I read something in the news today that really got me to thinking, plus getting under my skin. It seems that a high school teacher in Philadelphia was suspended for writing on her personal blog about how lazy, rude, obnoxious, and even dim-witted her students were. She wrote about them not listening in class, not wanting to learn, complaining about the grades they received, and so on. In other words, describing to a T how so many teens are today, specifically those in her classes. She did not name a single kid, but directed her remarks to them all. On her personal blog.
A couple of her students found the blog and reported it to administrators, who promptly suspended her. She retained an attorney, and is now getting her job back. The attorney apparently had to remind school officials that what the teacher says on her blog is protected by the First Amendment, particularly when she doesn't name any of the students.
The article brought to mind a couple of things, one being that this teacher is right on about a great many teens today. For the most part, they seem to all feel they are "entitled" to do or say anything they want to, and NOT do or say anything they don't want to. That includes being rude and obnoxious to adults, and not putting forth any effort to learn in school, yet feeling entitled to join the work force without the skills, knowledge and ability to do so. Having worked with young people for many years, I can see for myself the ways in which their attitudes and thinking have changed over the years, and I agree with everything this teacher said.
However, what concerns me the most is the fact that this teacher was suspended over what she said in her blog. A blog on the Internet certainly does not have any expectation of privacy, so there was nothing wrong with her students finding and reading it. But since when can we NOT say what we think and have opinions about in our own blogs? That's where the rub is.
The First Amendment grants us the right to freedom of speech, which carries over into the freedom to write whatever we want to write. (Given, of course, that what is written is not some kind of libel against someone.) However, sometimes it is also brought up as a diversion from the truth, or as an attack upon someone we don't want to hear or something we think should not have been written. That's when I believe it is misused.
When you blog, how often do you really think about what you are writing? By this I mean, do you ever "ponder" if what you are blogging about might be conceived as a violation of the First Amendment? How could it be, when we are guaranteed the right to say anything under that very same amendment? So when this teacher blogged about her opinions of her students, how could she have been suspended by the school board? Obviously, they believed that she did not have the right to state, on her blog, her opinions of the students she tried to teach on a daily basis.
I wonder what this means to us, as writers, would-be book authors, searching for agents and publishers? Should we think twice about what we post on our blogs? It goes without saying that no professional person, published or not, should ever carry on a contentious conversation on their blog about a run-in with an agent or publisher, or how terrible an editor is because she sent back a "bad" rejection letter, or any of the other "mishaps" we all have along our journey to find representation and/or a publisher.
The First Amendment protects our right to say anything we want to say. But how far does that take us in posting on our blogs? On the Internet, everything is out in the open for anyone to see; we certainly can't say that we expect our private thoughts...when we post them...to remain private. I've read some blogs that are really disgusting...in my opinion, that is...with language right out of the garbage can, on any number of subjects, some equally disgusting, and even people. The only option I have, since these same blogs are protected, is to never read them again, and of course, I don't.
Then there are the politically extremist blogs, full of hate and self-righteous indignation towards our present President, as well as those presidents in the past. Do they have the right to spew out their racially charged expletives, their lies, their vicious and venomous remarks? Apparently, they are also protected by the First Amendment, regardless of how decent, intelligent, and objective people feel about them.
Think about it. Do you ever post anything that could be taken as offensive to someone? Not necessarily someone in our literary profession, but by anyone? The First Amendment gives you that right, but with rights, comes responsibility. Many blogs today abuse the rights this amendment gives them, most of them intentionally. How far can a blog go, before that same amendment will no longer protect it? Or, in this country, where freedom of speech is the FIRST freedom we all espouse, will that amendment never recant that freedom, no matter how radically or extremist the speech, written or spoken, becomes?
Where do "rights" end, and responsibility begin?
Think about it. I'd love to hear your opinions.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
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Thursday, July 28, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday's Fare: First Impressions
Do you remember when you were a kid and your mother used to say, "You only have one chance to make a first impression"? Like it or not, that holds true today in our writing more than anything else. Especially for those of us who write for kids and teens, nothing is more important than that first sentence, paragraph, and page. If we don't capture their interest immediately, they won't continue reading and the book goes back to the library or on their bookshelf where it will gather cute little dust bunnies for the next decade.
So how do you start that first page? What makes a first sentence exciting? How many of you have read Charlotte's Web?
"Mama, where's Papa going with that ax?"
Now there's a first sentence to grab you by the throat ! Many writers do begin their novels with dialogue, but it has to be something that is startling, humorous, frightening, or in some other way grabs the attention of the reader and doesn't let go. For example:
First the colors. Then the humans. That's usually how I see things.
Or at least, how I try.
HERE IS A SMALL FACT.
You are going to die.
Okay, not just a single sentence, but this is how The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak,
begins. Now wouldn't that hold you interest, and make you continue reading? It sure did me !
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.
A half-blood? A half-blood of what or who? The first line of The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. A few sentences down, Riordan goes on to say that ...being a half-blood is dangerous, it could get you killed. (Paraphrasing here.) That will get any kid's attention, right?
I'm going to give you the first sentence of an adult book by Virginia Woolf, and tell you what that sentence says to me. Compare my thoughts with what you may have thought about it.
Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.
Here is what the sentence says to me:
1. Question: who is Mrs. Dalloway, and who is she buying flowers for?
2. It tells me that buying flowers herself is not the usual way she does things, so there must be some special reason for her to do it now. I wonder what that reason is?
3. The sentence indicates someone is talking about Mrs. Dalloway to someone else. Who, and why? It's almost as though Mrs.Dalloway has servants, one of whom usually buys her flowers, so that servant is talking to another one because it is unusual for Mrs. D to buy her own flowers . ( May or may not be true.)
4. I get the feeling that there is something mysterious or very different about this simple act of buying flowers, and it makes me want to read on, and find out why Mrs.Dalloway is doing what she's doing.
Did any of the above thoughts occur to you? think about it, and decide why or why not.
Here are some ideas about things to look for and think about in writing your first sentence ( or 2 or 3), always keeping in mind the age of the children or teens you're writing for:
1. Will the make the reader ask questions that can only be answered by reading further?
2. Does it give the impression that something mysterious, or exciting, or dangerous, or very funny is going to happen in the coming pages?
3. Does that first sentence ( or 2 or 3) hint at some kind of goal to be accomplished or conflict to be overcome in future pages?
4. Do you believe your reader will find an immediate emotional connection to your character, or be fascinated by the scene or bits of dialogue you've created?
Now I'm going to give you some first sentences, not all of which come from published novels... some you will recognize, some you may not. Read each one separately, and think about it for a minute. Then ask yourself the above questions, and see if any apply to your feelings about the sentence. If they do, write out the sentence, and then write what you think or feel about it. Keep it for reference when you write your next first sentence, or revise the ones you have now.
1. Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday. I don't know.
2. This is what happened.
3. I don't know why she thought the plan was hers. It wasn't. It couldn't have been.
4. I am invisible. I am flesh and blood, but I am invisible. People see right through me; they walk right past me. They don't hear me crying.
5. Murder never sends out a calling card, so why was it different this time?
I hope you have fun with this, but also, that it helps some in writing those all important "first" sentences...or 2 or 3!
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
So how do you start that first page? What makes a first sentence exciting? How many of you have read Charlotte's Web?
"Mama, where's Papa going with that ax?"
Now there's a first sentence to grab you by the throat ! Many writers do begin their novels with dialogue, but it has to be something that is startling, humorous, frightening, or in some other way grabs the attention of the reader and doesn't let go. For example:
First the colors. Then the humans. That's usually how I see things.
Or at least, how I try.
HERE IS A SMALL FACT.
You are going to die.
Okay, not just a single sentence, but this is how The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak,
begins. Now wouldn't that hold you interest, and make you continue reading? It sure did me !
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.
A half-blood? A half-blood of what or who? The first line of The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. A few sentences down, Riordan goes on to say that ...being a half-blood is dangerous, it could get you killed. (Paraphrasing here.) That will get any kid's attention, right?
I'm going to give you the first sentence of an adult book by Virginia Woolf, and tell you what that sentence says to me. Compare my thoughts with what you may have thought about it.
Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.
Here is what the sentence says to me:
1. Question: who is Mrs. Dalloway, and who is she buying flowers for?
2. It tells me that buying flowers herself is not the usual way she does things, so there must be some special reason for her to do it now. I wonder what that reason is?
3. The sentence indicates someone is talking about Mrs. Dalloway to someone else. Who, and why? It's almost as though Mrs.Dalloway has servants, one of whom usually buys her flowers, so that servant is talking to another one because it is unusual for Mrs. D to buy her own flowers . ( May or may not be true.)
4. I get the feeling that there is something mysterious or very different about this simple act of buying flowers, and it makes me want to read on, and find out why Mrs.Dalloway is doing what she's doing.
Did any of the above thoughts occur to you? think about it, and decide why or why not.
Here are some ideas about things to look for and think about in writing your first sentence ( or 2 or 3), always keeping in mind the age of the children or teens you're writing for:
1. Will the make the reader ask questions that can only be answered by reading further?
2. Does it give the impression that something mysterious, or exciting, or dangerous, or very funny is going to happen in the coming pages?
3. Does that first sentence ( or 2 or 3) hint at some kind of goal to be accomplished or conflict to be overcome in future pages?
4. Do you believe your reader will find an immediate emotional connection to your character, or be fascinated by the scene or bits of dialogue you've created?
Now I'm going to give you some first sentences, not all of which come from published novels... some you will recognize, some you may not. Read each one separately, and think about it for a minute. Then ask yourself the above questions, and see if any apply to your feelings about the sentence. If they do, write out the sentence, and then write what you think or feel about it. Keep it for reference when you write your next first sentence, or revise the ones you have now.
1. Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday. I don't know.
2. This is what happened.
3. I don't know why she thought the plan was hers. It wasn't. It couldn't have been.
4. I am invisible. I am flesh and blood, but I am invisible. People see right through me; they walk right past me. They don't hear me crying.
5. Murder never sends out a calling card, so why was it different this time?
I hope you have fun with this, but also, that it helps some in writing those all important "first" sentences...or 2 or 3!
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Wednesday's Wanderings: Dog Days of Summer
It's hot! Temperatures are rising all over the country, including here on the Pacific Coast. Our Mid-State Fair begins today, and historically, that's when our temps begin to reach 100 plus degrees.
The Dog Days of Summer...have you ever wondered where this name came from, and what exactly it means? I have, so I did some research and this is what I found:
In Webster's Dictionary, "dog days" are define as the period between early July and early September when the hottest and most sultry temperatures of summer occur in the Northern Hemisphere. But what does the term really mean and where does it come from?
Long ago, in the ancient times where the beauty of the night skies was not obliterated by artificial lights and smog, the stars were at their brightest. Ancient peoples in different lands drew pictures in the sky by connecting the stars with dots, which is how our present day constellations were born. These pictures, however, were dependent upon the cultures, as each society saw the stars and the images they created differently. The Native Americans saw one picture, the Chinese saw another, the Europeans still another, and so on.
The images they created were of bears, (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor), twins, ( Gemini), a bull, (Taurus), and of course, many others including DOGs ( Canis Major and Canis Minor.)
The brightest of all these stars in the night sky is Sirius, also the brightest in the constellation of Canis Major. Sirius is called The Dog Star. It is so bright that the Ancient Romans thought the earth derived its heat from this star, but of course we've learned through time that this isn't the case.
Anyway, how did the Dog Star come to be associated with the term "Dog days of summer?" Well, in July this star rises and sets with the sun, and the ancients believed that because it was so bright, during this period of time it added its own heat to the sun, resulting in the hottest and most sultry period of time on earth. So they called this period time, from 20 days before this conjunction to 20 days after, the "Dog Days of Summer." This usually means the Dog Days of Summer range from July 3rd to August 11th.
So this is your astronomical/historical "lesson" in what the Dog Days of summer are, and how they got their name ! But more importantly...how do these days affect you? Are you more tired during this period of time? Cranky and crotchety? How does your writing go during this time, do you write more, less? Do you think your creativity sort of "shrinks" up in the heat?
I hate summer! For me, it's a period of sheer isolation. I don't handle the heat at all, so when it's so hot and humid, I hibernate in the house with the a/c on. Unfortunately, I'm also claustophobic, so being in the house with all the doors and windows closed will drive me up a wall after a while. Consequently, my creativity takes a holiday, but it doesn't take me with it !
How do you handle the Dog Days of Summer?
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
The Dog Days of Summer...have you ever wondered where this name came from, and what exactly it means? I have, so I did some research and this is what I found:
In Webster's Dictionary, "dog days" are define as the period between early July and early September when the hottest and most sultry temperatures of summer occur in the Northern Hemisphere. But what does the term really mean and where does it come from?
Long ago, in the ancient times where the beauty of the night skies was not obliterated by artificial lights and smog, the stars were at their brightest. Ancient peoples in different lands drew pictures in the sky by connecting the stars with dots, which is how our present day constellations were born. These pictures, however, were dependent upon the cultures, as each society saw the stars and the images they created differently. The Native Americans saw one picture, the Chinese saw another, the Europeans still another, and so on.
The images they created were of bears, (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor), twins, ( Gemini), a bull, (Taurus), and of course, many others including DOGs ( Canis Major and Canis Minor.)
The brightest of all these stars in the night sky is Sirius, also the brightest in the constellation of Canis Major. Sirius is called The Dog Star. It is so bright that the Ancient Romans thought the earth derived its heat from this star, but of course we've learned through time that this isn't the case.
Anyway, how did the Dog Star come to be associated with the term "Dog days of summer?" Well, in July this star rises and sets with the sun, and the ancients believed that because it was so bright, during this period of time it added its own heat to the sun, resulting in the hottest and most sultry period of time on earth. So they called this period time, from 20 days before this conjunction to 20 days after, the "Dog Days of Summer." This usually means the Dog Days of Summer range from July 3rd to August 11th.
So this is your astronomical/historical "lesson" in what the Dog Days of summer are, and how they got their name ! But more importantly...how do these days affect you? Are you more tired during this period of time? Cranky and crotchety? How does your writing go during this time, do you write more, less? Do you think your creativity sort of "shrinks" up in the heat?
I hate summer! For me, it's a period of sheer isolation. I don't handle the heat at all, so when it's so hot and humid, I hibernate in the house with the a/c on. Unfortunately, I'm also claustophobic, so being in the house with all the doors and windows closed will drive me up a wall after a while. Consequently, my creativity takes a holiday, but it doesn't take me with it !
How do you handle the Dog Days of Summer?
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Friday's Fare: Review of The Book Thief
I'm finally back, after a prolonged absence I wasn't counting on. Hopefully, all those pesky little physical problems are gone, and I can get back to business.
If you have not read The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak, you should, because you are missing out on one of the GREAT YA books of all time. Not just my opinion, as this book has won 12 awards, including Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Children's Literature, Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults, and nine other prestigious awards.
The year is 1939. The place is Molching, a small town in Nazi Germany. The narrator is Death, who tells you right off that you have nothing to be afraid of, because if nothing else, he is fair. The main character is Liesel Meminger, 9 years old, sent to live with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood after the death of her younger brother. Her father has been taken to a concentration camp for being a Communist, and her mother has disappeared.
Death meets Liesel for the first time when he comes for her little brother at the railroad station. For reasons he himself cannot explain, Death becomes fascinated by this small girl as she stands rigidly by the body of her brother, and allows tears to freeze on her face. This is Liesel's story, but it is Death's story, too.
Death observes Liesel stealing a book she finds laying on the ground at her brother's funeral, and he gives her the name, The Book Thief. It is The Gravediggers' Handbook, and even though she cannot read, she is determined to keep this book. It is Liesel's foster father who reads to her every night out of The Gravediggers' Handbook, when she is having nightmares about her brother, and it is this book from which Liesel eventually learns to read.
Liesel realizes that words are what keep her sane, and one book is not enough, so she sets out to steal as many books as she can. First comes the one from a Nazi book-burning, but that is only the beginning. She meets the Nazi mayor's strange and reclusive wife, who invites Liesel into her library to read, and then allows her to steal books by pretending she knows and sees nothing.
Over the next few years, Death observes Liesel with her friend Rudy, a neighbor boy who teaches her to steal more than books, and especially Max, a young Jewish refugee who takes shelter in the basement of Hans and Rosa Hubermann and while there, literally whitewashes pages of old newspapers in order to write his own book for Liesel. Books are the spine of this novel, and they become not only Liesel's own salvation, but diversions from an Allied bombing raid gone awry, and the ultimate hedge against Liesel's grief and despair.
Death is a formidable voice in this book. At times he is quite dispassionate, but at others, particularly in the beginning of the story, you can almost feel his own grief at his workload.
Death is also very observant of colors. Every death has a color...he prefers chocolate, dark chocolate, but finds every color is available at the moment of death. Especially, in Nazi Germany, red. As he says, in his line of work, he needs a distraction, and that comes in colors that he makes a point of noticing. You might ask, what does Death need a distraction from? In his words...the leftover humans. The survivors with the wounded hearts no one can heal. That's when he seeks out the colors most of all.
This book is about Death, about heroics and grief, hope and despair, about courage in the face of a known but unseen enemy, about life and love and death. It is about the words that kept a young girl alive, but it is far more than that: it is about the unbeatable spirits that are kept alive in the midst of tragedy and the violence of an unspeakable war. It is a remarkable book that offers both teens and adults in our world today not only hope, but the realization that there are alternatives to any rigid political or societal ideology, and that even the most voracious amorality of the times can be overcome.
The Book Thief is not a book you can sit down and read through in a single sitting. You must take your time, savor it, understand it, and ultimately, fall in love with it. It is a book about words, the beauty of them, the good they can do, and the evil they can cause. It is brilliant, powerful, grim, sad, and yet, overflowing with a kind of inner spirit and courage you may never encounter again.
A MUST read. You won't regret it.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
If you have not read The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak, you should, because you are missing out on one of the GREAT YA books of all time. Not just my opinion, as this book has won 12 awards, including Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Children's Literature, Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults, and nine other prestigious awards.
The year is 1939. The place is Molching, a small town in Nazi Germany. The narrator is Death, who tells you right off that you have nothing to be afraid of, because if nothing else, he is fair. The main character is Liesel Meminger, 9 years old, sent to live with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood after the death of her younger brother. Her father has been taken to a concentration camp for being a Communist, and her mother has disappeared.
Death meets Liesel for the first time when he comes for her little brother at the railroad station. For reasons he himself cannot explain, Death becomes fascinated by this small girl as she stands rigidly by the body of her brother, and allows tears to freeze on her face. This is Liesel's story, but it is Death's story, too.
Death observes Liesel stealing a book she finds laying on the ground at her brother's funeral, and he gives her the name, The Book Thief. It is The Gravediggers' Handbook, and even though she cannot read, she is determined to keep this book. It is Liesel's foster father who reads to her every night out of The Gravediggers' Handbook, when she is having nightmares about her brother, and it is this book from which Liesel eventually learns to read.
Liesel realizes that words are what keep her sane, and one book is not enough, so she sets out to steal as many books as she can. First comes the one from a Nazi book-burning, but that is only the beginning. She meets the Nazi mayor's strange and reclusive wife, who invites Liesel into her library to read, and then allows her to steal books by pretending she knows and sees nothing.
Over the next few years, Death observes Liesel with her friend Rudy, a neighbor boy who teaches her to steal more than books, and especially Max, a young Jewish refugee who takes shelter in the basement of Hans and Rosa Hubermann and while there, literally whitewashes pages of old newspapers in order to write his own book for Liesel. Books are the spine of this novel, and they become not only Liesel's own salvation, but diversions from an Allied bombing raid gone awry, and the ultimate hedge against Liesel's grief and despair.
Death is a formidable voice in this book. At times he is quite dispassionate, but at others, particularly in the beginning of the story, you can almost feel his own grief at his workload.
Death is also very observant of colors. Every death has a color...he prefers chocolate, dark chocolate, but finds every color is available at the moment of death. Especially, in Nazi Germany, red. As he says, in his line of work, he needs a distraction, and that comes in colors that he makes a point of noticing. You might ask, what does Death need a distraction from? In his words...the leftover humans. The survivors with the wounded hearts no one can heal. That's when he seeks out the colors most of all.
This book is about Death, about heroics and grief, hope and despair, about courage in the face of a known but unseen enemy, about life and love and death. It is about the words that kept a young girl alive, but it is far more than that: it is about the unbeatable spirits that are kept alive in the midst of tragedy and the violence of an unspeakable war. It is a remarkable book that offers both teens and adults in our world today not only hope, but the realization that there are alternatives to any rigid political or societal ideology, and that even the most voracious amorality of the times can be overcome.
The Book Thief is not a book you can sit down and read through in a single sitting. You must take your time, savor it, understand it, and ultimately, fall in love with it. It is a book about words, the beauty of them, the good they can do, and the evil they can cause. It is brilliant, powerful, grim, sad, and yet, overflowing with a kind of inner spirit and courage you may never encounter again.
A MUST read. You won't regret it.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Goodbye For Awhile
To all my faithful followers: I know I've been very lax in the past month about posting here, and I'm sorry about that. But it will probably be another month, early June, before I get here again. In two days I'm having surgery, the first of two this month, and I won't be able to use my eyes for about 4 weeks. It's really a bummer, messes up my writing schedule badly, but can't be helped.
So for now, good bye for a few weeks. Be good and play nice, and I'll see you in June.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
So for now, good bye for a few weeks. Be good and play nice, and I'll see you in June.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Book Review: Water For Elephants
One of the best books I've read in a very long time is Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen. It is a romantic historical fiction, set in the days of the Great Depression. For those of you who like historical fiction, it may come as a surprise to know that before she started her research into circuses, Ms. Gruen had never been to one, large or small. She did a year's research, even tracking down circus performers for interviews, before she began this book.
This is the story of Jacob Jankowski, who happens to be ninety. Or ninety- three, depending upon whom you believe. Jacob is living out his days in a nursing home, which he hates with a passion. All he has left of his life are his memories of the traveling circus, The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, and thus the meat of the story is told in flashbacks.
The story opens with twenty-one year old Jacob sitting in the food tent as the show for the evening is over, and the roustabouts are getting ready to tear everything down. Suddenly, there is a clash of cymbals, a cacophony of brass, reed, and percussion instruments, and then the loud strains of "Stars and Stripes Forevcr" blast forward. This is the Disaster March...the animals have escaped their cages, stalls, and handlers and are racing pellmell through the midway. Jacob dashes out of the tent, searching for the young woman he has fallen in love with. But he is stopped in his tracks, as he witnesses the murder of the very man he has grown to not only fear, but to hate.
Jacob Jankowski is ready to sit for his final exams in the Veterinary School of Medicine at Cornell University, when he is called out of the room by the head of the school. He learns that his parents have been killed in a horrible accident. When he returns home, he finds that there is nothing left for him, as his parents had mortgaged their house and his father's Vet Clinic in order to pay for his university education. He returns to Cornell, but doesn't write a word on his exams. He walks out, and soon finds himself running along side a train filled with men he believes to be hobos. He swings himself up, and that is the beginning of the next seven years of his life, working with the animals in the Benzini Brothers Circus.
There is Uncle Al, the gross, often cruel circus impressario who thinks of no one but himself, and who will dispatch in the most horrendous way, anyone who disagrees with him or refuses to do what he tells them to. There is Marlena, the beautiful, young star who trains and loves the horses she rides to perfection in her act...and with whom Jacob falls in love. This becomes disasterous, as Marlena is married to August, the animal trainer who is also deranged, and whose flights into madness can focus on the animals, Marlena, or Jacob. Then there is Rosie, the bull elephant who seems to be untrainable, thereby incuring August's wrath many times, until Jacob accidentally stumbles upon a way to get through to her, and get her to obey commands. Slyly, through the book, Rosie comes to love Jacob and Marlena, but quickly learns to hate August...she is merely waiting her turn. Which does come.
The thrust of the story is the love between Marlena and Jacob, Marlena's love of her horses and Rosie, and the shaky relationship Jacob has with the other people in the circus. The ending may surprise you.
Ms. Gruen did her research well. Her descriptions of the filth and squalor of the living quarters the roustabouts and circus people live in; her depictions of the mistreated animals who are fed rotten food and mangy hay; her way of humanizing the "freaks" of the show...all bring to life in the reader's mind, the wonderful, terrible, beautiful, horrifying life of a traveling circus in the 1930s.
One of the most interesting and compelling features of this book is the author's total grasp of the circus vocabulary: the roustabouts, the workers, the impressario, the grifters, rubes, Jamacian ginger paralysis, cooch tent, the Disaster March when something bad occurs, the set-up and take-down of the circus tents, the Midway games, how the "revenoors" ( cops) run the circus out of town, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, the "Red lighting" of those who don't conform to life in a less-than-second-rate traveling circus.
Water for Elephants has a surprising twist, and perhaps a less than totally believable ending, but you will be IN the time and place of this story. You will smell the smells, and breathe in the sometimes sweet and more often fetid air of the Big Top and the Midway, you will see the pathetic animals come to life, and you will hear the band playing the Opening March as animals and performers rise to the occasion as they parade around the Center Ring. You will believe the pagentry, you will laugh and you will cry as the story unfolds, and at the end, you will know exactly who the people were that populated the traveling circuses in small-town America during the Great Depression.
Read the book before you see the movie. I've read the reviews of the movie, and if they can be believed, Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattison do not come close to the intensity and the depth of emotion displayed in the book between Jacob and Marlena.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
This is the story of Jacob Jankowski, who happens to be ninety. Or ninety- three, depending upon whom you believe. Jacob is living out his days in a nursing home, which he hates with a passion. All he has left of his life are his memories of the traveling circus, The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, and thus the meat of the story is told in flashbacks.
The story opens with twenty-one year old Jacob sitting in the food tent as the show for the evening is over, and the roustabouts are getting ready to tear everything down. Suddenly, there is a clash of cymbals, a cacophony of brass, reed, and percussion instruments, and then the loud strains of "Stars and Stripes Forevcr" blast forward. This is the Disaster March...the animals have escaped their cages, stalls, and handlers and are racing pellmell through the midway. Jacob dashes out of the tent, searching for the young woman he has fallen in love with. But he is stopped in his tracks, as he witnesses the murder of the very man he has grown to not only fear, but to hate.
Jacob Jankowski is ready to sit for his final exams in the Veterinary School of Medicine at Cornell University, when he is called out of the room by the head of the school. He learns that his parents have been killed in a horrible accident. When he returns home, he finds that there is nothing left for him, as his parents had mortgaged their house and his father's Vet Clinic in order to pay for his university education. He returns to Cornell, but doesn't write a word on his exams. He walks out, and soon finds himself running along side a train filled with men he believes to be hobos. He swings himself up, and that is the beginning of the next seven years of his life, working with the animals in the Benzini Brothers Circus.
There is Uncle Al, the gross, often cruel circus impressario who thinks of no one but himself, and who will dispatch in the most horrendous way, anyone who disagrees with him or refuses to do what he tells them to. There is Marlena, the beautiful, young star who trains and loves the horses she rides to perfection in her act...and with whom Jacob falls in love. This becomes disasterous, as Marlena is married to August, the animal trainer who is also deranged, and whose flights into madness can focus on the animals, Marlena, or Jacob. Then there is Rosie, the bull elephant who seems to be untrainable, thereby incuring August's wrath many times, until Jacob accidentally stumbles upon a way to get through to her, and get her to obey commands. Slyly, through the book, Rosie comes to love Jacob and Marlena, but quickly learns to hate August...she is merely waiting her turn. Which does come.
The thrust of the story is the love between Marlena and Jacob, Marlena's love of her horses and Rosie, and the shaky relationship Jacob has with the other people in the circus. The ending may surprise you.
Ms. Gruen did her research well. Her descriptions of the filth and squalor of the living quarters the roustabouts and circus people live in; her depictions of the mistreated animals who are fed rotten food and mangy hay; her way of humanizing the "freaks" of the show...all bring to life in the reader's mind, the wonderful, terrible, beautiful, horrifying life of a traveling circus in the 1930s.
One of the most interesting and compelling features of this book is the author's total grasp of the circus vocabulary: the roustabouts, the workers, the impressario, the grifters, rubes, Jamacian ginger paralysis, cooch tent, the Disaster March when something bad occurs, the set-up and take-down of the circus tents, the Midway games, how the "revenoors" ( cops) run the circus out of town, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, the "Red lighting" of those who don't conform to life in a less-than-second-rate traveling circus.
Water for Elephants has a surprising twist, and perhaps a less than totally believable ending, but you will be IN the time and place of this story. You will smell the smells, and breathe in the sometimes sweet and more often fetid air of the Big Top and the Midway, you will see the pathetic animals come to life, and you will hear the band playing the Opening March as animals and performers rise to the occasion as they parade around the Center Ring. You will believe the pagentry, you will laugh and you will cry as the story unfolds, and at the end, you will know exactly who the people were that populated the traveling circuses in small-town America during the Great Depression.
Read the book before you see the movie. I've read the reviews of the movie, and if they can be believed, Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattison do not come close to the intensity and the depth of emotion displayed in the book between Jacob and Marlena.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Monday, April 25, 2011
An Award and a New Way to Outline
I was recently awarded the Versatile Blogger Award by a writer friend, Allyn Stotz. Thank you, Allyn! Be sure to check out her blog at: www.allynstotz.blogspot.com, and watch for her upcoming picture book, The Pea in Peanut Butter. Now I have to pass this award on to some deserving friends, and then tell you something about myself you might not know...or even want to!
Seven Things About Me You May Not Know:
1. I trained my first unbroken 2 year old filly at age 10.
2. I had my first poem published at age 10, and my first short story at age 12.
3. I sang at the Hollywood Bowl ( Hollywood, CA) when I was 16.
4. I am deathly afraid of spiders and snakes, all kinds, shapes, sizes, colors, and poisonous or not. Daddy Longlegs give me the creeps.
5. I published a book of Haiku poetry when I was in college.
6. I have traveled to 34 states, and traveled to or lived in 9 foreign countries.
7. I have three weaknesses: my husband, my Corgi, and chocolate.
Now to pay it forward: here are the blogs I've nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award:
www.claudsy.wordpress.com
www.terriehope.com
www.ellekennen.wordpress.com
www.kara-writeaway.blogspot.com
Many writers hate to outline. Have you ever thought about doing your plot outline as a three act structure? We all have to have a Beginning, Middle, and End to our stories, so why not think of these elements as a three act play? For example:
Act I
Opening hook
Introduction of the main character
Introduction of the secondary characters
Show the relationships between all the characters: most of your secondary characters are introduced in the beginning of your story, so there is a relationship there, even if minor.
Establish time line or era, and setting of the story
Describe the beginning of the major conflict: what the MC wants or needs
First Act Climax: here is where something unexpected happens to turn things around and possibly send the story or the MC in a new direction.
Act II
Develop the relationship between the characters more strongly
Develop the sub plot or plots
Develop these subplots to show how they and the secondary characters affect the MC, and whether they are, in effect, "friends or foes"...working to help her or working behind the scenes to hinder her
Describe and develop the external and internal conflicts the MC is going to face and have to overcome
Describe and develop the steps the MC has to take to overcome her conflicts
Describe and develop the events which occur that cause tension and conflict, and which hinder the MC in her attempts to achieve her goals
Second Act Climax: This should be the high point of the story, the action-packed scenes which cause the MC to either succeed in her attempts to reach her goals, or to have some kind of action or event that will prohibit her from doing so.
Act III
The third act is the "End" of the story, where all the loose ends are gathered up and tied in a pretty little knot. Here you make sure that your characters, their intermingled relationships, and the subplots have all interwoven perfectly, and that nothing is left to the imagination that should not be. It's one thing to leave your readers wondering or hoping that there might be a sequel to see what could have happened next, but you should never leave them up in the air about some event or issue that should have been resolved within the story. The conclusion is showing how the MC deals with either having succeeded in resolving the external and internal conflicts, or how she comes to terms with having failed at resolving either, or perhaps both. Remember, all stories do not have to have a happy ending, just a satisfactory one that leaves nothing unsaid or undone.
"Plot as a Three Act Structure" does not have to be followed step by step, but it does give you an idea of how to go about planning your story without actually doing an outline. If you're like me and hate to outline, this has been an easier way for me to decide what scenes and actions should go where.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Seven Things About Me You May Not Know:
1. I trained my first unbroken 2 year old filly at age 10.
2. I had my first poem published at age 10, and my first short story at age 12.
3. I sang at the Hollywood Bowl ( Hollywood, CA) when I was 16.
4. I am deathly afraid of spiders and snakes, all kinds, shapes, sizes, colors, and poisonous or not. Daddy Longlegs give me the creeps.
5. I published a book of Haiku poetry when I was in college.
6. I have traveled to 34 states, and traveled to or lived in 9 foreign countries.
7. I have three weaknesses: my husband, my Corgi, and chocolate.
Now to pay it forward: here are the blogs I've nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award:
www.claudsy.wordpress.com
www.terriehope.com
www.ellekennen.wordpress.com
www.kara-writeaway.blogspot.com
Many writers hate to outline. Have you ever thought about doing your plot outline as a three act structure? We all have to have a Beginning, Middle, and End to our stories, so why not think of these elements as a three act play? For example:
Act I
Opening hook
Introduction of the main character
Introduction of the secondary characters
Show the relationships between all the characters: most of your secondary characters are introduced in the beginning of your story, so there is a relationship there, even if minor.
Establish time line or era, and setting of the story
Describe the beginning of the major conflict: what the MC wants or needs
First Act Climax: here is where something unexpected happens to turn things around and possibly send the story or the MC in a new direction.
Act II
Develop the relationship between the characters more strongly
Develop the sub plot or plots
Develop these subplots to show how they and the secondary characters affect the MC, and whether they are, in effect, "friends or foes"...working to help her or working behind the scenes to hinder her
Describe and develop the external and internal conflicts the MC is going to face and have to overcome
Describe and develop the steps the MC has to take to overcome her conflicts
Describe and develop the events which occur that cause tension and conflict, and which hinder the MC in her attempts to achieve her goals
Second Act Climax: This should be the high point of the story, the action-packed scenes which cause the MC to either succeed in her attempts to reach her goals, or to have some kind of action or event that will prohibit her from doing so.
Act III
The third act is the "End" of the story, where all the loose ends are gathered up and tied in a pretty little knot. Here you make sure that your characters, their intermingled relationships, and the subplots have all interwoven perfectly, and that nothing is left to the imagination that should not be. It's one thing to leave your readers wondering or hoping that there might be a sequel to see what could have happened next, but you should never leave them up in the air about some event or issue that should have been resolved within the story. The conclusion is showing how the MC deals with either having succeeded in resolving the external and internal conflicts, or how she comes to terms with having failed at resolving either, or perhaps both. Remember, all stories do not have to have a happy ending, just a satisfactory one that leaves nothing unsaid or undone.
"Plot as a Three Act Structure" does not have to be followed step by step, but it does give you an idea of how to go about planning your story without actually doing an outline. If you're like me and hate to outline, this has been an easier way for me to decide what scenes and actions should go where.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
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