The Year of the Bear

"I can't write five words but that I change seven." Dorothy Parker. The theme of this day is editing, revising, rewriting...but what caught my eye the most was Amy Peters' comment on perhaps why people dislike editing so much. She said: "Perhaps, they flash back to childhood days when having to rewrite a paper at school was taken as bad news. ...As Parker describes it rewriting and editing is an opportunity to improve and express your ideas." [Emphasis mine.]

Can't take credit for that one; I heard it first from Mr. Dylan, then Mr. Collins. But it's still accurate. You may have noticed I missed a WriProSun. Now that semester has started, and projects are due Sunday night, I'm feeling some pressure to change up the format of my blog schedule. So, from this hour henceforth (bonus points if you know THAT quote), WoWWed will still be Wednesday, but I will now be posting Class Saturday - which will be from a Writing Class prompt from the Writer's Devotional - on Saturday. I may have to dig into the archives a little bit this week, as the class is to make a one-panel comic strip about getting your hair cut. I may  write something funny about haircuts and barbers, but more likely I'll pull one from an earlier week. Thanks for following along, though! See you Wednesday!

"Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted." Jules Renard. This may seem like a very self-important thing to say - that we, as writers, should not be interrupted and you common folk  don't know your place well enough to sit quietly and listen. But sometimes, I've spent so long thinking through an idea that, when I'm done, I just want to get it out. Interrupt me, and the idea is off the rails chasing down the various rabbit trails conversation invariably builds. And that's with ideas that will take maybe five minutes to disclose. A novel? Yeah, might need to let me just go with that one.

Amy Peters is trying to get me all political, now. And I'm not going to do it. Well, maybe a little bit. For some, freedom means minimum government regulation; people are basically good until given power and authority, which then corrupts. For others, freedom means minimum societal regulation; a person is basically good, and democratic government brings out the best ideas - but society is corrupt and oppressive, hindering the individual from achieving their dreams. That's the political aspect. Jesus Christ says the natural man is corrupt and oppressive, and only through the renewing of our minds and reliance on God do we find freedom.

"Confronted by an absolutely infuriating review, it is sometimes helpful for the victim to do a little personal research on the critic. Is there any truth to the rumor that he had no formal education beyond the age of eleven? Was he ever arrested for burglary?" Jean Kerr. We all have little ways of consoling ourselves when things don't go exactly as planned. Sometimes we convince ourselves that whatever happened is actually better. Other times, we externalize so that the bad result is someone else's (or some other thing's) fault. Sometimes we live on the hope that we'll try again and succeed, or the failure was not as dismal as it first appears. Sometimes, though, we retaliate, shut down, give up, walk away. Very rarely are these good responses.

This week's writing prompt was to tell a story of life with your favorite pet - either one you own, have owned, or wish you owned. Now, I could tell about the German Shepherd I had - Sheba - for there are certainly stories there to be told. But I thought what might be more interesting is to talk about something that's been going on in my head lately that hasn't really gone on in there before. So, perhaps a little more "meet the writer" than "have the writer tell you a story."

"We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so little." Anne Lamott. This devotional focused on a study showing that people "who read fiction were better able to relate to their peers and to engage in social interaction." Most of us can probably realize why. So for this wandering, I want to focus on how fantasy in particular might live up to this quote from Ms. Lamott.

Writing Prompt: Setting as Character Durango. A name that typically evinces a “where’s that?” - the geographical equivalent of “who?” Colorado’s lesser progeny. “These are my sons: Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, the twins Keystone and Vail, Telluride, and Fruita’s around here somewhere.” “Are these all your sons?” The prophet asks. “No, there is one more - the youngest, Durango.” But no one thought to call him. Not saying it’ll slay a giant and become the next capital of Colorado, and write songs; just saying. Part Old-West town. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad trains sleep there at night, waking up with steam-whistle yawns that echo through the valley at 8:00, 8:45, and 9:30. The San Juans are starting to peter out by then, looking more like their eastern-seaboard counterparts; enough to give the sun something to rise over, but nothing to crane your neck up at. The buffalo don’t roam outside of James Ranch northward where you can get fresh meat to ...

"The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say but what we are unable to say." Anaïs Nin. I had two main thoughts along this quote from Anaïs Nin - one ran along the train the rest of the devotional did, thinking about oppressed people who don't have a voice in the contemporary culture. One example Amy Peters gave was Harriet Beecher Stowe with Uncle Tom's Cabin.  The other thought ran along the track of dealing with themes that for any number of social or psychological reasons we find ourselves unable to articulate.

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Year of the Bear! 2018 Bear is going to be much more focused, a bit more fun, and probably more faithfully maintained as a result. This year the object is writing, and taking specific steps toward becoming an author - I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about it!