Write What You Know and Vice Versa

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One of the first things aspiring writers are told is: Write what  you know.  And if you’re going to write about something, learn all you can about it so you will be able to “write what you know.” Many novelists set their stories in their own stomping grounds, their home state, territory they are familiar with. Anita Shreve’s novels are based in New Hampshire, John Grisham writes about the courtroom.

The question comes, though, what of those who write in the science fiction or fantasy genres? These people write about something no one knows.

J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings, et al) drew maps and pictures of the lands of Middle Earth, the Cracks of Doom and Shire. By the time he wrote his novels, he knew the land he had invented as well as I know North Texas.

Ann Rice (Interview With A Vampire) tells that when she wrote this novel, based in her home city of New Orleans, she was experiencing spiritual battles. She told a television interviewer that during that time she felt very much like someone from another world trying to find her way. She knew the feelings a vampire might have and she wrote those feelings. After she returned to her Catholic faith, she studied the life of Jesus with intensity. She has since written two novels about the life of Jesus, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana.

So, writers out there, write what you know.  You know a lot more than you think  you do. Take your feelings and experiences and give them to your character.

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You’re Only As Old As You Feel (and other cliches)

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“Old age isn’t so bad if you consider the alternative.” My most recent quote book (If Ignorance is Bliss, Why Aren’t There More Happy People?  a -Christmas gift from my brother in law) credits Maurice Chevalier with this saying, though it has been repeated so many times it hardly matters. Another quote, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself,” which reportedly was said by Yogi Berra, George Burns or Andy Rooney,  are actually the words of Eubie Blake. Blake was a ragtime pianist and composer who died in 1983 at the age of 100.

Other quotes about age: “It is sobering to consider that when Mozart was my age he had already been dead for a year.” Tom Lehrer (American satirist, born 1928)

“The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.” T.S. Eliot  (This is so, so true, as the newly retired will tell you.)

“I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything till noon. That’s when it’s time for my nap.”  Bob Hope (1903 – 2003)

“I do not ask to be young again; all I want is to go on getting older.” Konrad Adenauer (First Chancellor of West Germany after WWII. Lived to be 91)

This is not meant to be one of those cutesy articles on aging. If you want one of those, check your email, one will be along soon enough.  Many of us who have a few years behind us are faced with questions about how we fit in. Often, ironically enough, the place we feel most out of place is the church where we should feel most at home. The Spring issue of Mature Years addresses the feelings many senior have about noisy worship services and a music genre foreign to their tastes. 

In the article “Where Do I Go Now?” the writer, Pachecho Pyle cites several statistics: “Today the United States has more citizens alive over 65 than under 18 . . . ” Also, “Seniors average two to three times more available hours for volunteer church related activities than any other age group.”  “A Senior-adult church member will give seven times the money that a baby boomer will give.”  “Most senior adults in the church have been Christians for years and have a wealth of wisdom they can share, if given the chance.”  And how does Ms. Pyle suggest we make the change from unhappy misfits to productive believers? “First, we [Seniors] must be open to change . . .  Second, we must recognize how valuable we are.”

Interesting words. However, they appear in a magazine marketed to and primarily read by senior adults.  How do we let the world know how valuable we are?

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Ordinary People

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Ordinary PeopleOne night recently, during Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of the Oscars, I watched (again) Ordinary People a wonderful film from 1980. I was first introduced to this movie about 1995 when I was training as a crisis line volunteer. The social worker conducting the session used excerpts from this story to show examples of post traumatic stress disorder and the young man’s dramatic breakthrough in his counseling.  The few scenes I saw piqued my interest and I rushed out to rent and watch the whole movie. It’s a favorite.

Timothy Hutton plays seventeen year old Conrad Jarrett who survived a tragic accident that killed his brother and he is excellent in this role.  At twenty, this was his first film.  His early experience  was in television – Disney, mostly – but that doesn’t mean he was a novice actor. His scenes are powerful and riveting. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.  (I wonder about this, because he seemed like the lead character to me. But I don’t know how these categories are decided.)

The psychiatrist is played by Judd Hirsch, who at the time this movie was made, was starring in the TV hit “Taxi.” This was quite a departure from his usual roles and earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Ordinary People is from a novel by Judith Guest (her first novel) and won an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture and for Robert Redford as Director. Also, Alvin Sargent won the award for Best Writing for adapting the novel into a screen play.  Mary Tyler Moore was nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role for her protrayal of the mother. Her performance was outstanding, containing not a bit of the sweet, naive career girl she played on television.

This picture won at the Golden Globes and several other award ceremonies during 1981. But how much more acclaim can a drama about mental illness earn than for someone in the profession to say, “Yes. This is how it is. They’ve got it exactly right.”

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One Sentence Reviews

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Writers are told . . . well, writers are actually given lots of rules. But one thing we are told is that, when asked what our book is about we should be able to answer with one sentence that gives a clear idea of plot and character. I thought it might be interesting to see if I can do that with the books I read in 2009.

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott. The author shares stories from her faith walk as she gropes her way to Christianity.

Love From Your Friend Hannah by Mindy Warshaw Skolsky. In this elementary level novel, Hannah’s story is told in letters to her grandmother, her pen pal and to President Franklin Roosevelt.

Church of the Dog by Kaya McLaren. A mysterious young girl enters the lives of an elderly farm couple to show them forgotten pleasures in their everyday existence.

The Shack, by William Paul Young. This is the story of a man who, after suffering a great loss, meets the Trinity personified in a way drastically uncharacteristic of the usual image of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

If You Can Talk You Can Write by Joel Saltzman. Techniques in free writing to help get the creative juices flowing.

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen. In this middle school novel a young man inadvertently becomes an entrepreneur when his lawn mowing business takes off.

Heidi by Johanna Spyri. The adventures of a young orphan girl who goes to live with her grandfather in the Alps.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. The author’s story of her recovery from the grief of a failed marriage as she travels to Italy, India and Bali.

Twisted Creek by Jodi Thomas. A mystery about a young woman who inherits a bed and breakfast in Texas and moves there to start over.

Grace (Eventually) Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott. Stories from the author’s spiritual walk and the insights she gained from the joys and sorrows she encountered along the way.

The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble. A group of English women who read a book each month and gather for discussion are surprised to realize how their choice of literature mirrors their lives.

Without a Map by Meredith Hall. The author’s story of her life of shame and shunning following her pregnancy at age seventeen.

To Dance With the White Dog by Terry Kay. A mysterious white dog comes to keep company with an old man suffering from grief after the loss of his wife.

Worth by A. LaFaye. A family takes in a child from the orphan train.

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. This book follows the life and loves of two young girls who, though from very different backgrounds, are best friends.

Second Glance by Jodi Picoult. Ghost hunter comes in contact and falls in love with a woman who died in 1933.

The Widows of Wichita County by Jodi Thomas. Four men are in an oilfield explosion and only one survives in this story of their wives’ reaction to the event.

delicious fatigue by Pat Laster. Chap book of delightful verse by Benton, AR poet and my BFF.

The Herring-Seller’s Apprentice by L.C.Tyler. A suspense story around the disappearance of a mystery writer’s wife.

The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve. Story of two writers with plenty of history between them who meet again after twenty-six years.

Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman. Teen interactive mystery with clues sent every few chapters via logging into website.

No Bell Will Ring by Ruth Couch. Elementary school teacher meets the challenges of caring for an elderly parent while trying to have a life of her own.

Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow. A re-telling of the Collyer brothers story from the point of view of the younger Homer.

Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life by Charles Swindol. Moving through the year with devotional thoughts and exercises.

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The Station Agent

The Station Agent

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One of the many blessings of an unexpected snow day is having a good movie in the house waiting to be seen.  I watched The Station Agent twice during the two-day snow break, the second time with two twenty-year-old young men who found it as delightful (though they wouldn’t use that word) as I did.

When his only friend dies, a young man born with dwarfism (Peter Dinklage) inherits an abandoned train station in rural New Jersey. Perhaps to escape what his life is (rude jokes, a stranger taking pictures), Finbar McBride decides to go to Newfoundland, NJ, and live in quiet seclusion. But his solitude is soon interrupted by two locals and Fin reluctantly becomes acquainted with an artist, Olivia  (Patricia Clarkson), suffering grief/ depression, and Joe (Bobby Canavale) a talkative, tries-too-hard, Cuban hot-dog vendor.

Fin’s stoicism, Olivia’s I-can-handle-it- no-I-can’t phase of the grief process and Joe’s exuberance that covers underlying tension in his life makes them unlikely candidates for friendship. The story of how their relationship develops is told with tenderness and humor. The tagline for the foreign DVD release was: “Loneliness is much better when you have someone to share it with.”

Peter Dinklage is a fine actor, whose work has been mostly off-Broadway. TV viewers will recognize Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Canavale from their many appearances there.

The Station Agent is rated R for language, but (for me) that did not get in the way of the beautiful story.

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