|
About This Author
My name is Joy, and I love to write.
Why poetry, here? Because poetry uplifts its writer, and if she is lucky enough, her readers, too. Around us, so many objects abound to write about. Once a poet starts with a smallest, most trivial object, he shall discover that his pen will spill out what is most delicate or most majestic hidden inside him. Since the classics sometimes dealt with lofty subjects with a lofty language, a person with poetry in his soul may incline to emulate that. That is understandable. Poetry does that to a person: it enlarges the soul and gives it wings. Yet, to really soar, a poet needs to take off from the ground.
 
|
Everyday Canvas
"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."
CHARLIE CHAPLIN
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
David Whyte
This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts.
Previous ... - 1- 2 ... Next
January 31, 2016 at 1:17pm January 31, 2016 at 1:17pm
| |
There is power in a character with an attitude, especially when the character is the narrator with the first person POV. Attitude will also work with the third person POV, if we manage our word choices cleverly.
The oxford dictionary defines attitude as: “A settled way of thinking or feeling about something.” The attitude in a fictional character, however, works better when it is not a subtle but a passionate one, even edging on being quarrelsome or having a scowling disposition or temperament, a determined posture, or even a pose of being cocky. Think of Hermione in Harry Potter. As nice as she is, Hermione is her own person with her own disposition and posture in life.
To bring out the attitude in a character, after we write up his or her chart, we’ll need to figure out which of his characteristics or beliefs are the most settled and pronounced ones. Then, with those characteristics in mind, it is a good idea to ask questions to which they answer with an attitude and even come up with different answers with the same attitude. It is a good idea to pick their best answers and add them to their charts.
The nice thing about this practice is: When we find the character’s attitude, we also find his voice.
|
January 30, 2016 at 4:36pm January 30, 2016 at 4:36pm
| |
Promp: Let's try an exercise: Begin your blog with these characters and see where they take you...
a young man in jail, a waitress who likes her menu to rhyme, a policeman with ten cats and a driver of a hit and run accident. Oh the stories that can grow with your imagination and a blank screen.
If you don't feel that energetic tell me about your weekend plans.
------------------------
Since I never know what can jump at me without a plan for any weekend, here is a prompted tale instead:
A Fish Tale of Political Correctness
Janice swayed her hips, took out the order pad,
her blond curls shook; she smiled, eager and glad.
“Our specials are: hand-battered fish and chips
wood grilled tacos with cheese on tips
marinated shrimp skewers
with free root-beer-filled ewers.
We also offer sailor’s platter
and peppercorn sirloin for that matter,
but may I suggest first a vodka martini,
if not, maybe caramel appletini
or a sunset passion colada
or a nicely blended Bahama Mama?”
“Hold it, Miss, Waitress!” said Henry, driver of the hit and run
“That thing on the first line is fine where you just begun
or whatever else you bring, make it on the double
I gotta eat and run, as I am in big trouble.
I have a brother, a young man in jail
I mustn’t join him before I raise bail.”
“Yessir,” said Janice, “I am your server; the name’s Janice.
As this establishment employs political correctness,
throwing gender at me brings much stress.
Just remember not to call me a waitress.”
Before Henry could bite into his fish and chips
he glimpsed ten cats, felt their paws' grips.
They attacked his plate, surrounding him
with hundred meows. Then, “Your chances are slim!”
bellowed Chapman, the policeman. “My cats belong to the force
like K-9s, our new adventure, as a matter of course,
but first, I’ll read you your rights, and you cannot run
surrounded by armed cats. My, they are having fun!”
“But sir,” shrieked Janice. “What about political correctness?
No animals here, the rules say with due directness.”
“Ten cats of the police force, surrounding a criminal
and you try to get under my skin in a way subliminal?”
Chapman waved his bushy brows as the cats devoured the fish,
and poor Henry cowered while handcuffed with a swish.
“The most politically correct is the police doing his job,”
said Chapman to Janice, “Come, nice Miss, don’t be a snob.
I’ll take you out, after I book him in.” Beaming,
Chapman stood erect, and Janice nodded, dreaming.
Smiling sweetly, she said, “Yes! Of course, yes.
But first, please, let me clean up the mess.
Then tonight, after I primp, I’ll see you at seven-ish?”
Chapman said, “Agreed! I swear, it will be heaven-ish.”
Here ends my fish tale of romance and rhyme
written in half an hour, seasoned with slime. 
|
January 24, 2016 at 3:56pm January 24, 2016 at 3:56pm
| |
This Sunday, I’d like to share a few tips about what not to use in openings in fiction. These are from a friend who knew a few editors and gave me this list.
Although I believe nothing is clear-cut and written in stone when it comes to the writing craft, we might consider heeding these tips, at least for the time being, until they are changed and replaced during the next few decades.
Don’t open your story with:
• A dream
• An alarm clock buzzing
• Explosions and murders unless they are the current story’s starters as in murder/mystery genre
• Scenery descriptions
• Too much tell, not enough show
• Backstory, especially if detailed and long
• The villain, especially in a ghastly action
• Dialogue that has little or nothing to do with the storyline
These we should consider because, over the last three or four decades, beginnings have changed more than any other story structure due to the fact that publishing industry has become a puppet to the sales business and instant visual media, even more obviously than it was earlier, giving the mainstream and literary fiction a very little market space.
|
January 24, 2016 at 2:06pm January 24, 2016 at 2:06pm
| |
Prompt: Think about these three things ... Play, Passion and Purpose
In my life, where do I play? What am I passionate about? What is my purpose? Are there any commonalities among these areas?
What do your answers tell you about your intrinsic motivation?
===========
The meaning of life is to give meaning to life, and this is where play, passion, and purpose comes in. In my case, these three have merged over the years. In my young adult days, they were somewhat separate. Over the years, I learned to mix them into a solution, something similar to cooking a custard. Sugar, milk, eggs, and flavorings are four different items, but when mixed and cooked together, they give us something pleasant to eat.
If you are defining intrinsic motivation as performing an action or behavior because one enjoys the activity itself, then life itself is my intrinsic motivation. Although some things that come up may not be to my liking, I still enjoy adjusting to or fighting against them, because I enjoy life. I have always loved life, but not because I had it easy. Far from the truth, but I don’t like to dwell on the negatives. Their mention, if I ever do, turns out under a veil, either in poetry or fiction, and that always surprises me. I think, “How did this surface again? Hadn’t I dealt with it, already?” Yet, my life and all our lives are our very own encyclopedias, and we have every right to refer to them whenever we need them.
 ----------------
Prompt: How much can we—should we–embrace women, in fiction and IRL, whose lives, if not their very persons, are enviably “better” than ours, more attractive, more comfortable, and seemingly happier? Do we admire them, judge them, or both? Are we secretly pleased when they, too, encounter life’s inevitable obstacles, or do we feel sorry for them? So much depends on their likeability, on how heavily or lightly they wield their power.
========
This all depends on the premise and storyline. Speaking for myself, I like to read about strong women from any walk of life, lucky or unlucky with their circumstances, but I have also come across and liked characters who were mousy in the beginning of a story, yet they learned to stand strong on their own two feet by the end.
Let’s face it, if any character--male or female--had it all nice and easy, there wouldn’t be a story. A story needs conflict and characters in dire straits, so they can fight against misfortunes (or even fortunes) and come out on top or lose. Without their fight, there wouldn’t be fiction.
As real life can reflect fiction in some way, similar criteria apply for me there, as well; however, I wouldn’t hold it against any woman if she had it good all through her life and didn’t have to struggle, if I could find such a female. So far, anyone I have known and met and heard about had some rain falling into her life. If I could find such a person, I guess I'd like her just as well, but I haven't. With any person, when you scratch the surface, you'll find some joy and varying degrees of hurt.
I suppose, it is life itself that provides the pain or, at least, some injury to any human being. When it comes to defining life, it is what it is.
|
January 20, 2016 at 10:50pm January 20, 2016 at 10:50pm
| |
Prompt: Have you ever been inside a mansion or a lighthouse?
------------------
Yes, to both. Several times. I like lighthouses a lot, and mansions, well, it depends. Still, they both are inspirational to story writers and dreamers.
Since I have lived most of my earlier life on Long Island, NY, I’ll talk about the Montauk lighthouse, which is at the eastern tip of Long Island. It’s closed in winter and opens sometime in spring to public view. The times we visited it and then took our children were during the spring and summer.
Even when the weather is very warm, there is strong wind around it and not much vegetation. It is said to be the fourth lighthouse constructed in the US, first in New York State and was authorized originally by George Washington. The walls at its base are much thicker than at the top and it has iron steps spiraling to the top. Its light still flashes every five seconds and can be seen from afar. Its lookout point at the southwest looks to the Atlantic Ocean. Some people I knew were married there, as it hosts events like that. It has three small cottages for keepers and an oil house outside of the tower. There are meadows around it on what is called the Turtle hill, but not much of trees or bushes, possibly due to the salty fierce wind.
As to mansions, there are many of them on Long Island, even one at the Nassau County village of Kings Point, where Great Gatsby once reigned. This one is more than a mansion as it’s as huge as a castle, although only on eight acres. I heard it was on sale for 100 million, but that was last year. I don’t know if anyone bought it. Anything you wish for is in it: a two-story dollhouse, wine tasting room, hair salon, saunas, indoor pools, racquetball court, a gym, Turkish baths, steam and spa-treatment rooms. I couldn’t even begin to describe it as it is magnificent, stately, and a bit grandiose, and I especially loved the statues at the lowest level.
Yet, I am more partial to the more spread out but warmer Vanderbilt mansion with the Planetarium next to it on 20 acres. It is at the north shore, in Huntington, and as it was about 10-15 miles from where we lived and has been turned into a museum, we visited it, especially the planetarium, very often.
The mansion is a place that inspires all kinds of stories with its bell tower, stone bridges, and many rooms filled with artifacts and the family’s possessions from the jazz age, but I especially like its hilly well-kept garden and grounds that look to the Long Island Sound. This place, too, can be rented partially for weddings and such events.
|
January 19, 2016 at 10:48pm January 19, 2016 at 10:48pm
| |
Prompt: "Know your own happiness. Wait for nothing but patience-or give it a more fascinating name. Call it hope." Sense and Sensibility Do you agree?
==================
Although this quote is by the romance genre’s empress and supreme ruler, I have to step back and examine her words the way I understand them.
I like knowing my own happiness, yes, but waiting for it and hoping for it is not my modus operandi; however, working toward it is.
Hope is for the likes of Pandora as the last resort, and as the last resort, it has a dubiousness factor in it that is closer to deficiency and failure. It is something like thinking: I am waiting for this fantastic thing, which may or may not happen at all.
If “know your own happiness” means ‘follow your bliss’, I am all for it, as I am all for working toward my bliss, but just hoping is something else. I can’t deal with the side of hope that hints at some possible negativity. Hoping alone is probably the last resort before failing.
If I am waiting for something to happen, I must also be working toward it, and I must be sure it will happen or else. Even while waiting in line at the supermarket, I know my turn will come. I don’t hope for it. If the line is too long, I search for another line, or else, eventually, I may even search for another supermarket which opens several more cash registers. I don’t have the kind of patience that leaves my happiness just to that iffy hope.
|
January 19, 2016 at 2:12pm January 19, 2016 at 2:12pm
| |
Prompt: Most of us have been to a convention, a networking event, a writers’ conference or any other professional meeting. What are some of your ideas for making the most of these events not only for writers but for anyone in any profession?
=============
I guess the whole approach depends on the events and what you want to get out of them. To make it simple, let’s say you want to learn more on your subject or extend your job opportunities or you want to be recognized in your vocation.
First, you need to be friendly with everyone and approach people, even those you have never met, and introduce yourself. Although the small talk may sound silly to you, it’s a social norm that tells the other person they are important to you. If the conference isn’t going your way, you might just as well skip this approach and stay in the background.
If there are speakers in the conference, it must be because they are well-connected. Talk to them but don’t rush it until after everyone else is finished talking to them. Talk to them last if you can manage it, so they may remember you. Usually, the first and the last person to talk to a speaker is remembered the most, excluding obnoxious people who make an indelible impression.
If there is a line for food, drinks, etc., try to get in the back of a person who might be of interest to you. People waiting in lines usually end up engaging in chitchat. Chitchat may turn out to be important for networking later on.
Unless you have a very sharp memory, make sure to take notes not only on the material but also on the people you meet. This might come handy sometime later.
My favorite part of a conference is the exhibit area, not only for the new ideas and job opportunities but also for networking. Many people find jobs in the exhibit area. One person I know who was about to retire found a job for after his retirement. He worked at that job, then at another job similar to it, until he was 81. If not a job, in the least, you’ll get good advice on various aspects of your work and on the tools and materials.
Then, last but not the least, always show up early everywhere. You’ll never know what kind of opportunities will be there unless you show up ready and willing.
|
January 17, 2016 at 11:19pm January 17, 2016 at 11:19pm
| |
Prompt: “The best actors show you the flaws in the writing.” —Sam Shepard
What do you think about this? Should we ask a few good actors to read our work?
=======
Actors go through an interpretive process of the material in a much more insightful mode than writers or average readers. An actor sees himself as the character within the entire scene and the story or novel. He may even have ideas how to fix the surrounding issues so that the character assigned to him shines.
At times, the way some actors handle a play comes very close to some form of psychosis. They even forget about the material that what they are reading is a book or play or that it’s for an audience, even if the idea of an audience is lurking in there somewhere like a ghost. Yet, the better actors feel they are now the character and also the book or the play, while still being aware of the presence of the audience from the periphery of their vision.
The best actors can show you the flaws in the writing, but good luck, if you can find one to agree to read your work. They probably won't bother with work that is not a script for film or stage. I believe their critiques are efficient because they question the writing from inside out, asking probably, “OK, now what?” or “Where is the relevance of this scene for this character, story premise, or theme?” or “Where is the attitude, the voice?” or “Does this mean what we’re trying to make it mean?” or “Can it be constructed some other way?” Their kind of questioning is more valuable than anything because of their persistence in finding the essence of a story. A good actor won’t let a writer get away with shoddy planning, although another writer/reviewer without the stage experience may.
If we look at our own first drafts with the stance that an actor would take for interpreting them on stage, we would be better writers. For the same token, I think it would help young, budding writers to consider taking drama and acting lessons, rather as an aid to their writing than to any ambition they may have for stage or film.
|
January 17, 2016 at 2:18pm January 17, 2016 at 2:18pm
| |
Poetic License According to Britannica:
“Poetic license, the right assumed by poets to alter or invert standard syntax or depart from common diction or pronunciation to comply with the metrical or tonal requirements of their writing.
As a general rule, poetry has a carefully controlled verbal structure. The metre of the poem, the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, and the sounds and modulations of the words themselves all affect the subtle meanings and feelings that the poet may be trying to convey or evoke. Poets may distort normal prose patterns for the sake of form and therefore assume poetic license; it is solely a matter of aesthetic judgment and sensibility as to whether the alterations enhance or detract from the total effect of the poem.
The term poetic license is also sometimes used in a humorous or pejorative sense to provide an excuse for careless or superficial writing.”
Okay, not just poets but I’d like to cut some slack to all writers if what they write pushes forward an idea or a feeling more forcefully than any other way. I may even look over a slight grammatical booboo in favor of a farce or mimicking an accent.
Still, I cringe at badly written song lyrics, even if I don’t expect any one of them to be 100% correct. It is one thing to try to create a dramatic effect and another thing to botch up the meaning or the language. I don’t want to give examples here for fear that nowadays music lovers may have my head for that, but there has to be a line drawn between blatant errors and poetic license. Especially in music. For the simple reason that we remember things better when they are set to music. Music has a way of infusing into our consciousness. For example, I can’t remember the day-to-day events that happened during the 1950s, but if you hum an Elvis song under your breath, its words will come to me in a flash.
Yes, I strongly believe grammar is important, and it is especially so when words are set to music. Moreover, let’s not forget what Michel de Montaigne said, “The greater part of the world’s troubles are due to questions of grammar.” 
|
January 16, 2016 at 6:55pm January 16, 2016 at 6:55pm
| |
Prompt: Have you ever heard a song and it immediately brought tears to your eyes? What song was it? Why did it affect like you like it did; was it the song or was it what was happening in your personal life that it struck a chord?
-------------
Yes, of course. Music unquestionably affects my emotions. Any music I listen to that reflects my mood at the time moves me in a profound way. For this very reason, I can’t write while listening to music. I have been given several CDs with titles like Music for Writing, etc. I love them, but if I listen to them while writing, I’ll stop writing. Yet, I can write while hubby listens to the TV and sometimes talks to me in between. So it isn’t the case of not being able to do two things at the same time. I think it is because music means much more to me than being just a background thing.
There are many songs that affect me deeply, too, but I can’t list all of them here, and to pick out something or just one song out of my personal life wouldn’t be fair to all that I would have to leave behind.
I also have a quirk about not just the song but a specific singer who sings that song. For example, one of my most favorite songs is Can’t Help Falling in Love, but only when Elvis sings it. Several years ago, another singer or group brought up the same song, and although they might have done a good job, I felt indignation. For the same reason, And I Love You So and It’s Impossible have to be sung by Perry Como, Speak Softly Love by Andy Williams, You Were Always on my Mind by Willie Nelson, or Sounds of Silence by Paul Simon. I could go on and on, but I won’t. Still, I have to mention some Italian and Spanish songs and tangos, such La Cumparsita, Caminito, and O Sole Mio, etc., which almost always leave indelible impressions on me.
I am also picky when it comes to classical piano music. I have my favorites in that, too, but only by some piano players. I hate it when piano players attack the keys like they are fighting the third world war.
Chances are my tastes in music will probably turn off the younger generation that has a passion for a lot more energetic and freer music, which by the way, sounds cacophonic to me. I like music that is softer, and if a song, I want to hear every word in it, possibly because I am a word person first.
|
January 15, 2016 at 4:06pm January 15, 2016 at 4:06pm
| |
Prompt: You're barefoot in the sand on a beach. The waves are tickling your toes and.....
========
And I am focusing on the scenery with my camera, trying to adjust the ISO and the F, though not the F@#$ you are thinking of, but you are quite close as I mouth the word without sound quite often, especially with this contraption whose guide keeps telling me the subject is too dark. Of course, it is too dark because I forgot to take off the lens cover.
In the meantime, something moves over my toes. I screech and jump. It is a blue crab with a sea tern dashing after it. At the same time the bird catches the idiotic crab, the camera clicks. I can't believe my luck! It has adjusted itself when I jumped.
But no, it isn't my luck! Inadvertently, I must have hit the green automatic button. Now, why didn’t I think of that in the first place!
A sudden feeling of wetness on top of my head…I let the camera hang from my neck and I touch my hair. Eeek! Something gooey and…and…I look up at the seagulls flying overhead. They did it again. I pick up a handful of sand and clean my hands. Then I replace the cover on the lens.
When I go home, I check my photograph, a masterpiece. Why, it is an abstract! But what is it?
Further speculation gives way to the understanding that it is my big toe and the end part of the crab scurrying away. Somehow, today, my luck has been with the tail ends of everything.
What can you do? Some days it is heads, some days tails…
Prompt: You have a new super power. You can disappear and reappear! How would you use this super power?
==============
This is not a new superpower for me. I can already disappear and reappear. Ask my husband. He is always after me with this question: “Where have you disappeared to?”
This superpower is especially easy to handle when I am on the internet. I can disappear from and reappear in sites at the flick of a click. Sometimes it is handy. At other times, when out of my control, it is so tiring, but alas, I have to live with all my God-given (ahem…computer-given) superpowers.
|
January 13, 2016 at 5:37pm January 13, 2016 at 5:37pm
| |
Prompt: "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." Maya Angelou Do you agree?
---------------------------------------------
I agree somewhat. My “somewhat” is only because I haven’t experienced all the agonies (Heaven forbid!), and therefore, I can make no valid comparison. By the way, I love Maya Angelou, but she has her ways, such as saying “sky’s falling” instead of saying “it is raining,” which technically is the truth since rain falls from the sky.
When it comes to the stories inside people, everyone carries many stories inside them. That those stories are untold may not be a burden for most people, especially if they keep talking and giving out snippets of those stories in friends-and-family gatherings. One reason to love those gatherings, don’t you think, Writers?
Yes, Writers, just like Toys"R"Us stores are for kids, stories are there for writers. How does Stories”R”Us sound to you? By the same token, lock up a writer in a dungeon, he or she will end up telling numerous stories to the other inmates. That is the invincibility factor that comes with a writer’s storytelling.
For a writer to carry a story inside and not write it can be an agony because writers not only use the stories inside them but also go looking for them all over the place, on top of taking what Google throws up on them. Then, out of training and habit, writers end up seeing stories everywhere. With so many stories all around and little time to write them all--since human life has a limited number of years--, surely, a writer like Maya Angelou would utter such a quote.
|
January 12, 2016 at 11:59am January 12, 2016 at 11:59am
| |
Prompt: Blaming -- When things go wrong, do you find that you blame yourself or someone else or do you leave the blame aside and take care of the problem at hand? What is the best way to stop the blame game?
=============
All people, at one time or another, end up blaming someone or something or themselves. If we didn’t blame, we wouldn’t feel the hurt or the joy in our lives (yes, we can sometimes blame others for our joy, too). In itself, blaming is not dysfunctional. It can protect and empower a person. Yet, there is that unhealthy kind of habitual blaming as a customary reaction to events and other people. This kind of blaming damages relationships, makes the blamer’s life a living hell, and hinders personal growth.
Blaming, the bad kind, is a habit that needs to be taken care of so a person can grow. It could be that the blaming started as a defense mechanism even when the person was a child and it stuck. Blaming the wrong person, wrong event, or even oneself is to avoid the truth and deny the true feelings one is feeling in a situation because the blamer replaces his/her feelings about the experience with the feelings of who caused it.
I once knew a woman who I found to be one of the most miserable people I had met whose marriage was in shambles. For her every problem, she blamed her mother-in-law totally, even though the mother-in-law lived separately and in a different city. Her blame game pulled the wool over her eyes and didn’t let her focus on the real problem, which was the relationship between her and her husband.
If one is always blaming others or himself/herself in an unhealthy way, I believe the way to fix this behavior should be:
• If people need to get rid of their blaming habits, they should first identify their reactions with the thought I am blaming again!-
• The next step could be asking themselves these questions:
If there wasn’t any blaming or any one to blame in this situation, what would I feel?
Is this a feeling that is hard for me to face?
The cure to repetitive and unhealthy blaming habit may lie in the honest answers to these questions.
|
January 11, 2016 at 6:02pm January 11, 2016 at 6:02pm
| |
Prompt: Does extreme eccentricity add to a story’s literary value, as in an eccentric character, plot, or setting or is it just a cute trick?
=============
Yes, I love eccentricity, even extreme eccentricity, as it adds to a story in the hands of a capable author. According to Scientific American, there is a strong similarity between creativity and eccentricity.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-unleashed-mind
Then, if we unearth the word “eccentric,” a correlation between certain traits typical of schizophrenic people and creativity pops up, too, which doesn’t necessarily mean all creative people have schizotypal personalities.
In addition, from a totally different point of view, what is extremely eccentric depends on the era in which the work is written. When Kurt Vonnegut’s writing first showed up, people thought he was an eccentric. Yet, when I read him about a decade or so later, I thought he was brilliant and wasn’t afraid of the truth, just like any other creative person. Now, he has become a classic.
A few years ago, while I was borrowing a book from the library, I ran into an acquaintance who looked at what I had in my hand and said, “Oh, he is way too eccentric for me.” After reading the book, I thought the young author was brilliant. He was Dave Eggers and the book was You Shall Know Our Velocity! I could see why my acquaintance would say something like that, though. Sometimes the older generation may find the younger generation a bit too eccentric.
I think even eccentricity needs to be genuine. The writer has to believe in the truth of his story and his characters, although out of his eccentric thinking he may sometimes babble and blather over the tiniest details, words, and ideas. To me, that is perfectly all right if the work is authentic.
What is not acceptable to me is the writing when the authors force themselves and their stories to be original and eccentric. That forcing element messes up their work.
This made me laugh.
From Collins English Dictionary:
plenum (ˈpliːnəm)
n, pl -nums or -na (-nə)
1. (General Physics) an enclosure containing gas at a higher pressure than the surrounding environment
2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a fully attended meeting or assembly, esp of a legislative body or assembly, esp of a legislative body
Congress is gas-filled?
|
January 10, 2016 at 5:07pm January 10, 2016 at 5:07pm
| |
At this time, I am reading May Sarton’s Journal of a Solitude. It is a beautiful, delicate, insightful day-to-day thoughts of the poet. I am reading it as if I am reading poetry, which is very slowly, since I find the book highly but not surprisingly poetic.
Not all memoir writers can be as delicate as May Sarton who hasn’t--up to the page that I have so far read—hasn’t mentioned anyone with a name but has referred to the other people anyhow. Mentioning private people with their names, good or bad, is a breach of the law as it's public disclosure of private facts, which is an aspect of the right of privacy, actionable in most states. It is, therefore, a good practice, if you are writing your memoirs and are about to mention someone by name, to get his or her permission, preferably in writing.
So the question is: If you worry about any legal action and still want to tell your story without risking litigation, what do you do?
A few suggestions, here:
• Talk to a lawyer before you publish or you even start writing.
• Use a pseudonym or write the other person’s name by jumbling up the characters in their name.
• Do not use biographical data to describe why a person did something or failed to do.
• Stay away from describing physical appearances, or better yet, change them.
• Disguise as much personal information about the person as you possibly can.
The above points are what a lawyer would probably tell you; however, if you want your memoir to be authentic, you can’t change very much at all about the characters who have influenced your life. The best thing would be, in my opinion, is to not refer to any person by their full name.
On the other hand, most people will not go to court over this because it would be inviting more public shame and disrepute. So it is up to the memoirist to practice their writing ethics. I would also suggest writing something like this in the foreword or on a separate page in the beginning of their book:
This book tells of events as I experienced them from my point of view depending on how correct my memory can be. Sometimes a memory can be faulty, but I have written everything as correctly as I believe to have happened.
Having said all this, you can be sure I am not going to write my memoirs. Instead, I’ll hide inside my fiction.
|
January 9, 2016 at 6:06pm January 9, 2016 at 6:06pm
| |
Prompt; Books affect us in profound ways, don't you agree? Tell us about a book that struck a chord with you, was it in a good way or a not so good way?
===================
Lots of books affect me, all the time, even more so than people. So much so that my mother used to be jealous of my reading, and later it was my hubby, but over the years, he has learned to live with it.
The first book that had a lifelong effect on me was Saint Exupery’s Little Prince. After that, countless books emerged that I loved, that made me think, and that kept me under their influence for days, weeks, and months. Next to Little Prince are Poems of Rumi, Masnavi, and Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. Then there are the authors like Richard Bach and Paulo Coelho who always leave something with me. There are also a few books I've read in other languages that are not translated into English. Those, I'm letting be.
Of the rest of them that impressed me deeply --at least at the time that I read them— what comes to mind right now are: The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton, The Idiot, Tales from the Underground, and The Brothers Karamazov, The Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Jane Eyre, Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms, Anthem, Rebecca, The Call of the Wild, The Handmaid’s Tale, Fahrenheit 451, André Gide’s Journals, The Good Earth, A Separate Peace, The Storyteller, Resistance, Room, Electra (Yes, I sometimes read stage plays, too), King Lear, A Doll’s House, The Miser, etc.
The list goes on and on. The way a book impresses me shows itself with passages, scenes, or snippets that make me think. They play over and over inside my head, leaving back a stunned feeling. My overall reading throughout my lifetime has shown me acceptable behavior, what not to do, and freedom in thinking, and I hope it has also given me a bit of a literary taste.
I was never negatively impressed by a book. If I don’t like it, I forget about it or if I don’t like it because of too many grammatical mistakes or constructional holes, the name of the author goes on my Do not Read list. |
January 8, 2016 at 12:39pm January 8, 2016 at 12:39pm
| |
Prompt: Do you feel you have to be available at all times? How has this affected your down time?
---------------------------
I have to be available to me, at all times, so I can be available to all those other people and places. As to downtime, I found this definition of it online:
"Downtime or outage duration refers to a period of time that a system fails to provide or perform its primary function. Reliability, availability, recovery, and unavailability are related concepts."
I wouldn’t want my system to fail, even when it is not working at full capacity, like right now, due to a possible virus which is making me feel sick. I still push it because I don’t want to lose those related concepts of reliability, availability, and recovery.
Generally speaking, I like all the work I do, no matter how mundane. In addition, I don’t do any work that I don’t like. Thus, at times, the difference between work and leisure is so blurred that I don’t know whether I am working or having fun.
It is a good idea to have fun with what one is doing and finding the fun part of what one has to do. |
January 6, 2016 at 10:38pm January 6, 2016 at 10:38pm
| |
Prompt: Have you ever kept a New Year’s Resolution that you made?
----------------------------
As a general rule, I don’t make resolutions on New Year’s Eve or at any other time. If I promise myself to do something, I’ll do my best to do it. I think, at times, people confuse wanting to do something with making resolutions. Yes, I want to do a lot of things, but I don’t make resolutions for those or even promise to do those only to myself. Yet, when I want to do something, I can focus on it and usually bring it to completion, but I don’t beat myself up while doing it or afterwards.
Resolutions are attempts for reinventing selves. If I wanted to reinvent myself, I’d have to go through extensive psychiatric rehabilitation therapy. Then maybe such resolutions would work.
Resolutions need sharpened attention and focus. They also bind a person to a time period. It is true that a time frame helps to get things done, but there are other aspects in a resolution other than focus and timing.
When you look closely to it, in a resolution, there is a cause and effect factor. What people have or did or didn’t do in the past, now has to be undone, done, or redone. If a person had the guts in the first place, the cause part of the equation wouldn’t have happened, would it? How do you undo or redo without some pain what is so stuck into your life? To see yourself lose again?
Not for me. I am not a glutton for punishment.
===========
Here's something on the subject for a chuckle or two.
|
January 5, 2016 at 11:10pm January 5, 2016 at 11:10pm
| |
Prompt: My name is Victoria Winters. I am going on a journey that will bring me to a strange, dark house on the edge of Widows Hill. There I am going to be a governess to a young boy and the companion of a mysterious woman. "Dark Shadows" Write a poem or story about this and this doesn't have to be Dark Shadows related. Have fun with this.’’
========================
Hahaha! Long time no see. When Dark Shadows was first on ABC (I think ABC), I started watching it because I had a little baby who needed to be held. For seven months or so, this soap was like any other soap, but I liked its sane twists in the beginning. For some reason, one of the writers introduced the spooky stuff, making Barnabas evolve into a vampire. Suddenly, the ratings skyrocketed, and the entire show changed its face. Of course, I stopped watching it since my tastes hadn’t yet graduated to ghosts, werewolves, zombies, monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, or a parallel universe. Anyhow, by that time, my baby had grown, and I didn’t have the stomach to get involved with the unnerving stuff.
Coming back to you, Victoria, dear, I only recall the Collinses barely, but shame on you, for aping Jane Eyre, although, at the time, I felt for your innocence, confusion, and misery. Frankly, you got what you deserved by being nailed inside a coffin, experiencing claustrophobia. If I had watched you any further, I would have had claustrophobia, too. I heard they wrote you out of the series. It is a shame, though; if I recall correctly, you had a very pretty face.
Who’d know the craze that started in Collingwood mansion would end up in places all over the world with stuff such as Harry Potter and the Twilight Saga! True, there were similar horror fiction and movies earlier, but none of them became that popular with the exception of Count Dracula.
Vicky, dear, I don’t know what you taught that little boy with his mother Elizabeth hanging over you, but your presence led to a new era of unreality. In view of the success of such things today, I guess Jane Eyre will forgive you for your thievery, after all.
|
January 5, 2016 at 7:03pm January 5, 2016 at 7:03pm
| |
Prompt: Some people blush very easily. What do you think blushing shows?
================
Although it is said that spicy foods and alcohol can trigger blushing, many people blush more easily than others. It doesn’t matter if one is pale skinned or not. If one blushes more easily, one blushes more easily. They have no control over it. It is one of those things when the body betrays its owner. One can’t control it with the will power, either.
Some say that people begin to blush when they feel they are being watched. Others say that it is the result of embarrassment or guilt, but none of those things are scientifically proven. Lots of guilty or embarrassed people do not blush. My guess is, blushing happens usually due to some sort of a stress trigger.
Case in point: When I was in my teens, I used to blush like crazy. It probably came from feeling self-conscious, but there was more to it; if I was doing something difficult or I felt someone staring at me, my face would burn up, too. Once in high school, we were taking a test, and I must have turned into such a lobster that the teacher came near me to check my fever. Then, she wondered if I were cheating. She checked around my desk and my clothing. I turned even redder. Lol! I have to tell you that of all the stages in my life, I hated, despised, got nauseous over my teenage years; I still do when I remember it. My blushing was almost always a part of the problem.
Over the years, it diminished, and now, thank God, to my knowledge, I am blushing no more. Maybe because I don’t give a fly’s ass to what other people think of me.
|
Previous ... - 1- 2 ... Next
© Copyright 2024 Joy (UN: joycag at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Joy has granted InkSpot.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
|
Comment 
