Roth wins PEN/Faulkner literary award

Roth wins PEN/Faulkner literary award - Yahoo! News

I suppose it's not a real surprise for Roth to win this for Everyman, though I don't think it was all that. What's more important here is the list of runners-up:

Charles D'Ambrosio's "The Dead Fish Museum"
Deborah Eisenberg's "Twilight of the Superheroes"
Amy Hempel's "The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel"
Edward P. Jones' "All Aunt Hagar's Children."

D'Ambrosio's book was one of my favorites, and it's good to see some acknowledgement of its quality, but what might be more important is that his book along with all the other runners-up are books of SHORT STORIES. Are short stories back? Eisenberg's and Hempel's books showed up on best of 2006 lists. Do we like short stories again? Or more importantly, will publishers be willing to take on more short story collections?

I'll have to write more on this later.

Since when is writing about writing boring?

Gwenda at Shaken & Stirred has recently started on her MFA and she has an excellent post on revision. And she has me until she says her advisor wrote her 17 pages in response to submitted revisions. Bullshit. Are you listening Steven Schwartz? 17 pages!

It almost makes me miss the program, or at least miss having some input on my work.

Rejection Collection - Shenandoah

This one came a couple weeks ago from Shenadoah. That is a handwritten note on there, but don't be fooled--it isn't personal. Otherwise, this one does gets some points for style for the long form, the logo and the use of white space. Just don't try to fool me with the personal note.

On Novel Outlining

It’s funny how MFA programs don’t put much focus on novel writing. Sure, some time is spent on analyzing novels, but there is no real guidance on how to build or shape a novel. So, we walk out with a portfolio of short stories, some critical writing, and no lick of experience of doing what it is almost all of us are looking to do.

Last week I realized that I was nearing the half-way point in my “project.” I’d gone past the point of establishing characters, exploring their dilemmas, and now it was time to put them on the path to the eventual resolution. And I’d really been winging up to this point. I knew the characters, but I want them to sort things out on their own without having some unwieldy outline to which I was supposed to adhere. Yet, suddenly I was there, beginning a new chapter, and I realized I didn’t really know what I wanted to have happen, what needed to happen.

Novel outlining seems to be somewhat of a contentious issue. Authors seem to have all sorts of responses to the question of whether or not they outline. I think many want us to think that it’s all organic and that any sort of “planning” is not artistic and goes against the process. Sure, maybe people writing those plot-driven things need to outline, but I don’t. I don’t think I believe this.

I have several characters who all need to come together in the resolution, and if I don’t have an idea of what I need to have happen when I’m screwed. I’ll end up writing one of those novels where it seems the author didn’t quite know what he/she needed to have happen and the whole thing veers off in a new direction (see: Look At Me, Empire Falls-which I still liked).

Resources on outlining are a bit limited. I went out a-wandering on the internet in hopes of finding some direction, suggestion, guidance. If you’re writing sci-fi or romance there is some support out there, but no one really wants to talk about outlining a literary novel. Not one link worth passing on.

What I had to do was to outline the course of each character. On a separate piece of paper I noted the scenes and development for each character and then a few words on what I needed to have happen to them in the future, the different scenes I knew that I would need. Then I had to lie each of these together, looking at what was missing, and outline the course of action. So, now I have a rough list of scenes in the order I need to have them happen in order to get us to the conclusion. But is truly rough. A few words each. I still don’t want to tie the characters down and force them into anything, so I think I’ve left them a little room to move around on their own.

I now feel open to write away, knowing where the landmarks are, where each checkpoint is, what I vaguely want to accomplish in each chapter. I finally feel like I can move forward.

Librarians debate award-winning novel - Yahoo! News

Librarians debate award-winning novel - Yahoo! News

Scrotum, scrotum, scrotum. No, really it gets better:

"The Higher Power of Lucky" is the story of a 10-year-old girl in rural California and her quest for "Higher Power." The opening chapter includes a passage about a man "who had drunk half a gallon of rum listening to Johnny Cash all morning in his parked '62 Cadillac, then fallen out of the car when he saw a rattlesnake on the passenger seat biting his dog, Roy, on the scrotum."

I'm sorry, I didn't know Dorothy Allison was writing children's lit.

The Dust-Up

Okay, plug your ears if you need to, I'm going to talk about politics.

Now, it's much too early to pick a horse in the Democratic race for the nomination, but nothing peeves me more than someone demanding an unnecessary apology. So, to hear this whole dust-up between Hillary and Obama gets me a little agitated. And somebody please tell Bill Richardson that, yes, we want to avoid personal attacks, but maybe he should mind his own business.

If this is how Hillary's campaign is going to react every time someone calls her a liar, it is going to be a loooooong campaign. To tell you the truth, I don't like her and I think she'd be a lousy candidate. I'm not really sure I even want to think about what she'd be like as President. And this whole thing sort of explains why.

And thanks goodness Obama knew better than to apologize. So, shame on Hillary and shame on the media for trying to make this into a bigger thing than it is (bite me, Kudlow).

And while we're talking about things other than books and writing, what's this nonsense about a crying judge?

Write every day? Yeah, right.

Do you ever get sick of hearing that? I do. Maybe it's just because I don't write everyday. Or maybe I'm sick of hearing it from people who have the time available to them. In this month's Poets & Writers Walter Mosley delivers the usual lecture. He begins,

The first and most important thing that you have to know about writing is that
it is something you must do everyday. Every morning or every night, whatever
time it is that you have.

Well, I don’t want to hear it, but it’s hard to argue with. But then he goes on,

Getting your words down on the page takes time. How much? I write three hours every morning. It’s the first thing I do, Monday through Sunday, fifty-two weeks a year.

Well, congratu-freakin-lations. Must be hard to do with that full-time job, a toddler and a pregnant wife. Oh, wait, that’s me, not Walter Mosley. Does he have a full-time job?

He does go on to make some great points, and I don’t want to dismiss the thesis that writing is hard work.

Elsewhere in the magazine, an article by Caitlin O’Neil called “The Writer’s Triangle: Balancing Writing With Living” let’s us see the other side of the maxim. She writes, “If a writer is earning enough money, she doesn’t have enough time to write. If a writer has enough time to write, she’s broke. If a writer is cut off from people and money-generating work in order to write, she’s depressed and isolated.” Now, I won’t argue though I disagree with the last point, or at least I don’t know that there’s really anything wrong with being depressed and isolated (I could also criticize the pronoun choice, but I won’t).

It is tricky finding that balance, being fair to all aspects of your life. In an interview I heard recently with Kate Braverman she said that if you are serious about the art of writing get a well-paying job. She doesn't suggest sacrificing your well-being by hiding out in your office and not working until finally producing your masterpiece. Instead, find a job that provides you the security you need to not let money figure in to your work and one that leaves your mind open for creative activity. This is the tack I'm taking.

Years ago, I lived what I deemed was an "artist's life." That meant drinking too much, quitting jobs on a whim, and living a life of poverty and degradation. But, boy, did I produce a lot of work. Too bad most of it was crap. Since then I got my act together, got my undergraduate degree, then an MFA, got a real job, got married and began having children. So, I may not write as much now (and certainly not as much as I should) but what I write is better. And I'm not so desperate to make a buck with it that I let that override artistic concerns.

Okay, so I resolve to write more, nearly everyday, but I will still cherish my sleep, my time with my family, and I'm still going to work. Three hours a day, my ass.

Valentine's Day Reading

The Washington Post has fiction by Melissa Bank, ZZ Packer and others, each inspired by a photograph. I might have to use up some of the toner at work to read some of these.

Rejection Collection - Northwest Review (again)

Ah, so much for encouragement actually getting me somewhere. The last time Northwest Review sent me a rejection a hand written note asked "Try again?" And I did, noting of course in the cover letter the extra attention paid to my submission. This time, though... nothing. No luck and no note. And still, somehow, I will try again.

"That's a good story."

My daughter, who will be turning two this spring, has taken to responding to the close of every board book we read with "That's a good story." She gives it just enough emphasis to imply that the quality of the story was both satisfying and surprising. Maybe I should start reading her my stories.

Tense in the news

I will skip questioning why this is "Breaking News," but yesterday CNN sent me this tidbit:

-- Anna Nicole Smith dies after being found unconscious in her hotel room, a law enforcement source says.

"Dies." Is she dying right now? Is she dying over and over again? Or has she DIED?

I don't understand why the media has to use the present tense. If the goal is to report on an event that has happened, why write about it like it is happening now? It is particularly appalling when it is about something as final as death. It's not really a prolonged event, usually. Does the present tense make it seem more urgent, as it might in fiction? Does it pump up the drama in some way? Excuse me for being so linear, but if it has happened shouldn't we be using the past tense?

Book Review: Things You Should Know

Things You Should Know by A. M. Homes

A. M. Homes can do anything. And she does. Her stories in this collection often surprise and stun at the same time she maneuvers the characters and the stories in ways that are magical. This doesn't always mean, though, that every attempt succeeds. Some stories fail outright and would likely never have been published on their own, others simply deflate after moment and magic has passed. Where Homes succeeds is when she is more human. The story "Do Not Disturb," depicting a failing relationship succeeds because she manages some of her general absurdity while maintaining empathy. The closing story "The Former First Lady and the Football Hero" is on its surface preposterous and seems bound to produce laughs alone. Homes manages even with humor for color to give the reader a clear vision of how it is to live with someone with Alzheimer's that still me days after finishing this collection.

Flannery O'Connor's Andalusia

I was hoping to point you to this lengthy article from the NY Times on Flannery O'Connor's Georgia home ("In Search of Flannery O’Connor") after I had read it, offering analysis and commentary. But I haven't yet had/taken the time to read the whole thing yet, though a copy of the paper sits next to my chair at home and I've been carrying a copy printed from the website in my bag for two days. That's how I roll.

Never the less, what I've read has encouraged me to take a road trip to see the home and surroundings of one of my favorite authors.

Book Review: The Lay of the Land

The Lay of The Land by Richard Ford

In the recent Bat Segundo interview Richard Ford said, "You have to love long sentences." Indeed, to appreciate this novel it helpful to enjoy reading long, divergent sentences. His narrator, Frank Bascombe, has a wandering mind, but one that also is rich with information. But not just information--analysis as well. Frank, it appears, has an opinion on everything. The things around him, from the street signs to the changing landscape to, of course, the media, move him. So much so that things, like the undecided 2000 Presidential election, weigh on him heavily. He has a lot of reason, though, to be contemplative.

I like long sentences. I like contemplation. This does not mean, though, that this was an easy book to get through. While I don't mind the minutiae, like some reviewers, what I do mind is randomness as a plot point. I'll leave out the details here for those of you who might make it over 300 pages through the book, but after calmly following Frank along as his "Permanent Period" beginning to falter, to have his fortune decided by a random act was a little frustrating.

It is amusing, though, that this doesn't really keep me from liking the book. I've given it a week, and I know that this book will linger. I know that the book made me think, made me laugh, and frustrated me. It won't make the list of the best book I read this year, but I'm glad I read it.

I felt similarly about Independence Day.

It just makes me chuckle.

2 men held on bond in Boston hoax case AP

I just like it that everyone, from so-called guerilla marketers, homeland security, mainstream media, and mega-media companies, looks pretty stupid.

And, yes, he's giving you the finger.