THT: Week 6

I can’t believe it’s time for another Treasure Hunt Tuesday post already- time sure is flying by these days!

Today’s quote comes to us from Benedict de Spinoza. From Wikipedia:

Benedict de Spinoza

Benedict de Spinoza (November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza’s work was not fully realized until years after his death. Today, he is considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy, laying the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism.

Spinoza has had influence beyond the confines of philosophy. The nineteenth century novelist, George Eliot, produced her own translation of the Ethics, the first known English translation thereof. The twentieth century novelist, W. Somerset Maugham, alluded to one of Spinoza’s central concepts with the title of his novel, Of Human Bondage. Albert Einstein named Spinoza as the philosopher who exerted the most influence on his world view (Weltanschauung). Spinoza equated God (infinite substance) with Nature, consistent with Einstein’s belief in an impersonal deity. In 1929, Einstein was asked in a telegram by Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein whether he believed in God. Einstein responded by telegram: “I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.”[14] Spinoza’s pantheism has also influenced environmental theory. Arne Næss, the father of the deep ecology movement, acknowledged Spinoza as an important inspiration.

It stands to reason that Spinoza wrote a lot of rather influential things, but one simple quote stood out to me above the others.

Prop. IX. The more reality or being a thing has, the greater the number of attributes.

For many people, this quote is something that applies to a scientific or philosophical understanding of the world around them. I found it rang true from a different perspective: that of an author.

Consider that the ‘thing’ in question is a character, and the ‘reality or being’ is just that. In order to make a character realistic, to make it live and breathe and almost seem to walk among us, it needs to have more attributes. Sure, you can start by describing height, hair and eye color, but it isn’t until you venture into the land of personality quirks, political leanings, emotional baggage and bad habits that most characters really come to life.

You might be tempted to think that the increase in attributes only helps the reader connect with a character, but I’ve found it to be exactly the ‘stuff’ needed for characters that practically write themselves. When you create a character with such a strong reality, their path through a set of obstacles becomes obvious, their reactions to their surroundings natural and their interactions with others almost predictable. As a writer, what more can you ask for?

I found this quote in the book The Rationalists | Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz. I’ll be the first to admit that The Rationalists isn’t a light read, so if you’ve never tackled something like it before yet want to read it, you’ll probably need to absorb it small doses. It is really well worth it, though- there are so many gems in it, so many inspirational, controversial, amazing or simply profound items contained within the pages that it lives on my ‘Keep Forever’ bookshelf in a place of honor.

Have you ever noticed

Have you ever noticed that no matter how much time you spend proofing and/or editing a piece, the second it lands in print you end up finding something you’ve missed- a comma, or maybe you were supposed to type ‘then’ but only have ‘the’.

I’m not sure where these little imperfections originate, but I do know that I’ve seen them in many professionally edited and published volumes, in Classic books, in modern romances, even in other magazines. So I think its fairly safe to say that everyone suffers from this problem.

The question then becomes simple: How do you deal with them? I used to fight them, sending my work around to a list of various people, each skilled at detecting a different type of error. But these days, I’m less uptight about it, freer with my words. You’d be surprised how much personal happiness you can find when you let go of those little imperfections, embrace them even.

They’re going to happen. You can’t stop them. Tha is the beauty of it all.

Yes, I know, my ‘that’ is a ‘tha’ but somehow, today, it just doesn’t bother me.

Talkabout Thursday

Pack your bags, we’re going on a trip! I’m going to take you to Dramaquill’s Blog– a wondrous place for writers.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but most importantly, you’ll nod your head and say, “me too!”

Writer, Jacqueline McMahon blogs about the one thing we all love more than anything else (right?)- writing.

Jacqueline is a playwright as well as…well- she’s just a writer, much like the rest of us.  She’s published pieces in a variety of locations- everything from magazines to anthologies, and has one of the most entertaining blogs I’ve had the pleasure of stumbling across.

Seriously- no matter how far or near you are in your career, take a few minutes and head over to Dramaquill’s Blog – you won’t regret it!

You might be a writer…

It was a dark and stormy afternoon; the thunder was crashing all around, shaking the walls of the house.  Children squealed in fright as lightning forked across the sky, and the power flickered repeatedly, making it nearly impossible for the writer to finish her assignment.   Checking the online weather radar, the writer was quite upset to find that she had her own personal rain cloud, an unhappy blob of reds, yellows and greens parked right above her house.  She knew it was going to be a long day.

If you’ve ever sent an instant message like this, you might be a writer.  I was amusing myself to no end with my little third person story, but nobody else seemed as entertained. Have you ever had those days?

I should probably make it clear that I don’t write in third person on a regular basis; something about today just seemed to demand it.   I know, I know.   You’re probably thinking, “isn’t this just another seductive form of procrastination?” and the truth is, you’d be correct. But its so delicious, you should try it some time!

I’ve actually accomplished quite a bit.  I’m cruising right along on the latest issue of Saponifier, eager to have this edition finalized and in print despite the delays we’ve encountered.  I’ve put the children to work, forcing them to do chores as a way of keeping them occupied- is that wrong? So, as I sit here sipping coffee and eating a blueberry PopTart, I thought a bit of creative writing couldn’t hurt….could it?

Now I’d rather free write than write articles.

*sigh*

Goodmorning? Maybe…

Its early; too early, I think, for the time I went to bed last night.  This being the summer, my internal clock has reset and my body has decided that I should be awake from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.; tough hours to stick to when you have three kids. Now I’ve got a bit of a headache and I’m drinking my first cup of coffee, reflecting on the day ahead of me. I actually feel somewhat guilty that I didn’t do the Friday5 last Friday; the questions didn’t suit me.  Instead, I worked on my WIP and on Saponifier, which is what I’m working on today.

I’m using Google’s new Task List, a part of Gmail.  As a serial email-checker, every time I look for new messages, I am now confronted with a list of things I need to accomplish by the end of the day.  I’m hoping that the little notes will remind me of all the things I have needing done, thus making me more effective as both a writer and Managing Editor, but we’ll see.  I have superhuman powers to stubbornly procrastinate.

I snapped a picture that I want to share with you;  I thought it might help generate a little inspiration for someone.  Its a picture of the sunset and the moon, as seen from my driveway at about 8 p.m. on July 23rd.  Being of the sort that needs inspiring, I’m also going to share a poem, one that seems to fit the mood I’m in today.

The Moon
by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822)

I
And, like a dying lady lean and pale,
Who totters forth, wrapp’d in a gauzy veil,
Out of her chamber, led by the insane
And feeble wanderings of her fading brain,
The mood arose up in the murky east,
A white and shapeless mass.

II
Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth,
And ever changing, like a joyless eye
That finds no object worth its constancy?

And with that, I’m going to finish my coffee (and perhaps a Blueberry Pop Tart) and start on my day.

The Proofing Problem

Have you ever run into the proofing problem?  Its plaguing me  a lot lately.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the people who are kind enough to proofread my pieces, but sadly, they aren’t catching the errors.  Its one thing when its an article going to print, but another when its a creative piece.  In my recent experience, the problem is simple: when someone is reading a work of fiction, they get caught up in the story and overlook simple errors.

As far as complaints go, its not a bad one to have.  I’d much rather know that they feel my work is enjoyable, but it leaves me wondering how everyone else manages to find the errors in their work- without paying for a professional to proof it, that is.

In the grand scheme of things, I’m a starving artist with a matching budget, so paying for something like proofing isn’t in the cards.  So, do you have tips on proofing works of fiction?  I’m interested to see how other people handle this problem.

Its Thursday, Time to Talkabout!

Good morning friends! Happy Thursday!

Today, I’m going to Talkabout a great blog called Backstory.  Its a wonderful place for authors to spend their coffee break (ask me how I know! LOL).  Backstory is a blog dedicated to inspiration.  From their page:

“Where authors share secrets, truths, logical and illogical moments that sparked their fiction or memoirs”

The best part is that you can actually submit your own backstory, sharing your own a-ha moment and spreading the literary love. So today, when you’re feeling frazzled and nearly ready to give up, click on over to Backstory and spend a little time indulging your inner author!

How do you define a story?

sto⋅ry: noun, plural -ries, verb, -ried, -ry⋅ing.

1. a narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the hearer or reader; tale.
2. a fictitious tale, shorter and less elaborate than a novel.
3. such narratives or tales as a branch of literature: song and story.
4. the plot or succession of incidents of a novel, poem, drama, etc.: The characterizations were good, but the story was weak.
5. a narration of an incident or a series of events or an example of these that is or may be narrated, as an anecdote, joke, etc.
6. a narration of the events in the life of a person or the existence of a thing, or such events as a subject for narration: the story of medicine; the story of his life.
7. a report or account of a matter; statement or allegation: The story goes that he rejected the offer.
8. news story.
9. a lie or fabrication: What he said about himself turned out to be a story.

Recently, there has been some discussion on one of the lists to which I belong surrounding the controversial topic of stories.  I hadn’t thought this to be a topic open to debate, but much like the art -vs- craft issue facing those who produce creative handmade goods, it seems that there are battle lines demarcated and ammunition being stockpiled by those on each side of this literary battle.

One fervent believer argued that poetry is glimpses, not a story; that without a well defined plot, there is no story.  Another replied that as long as you met with progress throughout the piece, such as the development of a character’s personality, then it would indeed be a story. They fired a volley of frantic messages between them, many of us merely observing from the sideline.  Others joined in, tossing their own choice grenades into the fray, comments like, “if it doesn’t have a clear beginning, middle and end, it isn’t a story,” and, “you can’t define a story unless you know the context you’ll be defining it in.”

As the messages continued to roll in, first five, then twelve, thirty now, I tried my best to ignore them.  I sent most to the trash without reading them, but couldn’t help seeing words in the mail preview as I hit delete.  And it left me wondering.

Why all the fuss?  Why not just write?

There are things in life that we’ll never be able to explain, never be able to quantify or pigeonhole.  Things that are subjective, like beauty, pleasant scents, and apparently what the definition of a story is.  So, as they continued their debate, I continued to write, adding another 5,000 words to the work in progress.

Take Note: I’m Addicted

Do you have a notebook? I do! It has all sorts of papers falling out of it and is covered with doodles.  Inside are random pages of story ideas, bits of dialogue, various character names (both used and unused), random quotes I’ve overheard. I’m sure you get the idea.

It isn’t the first notebook I’ve had, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.  In truth, I’m a notebook addict.

Tonight, while jotting down some notes on what I wanted to write tomorrow, I thought a lot about my notebook and how its an artform of its own.  That’s when I decided to take a picture of my notebook- stay tuned for that image; its too dark to get a good picture now.

In the meantime, I thought you might all enjoy peeking into the creative lives of some other notebook addicts.  So, feed your voyueristic tendencies and check out these notebooks from Flickr’s Notebook-addict group (yes…I joined!)

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