What to Read

There are a few books I turn to when I have questions about writing.

"Elements of Style" by William Struck is the main book I turn to when questions arise. I don't know why I don't have the thing memorized, yet? The book is small and ease to carry around. It doesn't occupy a lot of space on the bookshelf, or desk, depending on where it is best accessed.

"Portable MFA in Creative Writing" by New York Writers Workshop is another good book to keep around as a reference. The book offers quality tips on creative writing, and is cheaper than getting your MFA. I am not here to bash MFA programs, but this book might just be what you are looking for when it comes to improving your writing.

"Lies That Tell the Truth" by John Dufresne is a good read for those looking to write fiction. The book offers good amount of pointers, and Dufresne's writing style is easy to read.

These are the three main writing books I turn to, and I there are some other writing books that I own, but they mostly gather dust on my bookshelf.

I think reading essays, poetry, and short stories are important to any writer, because Ray Bradbury recommended it.

Reading will make you a better writer, but only if you understand what and why you are reading.

Protagonist Need Growth

Does Your Protagonist Grow?

Your protagonist is the main character of your story, and in most cases, the reader is usually rooting for him or her to win in the end.

A writer you have to think of your reader who does not want to sit and read a novel or short story where the plot just moves along in a nice steady pace and the protagonist does not learn something in the end. The reader wants change, not to steal from the rhetoric of our politicians, but they want the protagonist to learn something about themselves that they did not know when the story started.

Grab your favorite short story or novel and look closely at the protagonist. Does the protagonist change because of the story or does he change because of psychological reasons?

I know, homework, but the best way to learn to write is by learning from the masters. They do not keep secrets, but expose their techniques on the pages of their story. You will discover something by closely examining their works.

Do not be shy about typing out passages that illustrate how a protagonist grows. This exercise gives the feeling of actually writing the piece for yourself, and teaches you what to include and not include when you write about your protagonist growth.

Thoughts on Writing

I wonder how often a writer looks for pointers on the Internet, but soon realizes that they wasted time they could have just used for writing.

I know that I am guilty of wasting time searching for inspiration, but never finding it, and only ending up feeling regret for such a waste of time.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good websites and blogs that will inspire any writer, but my point is that as a writer you should be writing more and worry about inspiration later.

A good day for me is meet my word count. My word count includes my blog entries, and post on the website The Spoof (this link will take you to my profile). I feel that just writing is better than spending all day looking for something to write. I also find that writing about funny subjects also helps me write about serious subjects.

It isn't easy to always meet my word count, because I try for two thousand words a day, but I feel that it is realistic if I set about three hours aside a day for writing.

I don't know what most writers do in a day when it comes to word count, and I don't always believe what other authors say about word count, because an author of any worth is good at lying.

Poetry Mourning

I have found myself filled with a new kind obsession with poetry, something I haven't experienced since high school.

Why poetry? I think it has to do with the fact I am trying to understand my grandmother's death. She was 83, and diabetic, but her death still came as a shock. I guess I never thought she would die.

My grandmother was always a little dark, and I blame that on her German upbringing. She had no problem talking about death. I never liked the subject and liked to tell her that she wouldn't die. A loud laugh came from her every time.

I can't say that I have written anything worthy of memorializing my grandmother, but my search for something that might do her justice has lead me to a nice website. Poets.org. This site offers a lot to the poet who might be struggling to find the right word or would like some good poetry to read.

I also went through some of my old textbooks from my college days, but those books only offered me a nice distraction from the task at hand.

This poem I write for my grandmother won't be read in a church, because her funeral has now passed, but it will be read in the open air of the cemetery.

English Major

What is an English major to do in this economy, or even any economy? I don't know. I guess that is why I started this blog. I want a place to put my writing, and maybe inform while doing it.

I picked English as my major because I was seduced by the well written sentence, and lured in by the stories of gainfully employed writers.

I also picked English because I have opinions and wanted to learn how to write a better argument, so someday I could grace the pages of the local newspapers.

You might say why didn't you just become a journalism major if you wanted to write copy for the local newspaper?

I would tell that I love and loved reading the classics, and needed to get credits for my passion. I also wanted to take advantage of the great professors that were in the English department. Two of them were award winning writers, and I couldn't say that about the professors in the journalism program.

English might seem like a waste of major, considering the tight the job market, and large number of unemployed right now. And I knew that an English major wasn't going to get a lot of fancy jobs, but I wanted to learn from the best people on campus, and at that time it was the English department.

Business majors will probably make more money over their lifetime, and nursing majors will probably make more money, but how many hours will they have to work? Will they be happy?

It is hard to say what the future will hold for this English major? I know college debt to be repaid is on the top of the list, but the debt was sure worth it.

Sticking to Your Message

How to stay on topic is something that seems easy, but is hard to do when you feel passionate about a subject. It is easy to stray from the topic when you are most passionate about defending it.

I like to listen to talk radio, because I find the bias to be so obvious, but yet so funny. The kings of bias in my opinion have to be Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

Sean Hanity is pushing for limited government that doesn't tax him. He keeps arguing about how Reagan's tax cuts lead to more revenue for the government, but neglects to mention the fact that Reagan's tax cuts lead to the largest increase in the national debt.

Rush Limbaugh just relies on name calling instead of honest debate when it comes to any issue that he disagrees with, so he doesn't have to know his stuff, because he relies on tactics a student might encounter while playing on the school playground. I understand he has the need to be heard, and is very popular. Why is he popular?

Rush Limbaugh seems to be popular because he has a base that doesn't like to accept facts and they seem to agree with him. It is rare to hear someone call his show and disagree with him, probably a controlled thing that his producer does to make it sound like everyone agrees with Rush.

It is interesting to listen to these shows with an open mind. I try to listen to their message. I just can't. I know what it is like to be unemployed. I know what it is like to search for a job and discover that there are over 100 candidates applying for the same position.

I just don't think these mega rich pundits get it. There message of hate is harmful to the land we live in and want to see get better.

Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh aren't the only bad guys out there preaching hate of anything liberal. But they are the two loudest voices right now on the radio.

I will continue to listen to talk radio, because it is always entertaining.

What Feeds Your Muse?

How do you edit your writing?

I love to read a good piece of writing before I edit my own work. This practice gets me in the mindset of seeing what works in published writing.

I don't think it is easy for a writer to see what is wrong with their own work. It takes years to get to the point that dissecting and repairing becomes a skill they can count on when needed. Sure, some writers can do it sooner than others, but they are the lottery winners of the writing world.

For me, the true battle is making sure that I am not preaching with my stories. I love to write about the moral decay of society. I don't necessarily believe moral decay is real, but I find books that deal with subject interest me the most.

Their are other subjects that interest me, like secularism and atheism. I also try to make sense of Glenn Beck's following, and why people listen to talk radio? I us my writing to wonder about what happens to societies that rely on hate speech and their effects on society.

As a writer it is easy to avoid subjects that aren't going to get published, but a true writer needs to find what really matters to them and write about it. I believe writers owe that to society to write about the truth, even if it means not getting published by a major publishing company. I honestly believe people thirst for the truth, but can't really find it as easily as they can find the lies.

It is interesting to see where a simple piece of writing can take you.