Bus Stopping

A fellow writer suggested I include poetry in my reading rotation.  I resisted.  I don’t write poetry, I don’t like poetry, why on Earth would I want to read it?  I was envisioning overly flowery prose and…well…poetry.  I can’t recall a single instance over the course of my life where someone said “Hey, friend!  Let’s hang out and read some poetry on Saturday night.”

I have nothing against it.  It’s simply never been something I’ve had a great deal of interest in.  Some people love football, others not so much.  Golf?  If we’re talking miniature – I’m in!  Eighteen holes around a course?  No, thank you.

Most every day while running, I pass by the same abandoned building.  It stands out now because on one side a Donald Justice poem has been painted.  

If you aren’t familiar with Mr. Justice, he was a Pulitzer Prize winning poet.  Sadly, he passed away in 2013.

The poem is called Bus Stop.  While stopping to catch my breath one afternoon, I took the time to read it.

When I was done, my view on poetry had changed dramatically as a result of one portion.

And the last bus

Comes letting dark

Umbrellas out –

Black flowers, black flowers

To me, that was brilliantly simple.  Dark umbrellas representing black flowers.  Such a powerful image conveyed in so few words.  

I began to appreciate how much of a challenge poetry must be. As a novelist, I have no less than 250 pages to get my story across.  Imagine having a few short paragraphs!  I have the luxury of being able to wander a bit, but as a poet almost every single word needs to help you reach that end game.

After that afternoon, I began to review my own work to see how I could make it tighter.  What could I take out?  What could I punch up?  What can I do to get this across to the reader in the fewest – but most powerful words possible?  

I even named the process – bus stopping.  adj. the act of condensing verbose writing to a condensed form with strong meaning.

What are your thoughts on poetry?  Or using poetry as a guide in your own writing?  Let me know in the comments section down below.

Embracing the Negativity

As a writer, you spend a great deal of time alone.  It may be hours of staring at a blank page in an almost insane attempt to will words onto the page or moments of exhilarating breakthrough where your fingers aren’t able to keep up with your mind.  In either case, most often you are alone.

Admittedly, I'm not alone tonight.  Lucy is keeping me company.

The words you write and the stories you tell can become incredibly intimate.  So much so that when an opportunity to share presents itself you find yourself on the verge of a mild panic attack.  As if locked outside your home in nothing but your unmentionables for all the world to see.

In my writing class, we’re able to read our work aloud for others to hear.  If you aren’t comfortable with that, you can simply say “I’ll pass…” and the instructor will move on to the next pupil.  In the first half of the semester, you simply shared.  These last few weeks, it has been to share and receive feedback.  I was curious to see if the number of people who read aloud decreased when having immediate feedback was introduced.  I was delightfully surprised when it did not.

Feedback is essential to growing as a writer – even when it’s negative.  I’m not talking about negative in the internet troll sense.  “This book sucks!” is not feedback, it’s simply rude.  Offering up an opinion with a qualifying reason is - “This didn’t work for me because the main character felt flat.”

The dreaded internet troll!

The first time I had some of my work come back from an editor, it was earmarked “Take some time to look through my notes, absorb them, and we’ll talk.”  I laughed when I read that as I imagined how often she must get offended responses from clients.  As nervous as I was about her insight, I was more excited to have an objective look at what I had done.  

Getting negative feedback is important.  Being open to negative feedback even more so.

I took tennis lessons growing up.  When I made a bad shot, the coach called me out.  I could storm off the court, throw my racquet, shout obscenities…to what end?  I still made a bad shot.  If he hadn’t pointed it out, I wouldn’t have become a better player.

I still play tennis today.  In all our matchups, Cliff has only beaten me one time.

As a writer, you spend a great deal of time alone.  It’s critical to get outside of your own head to hear how others interpret your work - good or bad.

Negative is not bad.  Embrace it.  Understand it.  Learn from it.

What are your thoughts on receiving feedback?  Let me know in the comment section below.

88 Keys to Success

I ordered a digital piano this week.  After doing several comparisons, I selected the Williams Allegro 2. 

Now…before any piano playing purist pipes up, let me explain.  I understand this isn’t a “real” piano.  I wanted the full eighty-eight key spread, but in a manageable size.  One I could use in the upstairs office while practicing or bring down into the den during the holiday’s so family and friends could sing along while I play as if we all just stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting.  In anticipation of those quaint evenings, I even ordered the sheet music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.

The sheet music is already here, the piano is due to arrive tonight, and then the magic begins, right?  I’ll simply sit down in front of the keyboard and bang out sweet melodies that would make Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart proud.

Hardly.

If you’ve been following along with my 2017 exploits, you’ll know I’ve been taking several classes.  Writing, grammar, mental mathematics, memory, and Spanish.  This past week, one of the other students in my class was expressing her frustration.  She enrolled, she was attending class, but she didn’t feel she was getting better.  I asked how much time she spent outside of class practicing.  Her answer?  None.  I felt she was a little put off by my even asking.  She continued on about how she paid for this class and wasn’t this class supposed to be teaching her?  Thankfully by this point, I had reached my car and was able to make a quick escape.

Years ago, I took organ lessons.

The lessons taught me how to play.  The same way the classes I’m taking now are teaching me – and my fellow students.  After I placed the order for the piano, I hopped onto Amazon and ordered “Teach Yourself to Play Piano” to reacquaint myself with the basics.  I know an organ and piano are two separate beasts, but the basic principles are the same.  I can use this book to tie them both together.  The bass staff, the treble staff, grand staff, quarter notes, and so on.

Here’s the thing – I can’t simply buy “Teach Yourself to Play Piano” and expect after one reading I’ll be off and running.  You have to practice what you are taught.  My fellow student shouldn’t expect that after simply attending classes that she’ll be an expert on the subject if she doesn’t practice.

The classroom offers the way…the road map…for you to get to your destination.  In order to actually make it you, need to do more than simply look at it.

After I practice the piano enough, I’ll post a video of my progress.

What are your thought on the topic this week?  Let me know if the comments section down below.