(this didn’t work as well as i hoped; you have to watch it in full screen mode and HD—1080 works best; sorry about that!)
Tag Archives: writing
precis no. 9
i think that using contractions in a precis is cheating; semi-colons and hyphens, however, are totally fair game (as are parentheses and words like totally).
Capital Idea!
i have decided to start using Capital Letters to my best advantage. there is something i Love about paragraphs in lower case, but recently i have come across several (old) books that used capital letters in Emphatic Ways, and i decided i loved that, too. so Beware. my Drama has found An Outlet.
WANTED
H E L P W A N T E D
befuddled young(ish) author(ish) seeks mastermind accomplice to help plot fictional(!!!!) murder.
*some restrictions apply. see store for details. void where prohibited by law. CA redemption value 5c.
how i learned how to teach how to learn how to write
Let me start by saying that I haven’t learned this yet. In fact, I’ve only begun my quest just now.
I’m incredibly (can I use this word? yes, I think it applies:) burdened to learn this, though. This year I had the extreme pleasure of teaching a high school English class for three weeks, and I enjoyed the experience tremendously. I also realized that I had no idea how to teach writing. I managed to teach literature and some of the basic facts, and I hope I passed on some critical thinking tips, but when it came to teaching how to write, I really really had no idea what to do. It’s too bad, tool; some of those kids needed some help with their writing, and I still feel like something of a failure for not being able to guide them.
The whole thing got me thinking, though–how do you teach people how to learn how to write? Don’t get me wrong: I fully (completely, utterly, absolutely) believe that we can all learn to write well. (Yes, sure, some people will always be better at it–Hi, Shakespeare–but that doesn’t mean the rest of us won’t be any good!) We all have the same tools–words–and writing well is just a matter of knowing how to arrange those words. But how exactly do you go about it? What do people need to learn to do, and how could I help them to do it?
Previously, I wrote a post that mentioned Stanley Fish’s five favorite sentences, as quoted in Slate Magazine. A journalist for Slate Magazine quoted Fish as saying he carried sentences around with him “as other might carry a precious gem or a fine Swiss watch” (How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One, p. 7). I noted the source of that quote when I read it, and, fascinated, I decided to get a copy of this book. I have to admit: I mostly got the book because of that quote and the fantastic title. I, too, carry sentences like other carry gems. I think of Tim O’Brien’s words, “the things they carried,” and think that the things I carry are mostly words.
Fish’s book came in the mail today. As soon as I started reading, I realized this book might very well help me 
pin down the nebulous question that I had when teaching: How do you teach someone how to write? Enthused, I decided to continue reading this book, and to go on and see what I could learn. I’m hoping that this book will lead me in the right direction…
Fish claims that Strunk & White’s Elements of Style (widely considered a sort of primer for writing) isn’t actually the best place to start; Strunk & White assume that their reader knows something about sentences and writing–but what if he or she doesn’t? Then, Fish says, you need to start at the very beginning. You need to start by asking: “What is a sentence?”
This makes a world of sense to me. Even for those of us who do know the basics of writing–it may not be a bad idea to start with the most fundamental thing we can. I’m certainly getting a lot of help from this book myself! Other chapters in Fish’s book are called things like “What is a Good Sentence?,” and “It’s Not the Thought That Counts,” so I can’t help but feel hopeful. I’ll keep you posted… (haha–no pun intended :)
five sentences
(disclaimer: i have this terrible sense that i have posted something similar, if not identical, to this before. but for the life of me i cannot find said post. so i’ve decided to just go forward with this. i read the article mentioned this morning and it gave birth to the following ruminations. however, for those of you who think you might’ve read it before: you could very well be right.)
i read an article today in Slate Magazine about Stanley Fish’s five favorite sentences. Apparently Prof. Fish carries sentences with him “as others might carry a precious gem or a fine Swiss watch.” It only took me a second to realize I carry sentences, or phrases, in the same way. i stopped to try and consider what words come back to me again and again. Fish’s top 5 are what he considers the five BEST sentences in the English language. mine are far (FAR) less glorious. i’ve picked my 5 favorite sentences, regardless of why they are my favorite.
Without a doubt Fitzgerald’s ending of The Great Gatsby is my #1. This short paragraph swims in my head a lot, sometimes as a reminder and sometimes as a warning. I love almost all of Fitzgerald’s language, but this particular utterance is endlessly gripping.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further… And one fine morning– So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. (The Great Gatsby)
So that’s my number one. It’s harder work than I realized to come up with 5. I’ll add to this as I do think of the rest… stay tuned :)
update: 5/26/2011 i’ve thought of my #2. it’s from shakespeare’s hamlet. sometimes when i’m frustrated sad angsty overwhelmed, this is what comes to mind. i included the whole sentence, although the boldfaced bit is what i usually recall.
Long stay’d he so;
At last, a little shaking of mine arm
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
He raised a sigh so piteous and profound
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk
And end his being: that done, he lets me go:
And, with his head over his shoulder turn’d,
He seem’d to find his way without his eyes;
For out o’ doors he went without their helps,
And, to the last, bended their light on me. (Hamlet, my emphasis)
update: 5/31/2011 my third sentence is a bit of a phantom… I can’t find the exact version I have in mind, but I know it’s SOMEONE’S translation of a poem about the miracle of Cana (Jesus turning water into wine). I think it’s Richard Cranshaw’s poem originally… Cranshaw wrote: “The conscious water saw its God (Creator) and blushed”; I’ve heard that “modest water” is the preferred translation, but again, it’s a bit enigmatic. In any case– I first heard the quote as follows, and that’s the rendition I find most stunning. (N.B. There seems to be a lot of confusion as to who first said this: Pope, Byron, Cranshaw, Dryden. I dunno. I’m just here for the words. Excuse any errors in citation.)
Water met its Maker and blushed.
update: 6/1/2011 how could i forget my #4–or at least not think of it so readily?!?! of course it is a line from naomi shihab nye’s poem “making a fist” (which, if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ve totally heard me quote). i love so many lines in this poem, but my favorite is the one below… not even the whole sentence, but just the one line
I who did not die, who am still living… (“Making a Fist”)
(NB. i said i would pick my top 5, but i’d like to give a runner-up/honorable mention to another line from nye’s poem. this line is presented as a description of carsickness, and yet… how much more it really describes.)
My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin. (“Making a Fist”)
update: 6/2/2011 i’ve thought long and hard about what my #5 would be… and to be honest, there’s so many sentences that i carry with me, that i don’t know how i thought i could rank the top five only. but, things being as they are, this is what i finally came up with. i first read this sentence in high school, and i remember feeling as though i had found the most perfect piece of writing. even today, i cannot read it without getting a little choked up and feeling goosebumps along my arms.
He fell in October, 1918, on a day that was so quiet and still on the whole front, that the army report confined itself to the single sentence: All quiet on the Western Front. (All Quiet on the Western Front)
writer’s barricade
recently i’ve been really antsy about wanting to write something, complete something, DO something… but i just keep hitting a wall. i start stories–i’ll even get 2-3 chapters written–but i can’t ever seem to complete them. i went through a lot of my old files this weekend, hoping for some inspiration or clarity, and i re-read SO MANY stories i’ve begun that i couldn’t finish. probably close to 50 of them. i know. crazy, right?
as i looked through old drafts, i noticed that almost all of them (truly) are about at least one of the following things: (1) people who are lost, (2) people who are given a big chance to change something, or (3) new and imaginary lands/worlds. i feel like a lot of the stories have fun characters, solid settings, and decent dialogue… the problem is that they have no plot. i can start the stories, but i can’t ever create a plotline to continue along. and, as i looked through all those drafts, i began to wonder if maybe the reason i can’t write a plot is because i don’t feel like i have one in my own life, either… and i can’t figure out how to combat that. writer’s block, indeed. more like a psychological barricade. sigh.
