Writing Tips, July 22-31

July 22

Birthdays: Emma Lazarus (1849), Margery Williams Bianco (1881), Odell Shepard (1884), Stephen Vincent Benet (1898), Amy Vanderbilt (1908), Bryan Forbes (1926), Jeremy Lloyd (1930), Tom Robbins (1936), David Kennedy (1941), S.E. Hinton (1948), David Shields (1956), Akhil Sharma (1971),

Emma Lazarus is best known for her poem “The New Colussus” which appears on the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Odell Shepard won the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for “Pedlar’s Progress”

Stephen Vincent Benet won the 1929 Pulitzer Prize for “John Brown’s Body”, a book-length poem about the Civil War

David Kennedy won the 2000 Pulitzer in History for “Freedom from Fear”

Quote: “Until we are all free, we are none of us free. ” ― Emma Lazarus

“Writing is one of the loneliest of the arts; unlike the actor we have no immediate audience and must wait many long months, even years on occasion, for the splatter of applause to reach our ears, if indeed we are not damned by total neglect.” – Bryan Forbes

Tip: As a writer, you need to develop a writing process that is flexible yet provides structure. How can you arrange your schedule to provide both?

Jumpstart: If your character was awakened out of a sound sleep and asked to describe himself in generalities (Midwesterner, engineer) what words would he blurt out?

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July 23

Birthdays: Raymond Chandler (1888), Elspeth Huxley (1907), Hubert, Jr. Selby (1928), John Nichols (1940), Lisa Alther (1944), Gardner Dozois (1947), Vikram Chandra (1961), Mohsin Hamid (1971), Lauren Groff (1978),

Quote: “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. ” ― Raymond Chandler

“I wrote for fourteen years and couldn’t get published. So I got used to the idea of not having an audience. I knew that if I were going to continue writing, I had to find other reasons than fame and riches and reactions from readers. I decided that I love to write, that it’s the most fun I have, so that makes it worth doing; and I use writing to figure out things about my life and the world, so that makes it worth doing; and it’s a craft and I can feel that I’m getting better at it and thus may hope eventually to get published, and that makes it worth doing.” – Lisa Alther

Tip: Edit your short story as if every word costs you ten dollars. How much fluff do you have?

Jumpstart: How would your main character tell a good friend about his/her current circumstances? What about after a few drinks? Describe the conversation and where it takes place.

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July 24

Birthdays: Alexandre Dumas (1802), Henrik Pontoppidan (1857), Percy FitzPatrick (1862), Lord Dunsany (1878), Edward Plunkett (1878), Junichiro Tanizaki (1886), Robert Graves (1895), Zelda Fitzgerald (1900), John D. MacDonald (1916), Aaron Elkins (1935), Albert Marrin (1936), Barry N. Maltzberg (1939), Arliss Ryan (1950), Brad Watson (1955), Banana Yoshimoto (1964), Madeline Miller (1978),

Henrik Pontoppidan was the co-winner of the 1917 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Quote: “That’s the advantage of insomnia. People who go to bed early always complain that the night is too short, but for those of us who stay up all night, it can feel as long as a lifetime. You get a lot done.” ― Banana Yoshimoto, N.P

“As an author, one of the most important things I think you can do once you’ve written a novel is step back. When the book is out, it belongs to the readers and you can’t stand there breathing over their shoulders.” – Madeline Miller

Tip: Establish POV (point of view – the person who is telling that part of the story) often. Readers put books down or are reading other things while reading yours. They tend to stop at chapter breaks so be sure to establish POV at the next scene or chapter break.

Jumpstart: Write a scene where you’re a much older—and wiser—version of yourself. What advice would you give your younger self?

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July 25

Birthdays: Josephine Tey (1896), Ruth Krauss (1901), Eric Hoffer (1902), Elias Canetti (1905), Denys Watkins-Pitchford(BB) (1905), Elias Canetti (1905), Midge Decter (1927), David Madden (1933), Robert Barrett (1937), Anne Applebaum (1964), Melissa Marr (1972), Mur Lafferty (1973)

Elias Canetti won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Anne Applebaum won both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for her nonfiction.

Quote: “You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.” ― Eric Hoffer

“People have always had different opinions. Now they have different facts.”― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“Letters to agents or editors should read like professional business letters. Don’t let your creative self get in the way of professional interactions. Sometimes that means writing replies but SAVING them as drafts for 48 hours so your mood can level. Being a professional writer (or pro artist, singer, etc.) involves switching modes between creative and practical.” – Melissa Marr

Tip: Don’t overuse your character names. Once you’ve established the last name of a character, you don’t need to reuse it unless there’s a reason. Plus, in dialogue, it’s not necessary to keep using names. As long as you’ve got tags or action delineating who is speaking, that’s enough.

Jumpstart: Your character has created a virus that will cure all ills of mankind and extend their lives by at least double—but it means they’d be sterile. Would s/he put it out there? Why or why not? Would s/he use it?

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July 26

Birthdays: George Bernard Shaw (1856), Carl Jung (1875), Aldous Huxley (1894), Paul Gallico (1897), James Berenstain (1923), Bernice Rubens (1928), Nicholas Evans (1950), Lawrence Watt Evans (1954), Rick Bragg (1959)

George Bernard Shaw is the only person to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature and an Oscar for the same work: “Pygmalion” (1938). “Pygmalion” was later made into the play/movie “My Fair Lady”

Quote: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ― George Bernard Shaw

“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” ― George Bernard Shaw

Tip: Take classes, either in person or online, to enhance your skills, learn new techniques, or enhance ones you already have.

Jumpstart: You go for a hike in the woods, taking a path you’ve traveled many times before. It starts to snow and you get turned around and suddenly don’t know where you are….

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July 27

Birthdays: Alexandre Dumas (1824), Giosue Carducci (1835), Hilaire Belloc (1870), Elizabeth Hardwick (1916), Jack Higgins (1929), Paul B Janeczko (1945), Robert Rankin (1949), Kate Elliott (1958), Cassandra Clare (1973)

Alexandre Dumas (fils) is the son of the French author of the same name. His novel “La Dame aux Camelias” was adapted by Verdi into the opera “La Traviata”

Giosue Carducci, an Italian poet, was the winner of the 1906 Nobel Prize in Literature

Quote: “The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.” ― Elizabeth Hardwick

Tip: If you get a rejection letter that has suggestions in it, really look at it. The agent or editor took valuable time to write that to you so pay attention. Most rejections are form letters, when they even come. Having an editor respond personally to you is important.

Jumpstart: You’re hosting a dinner for a large group of people—two from each country of the world. What do you serve? What do you talk about? How do you seat them?

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July 28

Birthdays: Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844), Beatrix Potter (1866), Malcolm Lowry (1909), John Ashbery (1927), Shirley Ann Grau (1929), Natalie Babbitt (1932), Jim Davis (1945), Robert Aspirin (1946), John Feinstein (1956), William T. Vollman (1959), Jon J. Muth (1960), Michael Ruhlman (1963)

Beatrix Potter is best known for her children’s stories like “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”

John Ashbery won the 1976 Pulitzer for his poetry collection “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror”

Natalie Babbitt’s books “Tuck Everlasting” and “The Eyes of the Amaryllis” were both made into movies.

Jim Davis is best known for his “Garfield” comics.

Quote: “The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color.” ― Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.” ― Beatrix Potter

Tip: If you can get into a good critique group, do so. They are invaluable. Not only will they help you with your writing, but in critiquing their work, you might learn a lot too. Just be aware, it make take several tries to find a good fit for you.

Jumpstart: Write up a zodiac profile of your main character. Is she a Leo, or a Scorpio? Or use the Chinese years – was she born in the year of the Dog or the Bull?

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July 29

Birthdays: Alexis de Tocqueville (1805), Booth Tarkington (1869), Eyvind Johnson (1900), Stanley Kunitz (1905), Sam Sinclair Baker (1909), Chester Himes (1909), Edwin O’Connor (1918), Sharon Creech (1945), Kathleen Krull (1952), Didier Van Cauwelaert (1960), Chang-rae Lee (1965), Adele Griffin (1970), Wil Wheaton (1972)

Eyvind Johnson shared the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature with Harry Martinson.

Stanley Kunitz was the winner of the 1955 National Book Award for Poetry and the US Poet Laureate in both 1974 and 2000.

Edwin O’Connor won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “The Edge of Sadness”

Sharon Creech won the Newbery Medal for “Walk Two Moons”

Quote: “I love the way that each book—any book—is its own journey. You open it, and off you go….” ― Sharon Creech

“I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Tip: When thinking about marketing, think outside the box. Write a book about a pet shop? Try selling your books there. A hair salon figure in your story? Ask them if they’d sell some books for you. Be creative, but don’t be a pest. If you’ve never gone into a particular bookstore or shop, don’t expect them to be open to selling your books for you.

Jumpstart: There was an accident at a science lab you were visiting and you’ve been shifted into a different phase. You can see and hear everyone, but no one can see or hear you. What do you do? Remember, being out of phase with this reality means no food or other comforts for you.

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July 30

Birthdays: Emily Brontë (1818), Dominique Lapierre (1931), Patrick Modiano (1945), Archer Mayor (1950), Marcus Pfister (1960), Cherie Priest (1975)

Patrick Modiano won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Quote: “The world is full of things we can’t control. All we can do is keep trying, keep working.”― Cherie Priest, Grave Reservations

“Last century’s magic is this year’s science.” ― Cherie Priest, Maplecroft

““Writing is a strange and solitary activity. There are dispiriting times when you start working on the first few pages of a novel. Every day, you have the feeling you are on the wrong track. This creates a strong urge to go back and follow a different path. It is important not to give in to this urge, but to keep going. It is a little like driving a car at night, in winter, on ice, with zero visibility. You have no choice, you cannot go into reverse, you must keep going forward while telling yourself that all will be well when the road becomes more stable and the fog lifts.” ― Patrick Modiano

Tip: Even though it’s difficult or hurts, reading over rejections a second (or third) time can show you where you might have some weaknesses you need to work on. Especially if multiple editors are saying the same thing.

Jumpstart: You’re walking down the street, window shopping, when you hear a scream from an alley up ahead. You have no phone. What if it’s late night and you’re alone? What do you do?

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July 31

Birthdays: Brett Halliday (1904), Primo Levi (1919), Lynne Reid Banks (1929), Cees Nooteboom (1933), Susan Cheever (1943), Faye Kellerman (1952), Steven Womack (1952), Lynne Rae Perkins (1956), J.K. Rowling (1965),

Primo Levi was an Italian chemist and writer. His “If This Is a Man” is an account of his time in a Nazi concentration camp, and his “The Periodic Table” was named the greatest science book ever written by the Royal Institute of Great Britain.

Lynn Reid Banks is best known for her children’s book “The Indian in the Cupboard”.

Lynn Perkins book “Criss Cross” won the 2006 Newbery Medal.

J.K. Rowling is best known for her “Harry Potter” series.

Quote: “Auschwitz is outside of us, but it is all around us, in the air. The plague has died away, but the infection still lingers and it would be foolish to deny it. Rejection of human solidarity, obtuse and cynical indifference to the suffering of others, abdication of the intellect and of moral sense to the principle of authority, and above all, at the root of everything, a sweeping tide of cowardice, a colossal cowardice which masks itself as warring virtue, love of country and faith in an idea.” ― Primo Levi, The Black Hole of Auschwitz

“Writers often write their best when they are feeling their worst” ― Susan Cheever, Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography

Tip: Thinking about your writing career and where it currently is. Are you happy with it and where you’re headed? If not, what can you do to change things? Remember, you can only adjust things you are in control of.

Jumpstart: You’ve just inherited a piece of land from a relative you never knew about. It turns out to be a junkyard. But one that specializes in a particular type of “junk” – each piece is haunted. What do you do?