosen his theme, picks out only those details that are characteristic and of value for his subject…and he rejects all the remainder and puts it to one side.” Guy de Maupassant
Guy was a master at capturing a few revealing details in a situation and weaving a tale around them. Even now, more than 150 years after they were penned, his short stories are considered highly polished gems. But finding just the right details isn’t always easy, because they are not just window-dressing, they are actually a window into the heart of a scene or a character description.
“What you want, in other words, is telling details, bits of reality that suggest something larger. At their best, telling details operate as symbols that help make an author’s case for a literary theme.” That’s how Jack Hart describes their value in his helpful guide, A Writer’s Coach.
Jack goes on to distinguish between details rooted in sensual reality and those that are more general and cerebral: “A well-chosen detail can tap levels of human response unavailable to writers who offer only abstractions and generalizations. Abstract writing can inform and persuade, but it cannot bring readers to genuine sadness or horror, or euphoria. Simply exhorting an audience to laugh or cry is pointless, and cheap tricks designed to manipulate emotions are readily apparent….”
The emotional power of details is rooted in our brains, notes Jack. Abstract thinking occurs in the cerebral cortex, the most recently evolved and advanced part of the brain. But emotion emerges from the brain’s ancient core as “the direct result of external stimulation. Writing rich in telling detail approximates experience and can also reproduce a human being’s emotional response to experience.”
Fascinating isn’t it? Powerful words evoke powerful emotions, just as if they were being lived through by our readers. Immersing readers in our world or our characters lives through telling details is one of the most effective tools we have in our author’s kitbag. Yet we often take the easy way out, choosing words or phrases that tell rather than show, that register in the mind and not the heart or soul.
Dynamic detail: Let’s use this awesome tool with creativity and gusto as we all write on!
“Find what gave you the emotion. Then write it down, making it clear so the reader will see it, too, and have the same feeling that you had.” Ernest Hemingway
Ernest makes it sound simple, but it’s not easy! Building telling details into our stories is so crucial — and so challenging — that I wanted to share some more advice from “A Writer’s Coach” by Jack Hart.
First, Jack describes our mission: “All detail should justify its existence by working toward your overall writing goals. Just what are you trying to accomplish, and how does each detail help you do that?….”
“Reaching readers, drawing them into a world you create on a page and making them experience it with both head and heart, requires that you show them exactly what you’re talking about. Before they can get to the same place you are, they need to see what you see, hear what you heard, and smell what you smelled. You must share your experience, not the conclusion you drew from it.”
Telling details can help us evoke atmosphere, scene, character, and theme. One of the ways to do this economically and effectively is to draw on information that readers already have stored away and are familiar with.
Master stylist Gustave Flaubert believed that three details, artfully chosen and arranged, were enough to evoke a create a full scene.
Most readers have been to a soda fountain, for example, and as Jack observes”…you can create a full image of one in their heads by mentioning only the long counter with little round stools on metal pedestals, tulip glasses for chocolate sundaes, and pale-green Hamilton Beach milkshake mixers.”
As Jack also notes, “…details reveal character as well as place. The use of detail for characterization draws on a stored inventory of traits that are linked in our minds.” In short, we can use a few carefully chosen details to summon up a character as well as a scene for our readers — and to give them verbal “cues” about how we want them to see and think about a character.
Like squares in a handmade quilt, details add up to a pattern that helps tell our stories. Let’s find just the right ones as we all write on.
“Working hard becomes a habit, a serious kind of fun. You get self-satisfaction from pushing yourself to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off.” Mary Lou Retton, Olympic gymnast
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
Working hard = serious fun = a habit.
I love Mary Lou’s simple strategy! It reminds me of my friend and mentor, Dr. Rob Gilbert,* who says, “there’s nothing more satisfying than wrestling with something difficult that you really care about.”
Embracing our writing as “serious fun” can be so rewarding!
Thinking of working hard as fun creates a feeling of childlike excitement. Having fun is, well, fun! So we’re more likely to keep going. And if we work in a lighthearted, curious way just as kids do, we are more open to delicious discoveries and word windfalls.
When we see our work as serious fun, it’s seriously, it’s energizing, a soul-nourishing activity. We’re giving effort — giving our time and mental energy to something that matters to us — knowing that, somewhere down the line, we will reap the benefits.
We also get self-satisfaction — a sense of pleasure from knowing we’re in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing: working hard to improve our writing craft and boost our chances of publication and reaching our desired audience. And when working hard is satisfying, we’re more likely to make it a habit.
Finally, when we are totally absorbed, when we play hard and long just as kids do, we learn so much about ourselves! We learn how much fun it is to really stretch our writing muscles and push ourselves farther. We learn that there’s always more gas in the tank and even surprise ourselves by coming up with creative ideas. How much fun is that!
So let’s see our work today as serious fun and enjoy ourselves as we all write on!
* Be sure to check out Rob’s wonderful Success Hotline (973.743.4690).
Let’s launch this holiday time with love and gratitude for all we hold dear! May your life be filled with joy and thanksgiving, now and always:
God’s World
Edna St. Vincent Millay
“O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, thy wide gray skies!
Thy mists, that roll and rise!
Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with color! That gaunt crag
To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, world! I cannot get thee close enough!
Long have I known the glory of it all
But never knew I this,
Here such a passion is
As stretcheth me apart. Lord I do fear
Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year.
My soul is all but out of me — let fall
No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.”
Have a blessed holiday with friends and family!
 | karinwritesdangerous… on Enterprising Revising |
 | Terrie Wurzbacher on Enterprising Revising |
 | Bing Chang on Something Wonderful |
| karinwritesdangerous… on Something Wonderful |
| Bing Chang on Something Wonderful |
