On Voice, Listeners, and Francine Prose

April Scouts 2014

A Wise Voice

It's not only what you say,

but the manner in which you say it.

It's not only the language you use,

But the tone in which you convey it.

Words come from the mind

And grow by study and art,

But tone leaps from the inner self,

Revealing the state of the heart.

---Author Unknown

I'm not sure what was the state of the heart of these guys, but their voices were truly loud and insistent this past Sunday morning. I kept hearing their call and thought they were a part of a flock flying overhead. But when the noise didn't go away, I went looking. There they were, on the barn roof next door. And they stayed a looooong time--and made A LOT of noise. What in the world were they doing? Who were they talking to? Who was listening?

Francine Prose poses similar thoughts on the writer's world in Reading Like a Writer, A Guide for People Who Love Books and For Those Who Want to Write Them. Chapter 5, Narration: 

"The only way I was able to trick myself into writing a first novel, as well as the first short story I published that I liked...was to write both the novel and the story as stories within stories, narratives told by one character to another. Eavesdropped upon by the reader, the storytellers and their audiences appeared at the beginning and end of the works, and occasionally throughout, to interrupt and comment upon the action.

"The reason I say 'tricked myself' was that this device enabled me to overcome one of the obstacles confronting the novice writer. This hurdle disguises itself as the question of voice and of who is telling the story...when in fact the truly problematic question is: Who is listening? On what occasion is the story being told, and why...?

"...For me, writing framed stories not only answered all those troubling questions about the narrator's audience, but also neatly integrated the answers into the narrative itself. I knew not only who was speaking but who was being spoken to, where the speaker and listener were, when and why the event--that is, the telling of the story--was occurring. This permitted me to skip over slow parts of the plot by having the listener become impatient and hurry the narrator along.

"...Was it something that one character would tell another in the way that people tell stories about their lives? Would anyone imagine that these recounted events would hold another human being's interest, and would the reader believe that anyone, even a fictional character, would stay focused and pay attention all the way through?"

My geese friends may have been calling to others in the flock. They may have only been talking to each other. But either way they represented storyteller and listener to me, a necessary pair.

I'll approach voice from a different angle now, by way of a framed story--though I don't intend to climb the barn roof to do it. How about you, what would you say about the writer's voice? Do you have a listener in mind when you write?

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Are You a Lexiphile? (Don't Worry, It's a Good Thing)

clipart courtesy pixabay.com

"Whoever says words can't hurt you has never got hit in the face with a dictionary." --author unknown

Did you know that those of us who love words have a name? We are lexiphiles. 

I just learned that the other day.

Lexiphile (noun) : a lover of words; one who is fascinated by words and language...who derives pleasure from various uses of words...who appreciates the nuances surrounding different words; a person who is extremely interested in dictionaries and lexicography. Derived from the Greek roots for "word" and "love."

Doesn't the word have a nice ring to it? Sounds so, well, respectable!

All of this came to me after receiving a forwarded email the other day with the following list. There's no attribute to whoever compiled the list, but it's for sure someone truly loves to play with words to come up with such humorous combinations:

You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish.

To write with a broken pencil is . . pointless.

When fish are in schools, they sometimes . . . take debate.

A thief who stole a calendar . .. . got twelve months.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles . . . U.C.L.A.

The batteries were given out . . . free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist married. . . . they fought tooth and nail.

With her marriage, she got a new name . . . and a dress.

When you've seen one shopping center . . . you've seen a mall.

Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was . . . resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? . . . He's all right now.

A bicycle can't stand alone. . . it's two tired.

When a clock is hungry . . . it goes back four seconds.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine . . . was fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory . . . which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be . . . exposed in the end.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair . . . she thought she'd dye.

Acupuncture: . . . a jab well done.

A boiled egg is. . . hard to beat.

You get the idea :-)

So, did you know you were a lexiphile (sometimes spelled lexophile)? How does it make you feel? Which of the above is a personal favorite? Any you could add?

Sites of interest on the subject of lexiphile:
Lexophiles--Are You One?
How to Cultivate a Love of Words
More Word Fun

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Getting Lost Again

My latest, favorite toy: superimposing text on photos. Was introduced to the site picmonkey.com today while helping work on our church's website. Up to this time I haven't had a photoshop-type program on my computer to do this, so this is quite a bonus--free and everything.

I'm certainly still a novice, but the above is an example of the potential for more.

Hubby worries that sometimes I'm married to the computer, the amount of time I spend on it. Shhh, don't tell him but I've got another "project" area that will draw me here like a magnet!

Any "fun" sites you get lost in?

(And do we even have to discuss how distracting these things can be from our writing???)

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For Mondays: 12 Motivating Quotes to Start the Week

photo courtesy Bergadder at Pixabay.com

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

A few thoughts on the power of the word one, as in: one thing leads to another. You find a quote that inspires, a beautiful photo (hats off to this photographer, isn't it a beautiful scene?), more quotes and you're off on a quest. What have others said on the subject of "one"?
 
"Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall." --Oliver Goldsmith

"Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea." --Jim Rohn

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." --Thomas A. Edison

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." --Abraham Lincoln

"Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music." --Ronald Reagan

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one." --Mark Twain

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." --Robert Brault

"Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself." --Julia Cameron

"One song can change a moment, one idea can change a world, one step can start a journey, but a prayer can change even the impossible." --Unknown

In the same spirit of the word one:

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." --Martin Luther King Jr.

And: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." --Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher (604 BC-531 BC).

[Wordsense suggests that this familiar quote might also be interpreted: "The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet."]

Anything here speak to where you are at the moment in your work? Any favorite inspirational thoughts you might add? What is one thing that helps you stay the course?

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Snapshots and Story Prompts

March Snapshot 2014--kendaturner.blogspot.com

"A good snapshot stops a moment from running away." --Eudora Welty

Have you ever reached for your camera and taken a series of random shots with no real idea of what you've captured until you check the results later? I did--and this is one of the images I got. Believe me it was truly random and serendipitous. I couldn't have staged anything this comical on my own. 

Littlest granddaughter and I were just hanging out together while Grandpa entertained two older siblings elsewhere. I grabbed the camera and snapped away as 15-month old Cecy played, tottered around, rolled on the floor, climbed on and off a tyke-sized bike, giggled and flashed endearing smiles. Before long she was into the Sunday paper still strewn on the floor, picking up a section here, discarding it there. I had no idea what print was on the back of the section she held up until I checked my photo roll later.

And there it was. A moment caught, as Ms. Welty said, before it could run away. Along with a funny story to tell.

Hmmmm...If I were to tell a story from this photo, what might be the log line? If I chose it for a writing prompt, what ideas would I run with? What would  be a good caption? Oh, the potential! Snapshots and story--they can work together in a creative way.

Do you rely on photos for writing inspiration? Do you post favorites around your writing space to keep you inspired? Do you use pictures for writing prompts? It appears a good number of writers do by the looks of Pinterest boards, including: Pictures as Writing Prompts, Writing Picture Prompts, and Picture Writing Prompts. 

What caption might you suggest for my picture above?

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What Inspires Your Setting?

On morning walk, March 2014

"For most novelists the art of writing might be defined as the use to which we put our homesickness. So powerful is the instinct to memorialize in prose--one's region, one's family, one's past--that many writers, shorn of such subjects, would be rendered paralyzed and mute." --Joyce Carol Oates

The sky was magnificent on my walk the other day (glad I had the camera with me!)--and for some reason it seemed to draw me into my surroundings in a way I hadn't experienced before. Thoughts began to flow. Suggestions whispered. Possibilities for connecting dots in my story leaped forth. What fun. I didn't know "they" lived over there! Who would have guessed "that" character's house was just around the curve? And the pine grove between the two? Turns out, it's begging to be included, too.

Of course, the actual setting in my story will be fictionalized, but my, how my neighborhood is helping me "see" it. I can pretend I'm walking in my character's shoes as she lives, struggles, fights for that which is most important to her--all while being drawn into the drama and misfortunes of the times in which she lives (it is historical fiction, after all).

 "If you're lucky," writes Elizabeth George in Write Away, "the place in which you live is a place that resonates with you. If that's the case and if you can remain alive to and aware of the details that make that place unique, you should certainly consider using it for a setting because you'll more than likely be able to render it and not merely report it."

This works for the writer in me that immerses herself in an era of history. But what about the writer who builds her own world, fictionalizes a setting far different than her own reality?

It's all in the details. As Donald Maass says: "The great novelists of the past and the breakout novelists of today employ many approaches to setting, but all have one element in common: detail. A setting cannot live unless it is observed in its pieces and particulars."

Alex, at Write World, contrasts the advantages of real locations vs. fictional settings in his article, "Location, Location, Location: The Fundamentals of Choosing a Setting." In it he says, "There are two sides to setting: logistics and soul. If a character gets on a specific bus route, it's probably a good idea to research if such a bus actually exists, but this is only one side of writing about setting. The part that is infinitely harder is understanding the spirit of location, what makes it tick, what motivates its citizens, and how this culture matches your story. Whether your place is real or made-up, this will be your greatest challenge in writing setting."

"Real location" writers and "world builders" have more in common than not.

Additional tips on setting come from Moira Allen's "Four Ways to Bring Settings to Life" (at writing-world.com) where she suggest we reveal setting through motion...a character's level of experience...the mood of your character...the senses.

And what about the writer's own setting--the place in which we actually write? Take a look at Joy Lanzendorfer's Writer's Digest article, "5 Writing Lessons Inspired by Famous Writers." Ms. Lanzendorfer garnered inspiration by visiting the homes of such writers as Jack London, William Faulkner, and Emily Dickenson. A sample:

"In 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson stayed in a hotel in Monterey, CA, after traveling from Scotland. He didn't write anything of note while there, but the scenery, Spanish influences, and a local legend about buried coins later went into his most famous book, Treasure Island."

What has inspired your settings? What locations have influenced you? Do you draw from real places or build your own worlds? And have you written out of homesickness as Joyce Carol Oates suggests, or drawn from the deep well of imaginary places?

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Revision's Mountain and More

The mountain called revision looms and the climb seems insurmountable, but wait, there's a map! Like the intrepid mountain climber, we start at the base and work our way up.

I came across this neat infographic by Gabriela Pereira on a great resource site: Jody Hedlund's Pinterest board, "How to Edit." So many inspirational pins can be found there for those of us in the revision process.

And yet, Jody's site is only the tip of the iceberg (I mean, mountain) since I linked there after first discovering The Write Life's "20 Inspiring Pinterest Boards for Writing" where Jody's board is listed. Talk about resources! You can get lost wandering through all the neat links. 

I'm tempted but better restrain myself. After all revisions are calling.

Where are you on the climb of Mt. Revision? And do you ever get lost in the wilderness of great writerly resources and get sidetracked away from the work at hand?

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