Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category
With all the re-reading of my old stuff I’ve been doing, I have way too many characters running around in my head. Suddenly, they’re all jockeying for attention.
As a result, I’m getting a lot of nothing accomplished. Why is it that more ideas does not equal more productivity?
I’m still editing my Golden Heart entries, and yesterday (my birthday) I got a little new work done on Beth and Cody’s story. It’s probably not the best scene I’ve ever written, but it offers Cody a chance to shine a little.
Next up (on my next payday) is to actually send in my Golden Heart entry fees. The deadline is creeping nearer.
No writer — or reader, for that matter — should let the American Library Association’s Banned Book Week pass without note, so here goes.
Censorship has always angered me. It’s one reason I haven’t followed in the footsteps of my college adviser, who specialized (I believe) in media law and First Amendment issues. I’ve thought about getting a graduate degree media law before, and it was one of my favorite classes … but I think studying censorship all the time would leave me perpetually pissed off — and that’s something my good-natured, romantic-comedy-loving self doesn’t want to be.
It never ceases to amaze me what some people find objectionable, though. Check out the list of 100 frequently challenged classics: “Lord of the Rings”? “1984”? “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”? “Winnie the Pooh”?
Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” was removed from classrooms in Miller, Mo., in 1980 because it makes promiscuous sex “look like fun”?
Of the 100 that made the list, I’ve read about 30 — either in middle school, high school or college. There are another four that I definitely want to read … and the rest I know I should read (someday, if I ever find the time).
The list of the top 100 most frequently banned books from 1990-1999 includes some of my childhood favorites: “The Outsiders,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Carrie” and pretty much anything by Judy Blume.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was lucky to have gone to school in rural Indiana. I had some great “radical-thinking” teachers who didn’t shy away from teaching banned classics. In fact, I wrote an article for my high school paper back in 1988 talking about some of their reasons for teaching censored books.
The gist: The lessons such books teach far outweigh any “offensive” language or concepts used. As my senior English and composition teacher, Darwin Sievers, explained: It’s important to be aware of all experiences, not just pleasant ones. “Maybe students can avoid unpleasant firsthand experiences if they can experience them secondhand,” he said.
Besides, who gets to be the final arbiter of what’s truly offensive? I find the words spewing from the mouths of certain politicians offensive (no, I’m not naming names) … but that doesn’t mean I have the right to tell them they can’t say those things. I can turn the channel when they come on TV because I don’t have to listen — but I can’t keep others from hanging on every idiotic word.
Same goes for reading. If you don’t like a book, don’t buy it. Don’t read it. Don’t try to keep others from reading, though. And definitely don’t try to get it banned from your library. (All you’ll do is drum up sales of it. Controversy sells books.)
I need to wrap up this post before I get even more worked up. *Deep breath.*
Since I’m curious, I’ll borrow a question from agent Nathan Bransford: What’s your favorite banned book?
I can’t pick just one. I honestly can’t imagine life without any of them. I’m sure I wouldn’t be who I am today had I never read “Charlotte’s Web,” “Gone with the Wind,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and too many other books to mention.
Every few months, it wallops me upside the head.
What is it, you ask? Nothing good, that’s for sure. It’s the fear that, even after years of writing — and getting a degree in journalism, I still don’t have a clue what I’m doing.
The familiar foe hit me again this weekend. My local RWA chapter, NARWA, hosted Erin Quinn for morning and afternoon workshops.
After lunch, she talked about creating a setting so strong that it’s really a character. (Think the storms in “Wizard of Oz” or the jungle in “Jurassic Park,” she said.)
The comment that stuck with me most was this: “If at the end of the scene, you could pluck the players and dialog out and plant them anywhere else without some major work, you haven’t done your job.”
Uh-oh. If that’s true, I’m in trouble. Many of my characters’ conversations — witty, laugh-packed chats — take place in restaurants or other standard “date” places … generic, could-be-anywhere places.
I think this is where my training in journalism serves me ill. When you’re writing a news story, you relay quotes and facts … not take note of how birds flitted past overhead while your source was speaking, or how his eyes were the exact same shade of periwinkle as his sweater.
Heck … a journalist probably wouldn’t even use “periwinkle.” Don’t use a $10 word when a 10-cent one (blue) gets the point across just as well.
As a result, my prose is relatively straightforward. “He laughed.” “She wrinkled her nose.” “He bolted upright so fast he nearly fell out of his hammock.”
You get the idea.
My GH entries may need more help than I think. Good thing I still have some time to make ’em shine.
It’s not Monday, but I finally got around to doing what I said I would: I submitted two queries on “Beauty and the Ballplayer.”
Now, I wait … and continue to work on perfecting the GH entries … and write some more on Bethany & Cody’s story.
For some reason, I’m finding it hard to focus just on the Golden Heart entries. Seems that, this year, I don’t have nearly as much work to do. Last year, I had to do some substantial editing and rewriting on Brad & Erin’s tale.
This time around, I have decent synopses written for both my entries, and the entries themselves are in pretty good shape.
Or maybe I’m just getting too cocky … 😉
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