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Dialogue with my muse |
| I have been carrying on a dialogue for almost a year. During this time we have discussed the progress of my writing, editing, and publishing efforts. Join in to listen to our conversation about my daily writing life and add your comments if you think of anything Calliope and I miss. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you this morning? JOE: Better than yesterday. My computer was very sluggish for some reason and it frustrated me. CALLIOPE: Amazing how we come to depend on electronics. What was the problem? JOE: Hard to say. I was experimenting with some new programs. Perhaps one of them gummed up the works. I deleted some programs and found it working much better this morning. CALLIOPE: Did you get to work on your writing yesterday? JOE: I did. Later in the afternoon I did some work on Marital Property revising it to a series of first person accounts. CALLIOPE: Where did you get that idea? JOE: The story needed more immediacy and insight into characters who were previously rather lifeless. I also remembered Barbara Kingsolver's book, the Poisonwood Bible which I think we discussed before where she tells her story from rotating points of view of several characters. I thought this might work with Marital Property. CALLIOPE: And is it? JOE: So far I think it is. I have revised only a few chapters but I think the characters are starting to come to life. I am still wrestling with whether to tell the story in the present or past tense. I am experimenting with present tense. So far, so good. But the jury's not in on that point. CALLIOPE: I'm glad you are experimenting. That's what writing is all about. JOE: I agree and am having a good time in the process. CALLIOPE: Good. That should keep you involved. JOE: So far it has. I'm looking forward to continuing the adventure. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How was your weekend? JOE: Very nice. There is something relaxing about water no matter where it it. I awoke early on Saturday morning sharing the Allegany River with only a circling eagle. It was one of the high points of the weekend. CALLIOPE: Did you enjoy being with people for a change? JOE: I did. Many of them I knew only marginally. But our hosts were good friends of many years. CALLIOPE: Now that you are back to work, what plans do you have for today? JOE: I plan to review the information I gathered from the Writers Digest book, The Craft and business of Writing. It is one of the most informative and practical books I have encountered in some time. It gave me useful information about voice as well as editing, both of which are current concerns of mine. CALLIOPE: Any other plans for today? JOE: I would like to continue working on a revision of Marital Property. I don't think I told you I decided to write it as a series of first person accounts, somewhat in the style of Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible. CALLIOPE: Have you started on it? JOE: I did last week and completed a few chapters. I was pleased with the result. CALLIOPE: How do you think this change will affect the book? JOE: It feels more immediate to me and hopefully will bring more life to the characters than evident in my limited omniscient approach. CALLIOPE: I will be interested to see what develops. JOE: So will I. Perhaps I will post the first chapter on one of my websites for anyone interested. Time to get going. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. How are you this morning? CALLIOPE: Hey, that's my line. But now that you ask, I'm in fine fettle, whatever that is. JOE: Glad to hear it. I have quite a few things I would like to do this morning and am not sure where to start. CALLIOPE: What are the front runners? JOE: I need to post my column to the Daily News and my subscribed readers before anything else happens. CALLIOPE: Was this your experimental column? JOE: Yes. I wrote it as a short story based on my recent mall experience. I am anxious to see how it is received. CALLIOPE: Let me know what happens. What's next? JOE: I have several other projects on tap. I have been thinking about publicity for The Pastor's Inferno. It seems to me that it might scare people in light of its topic. I have been considering a short video for You Tube with the title, Are You Afraid of This Book? CALLIOPE: Sounds like an interesting approach. What would you say? JOE: I don't have anything prepared. It's an idea which occurred to me yesterday. CALLIOPE: Good luck with it. What else is going on? JOE: I am heading for the Allegheny River tomorrow for a little camping and good company. CALLIOPE: A little socialization for a change. JOE: Yes. I have been a bit into myself lately. I am looking forward to some time with people and possibly some painting while I am out in nature. CALLIOPE: Enjoy it. JOE: I will. Talk with you either Saturday or Monday depending on when I get back. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How was your writers' meeting last night? JOE: Very good. We had a new member, Carol, who is gifted in my opinion and who is also an insightful, respectful contributor. CALLIOPE: Always a nice addition. Did you receive good feedback on your story? JOE: Good in the sense of helpful, yes. I worked on the story carefully but still made mistakes others noticed instantly. Some observations touched on personal writing style but were still worth considering. CALLIOPE: So now what? JOE: I will make revisions and post it as my Saturday column. This will be a new direction for me. If it goes over well, I will probably start posting stories on a more frequent basis. CALLIOPE: What advantages do you see this providing? JOE: Sometimes I don't notice what is happening around me and struggle for a column topic. If I can rely on my imagination I don't think I well ever run out of ideas. CALLIOPE: But this story was about noticing details of ordinary life. JOE: It was. I have come to realize that an interesting article or story comes from the intersection of observation, imagination, creativity and invention. CALLIOPE: Quite a crossroads. JOE: I'll say. That's what I have been busy considering lately, especially how to juggle all these elements and bring them together to produce writing people will want to read. CALLIOPE: You seem to be up to the challenge. JOE: Sometimes it seems daunting, but I'll do my best. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: I'm ready to go for the day. CALLIOPE: What's on your agenda? JOE: My first priority is to complete reports from police candidate screenings I did yesterday, one of my few remaining psychological duties. CALLIOPE: Then what? JOE: I have a column to write for Saturday and also a writers' meeting tonight in Brockport. CALLIOPE: Have you decided on anything to read tonight? JOE: I did just this morning. I had planned on reading a story I have been revising, but decided to do something different. CALLIOPE: Are you going to tell me? JOE: Hold your horses. I'm getting to it. I was reading last night about personal essays and realized many of my columns were of that genre. I decided to write one about the chandelier in the mall and also take the column for review tonight at my writers' group. CALLIOPE: You have never submitted a column to the group? JOE: No. I have almost always taken a book chapter for review. Lately I am working on writing style and I think this might be a good chance for input on my recent efforts. CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good plan. JOE: I think so. I'll let you know you know how it goes tomorrow when we speak. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Ready to go for another week. I have two ideas for this Saturday's column and an idea for my writing in general. CALLIOPE: What are the column ideas? JOE: One is a lighthearted presentation of my observations in a mall on Saturday of a girl photographing a chandelier. The other is about finding your passion. CALLIOPE: Quite a contrast. Which do you think will win out? JOE: Hard to say. Maybe I will write both and then decide. CALLIOPE: Sounds ambitious. How about the idea for your writing? JOE: At Unity Church yesterday, Steve D'Annunzio gave his farewell lesson. In it he stress the quote from the bible about your heart being where your treasure lies. I don't remember the exact quote. CALLIOPE: What did you take from it? JOE: It is a familiar quote. I have heard it before but have not taken it to heart as my treasure. For me, it means that whatever I focus on becomes the most important part of my life. CALLIOPE: How does that relate to your writing? JOE: Last week I wondered about how to redevelop my passion, or perhaps develop it for the first time. My passion is whatever I make the center of my life. In reading well published authors, I realized they wrote with passion and put everything they had into what they wrote. Although I have tried to write about things I cared about, I have not written with passion. CALLIOPE: And now? JOE: I will write passionately. My goal is to put my whole self including thoughts, feelings, observations and sensations into what I write. Talk with you tomorrow. |
JOE: Good afternoon Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good afternoon Joe. I see you saved the best for last. JOE: It's always a pleasure talking with you. I just got back from our whirlwind trip to Niagara Falls. CALLIOPE: Thank you for the compliment. So how was it? JOE: Very enjoyable. We drank wine and watched people in the park by the falls in the afternoon, notably families of Muslims and Amish. CALLIOPE: Why were they notable? JOE: I tend to think of people with different beliefs as being much different than I am. Just my preconception I guess. CALLIOPE: So what did you discover? JOE: When with their children, most people are the same regardless of their beliefs. It helped me see the common bonds between the world's peoples. CALLIOPE: I guess that was worth the trip in itself. What about the concert? JOE: Once we survived the smoke gauntlet through the casino and made it to clean air in the auditorium, we caught our breaths, literally. Then we thoroughly enjoyed The Neville Brothers and Doctor John's performances. CALLIOPE: Did anything stand out? JOE: I was impressed with the intensity of the performers' involvement in their music and their passion for it. Close up cameras let us see their expressions and mannerisms, which I don't recall being privy to in a concert before. CALLIOPE: Any personal message for you? JOE: Yes. In order to attain a high level of excitement in my writing, I need to feel it first and then portray it on paper. I will start looking for that excitement in me. Talk with you on Monday. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Energetic. CALLIOPE: What brought that on? JOE: I'm not sure. How do you know it isn't my natural state? CALLIOPE: Maybe it is. What's going on? JOE: I awoke in the middle of the night thinking about where I am with my writing. CALLIOPE: Where are you? JOE: I have come to realize with the help of my readers that I need to do some work on my style and voice before completing Marital Property. CALLIOPE: What did they say that brought you to that conclusion? JOE: They observed in their own ways that my presentation tended to be bland. They graciously suggested my characters seemed flat instead of my writing. In reading popular authors, I could see the difference between expression of Danielle Steele for example and my own. I have also been reading about the craft of writing. My writing needs some work. CALLIOPE: How do you plan to go about it? JOE: Three ways. I will keep reading about style, reading writers with style attractive to the average reader and practice my craft with short stories for a while before returning to the manuscript of Marital Property. CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good plan. Will you suspend your other writing in the mean time? JOE: Not exactly. I have also started gathering teen writings to include in Commonsense Wisdom for Teens and getting that project back on track. I am going to Niagara Falls tonight for a Neville Brothers/ Dr. John concert and will be back probably tomorrow afternoon. I'll contact you then. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Fine. But most of today is busy with other people. CALLIOPE: Is that bad? JOE: Depends on how you look at it. I won't have much if any time to continue working on writing style. CALLIOPE: What's the upside? JOE: Most of what I read yesterday suggested or outright demanded that a good writer needs to be a good observer of people first and then combine observations with invention and fantasy. CALLIOPE: Is that a problem? JOE: No, but I wish I had done a better job of observing people over the years. I have mostly focused on thoughts and motivations and to some extent feelings but have largely ignored people's physical presentation. CALLIOPE: How do you suppose that happened? JOE: I can think of two influences. As a child I was always in trouble for one thing or another, usually mislaying one or another of my father's tools. My tendency was to become as unobtrusive as possible. I lived defensively. CALLIOPE: And the other? JOE: In the monastery we had a practice of mortification of the eyes, which meant not looking at others. Even though this was only for a limited time during my life, I think it had a lasting influence. It gave me the chance to continue the anonymity I sought in childhood. CALLIOPE: Quite a set of realizations. What do you plan to do about the situation? JOE: Work on being more observant and being comfortable having people see me observing. I'll start working on it during my hours of people contact today. That's the rest of the upside of having a busy people day. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Feeling energized. CALLIOPE: By what? JOE: I followed my good friend Gerry's advice yesterday and started looking at the styles of popular writers to see what makes them successful. CALLIOPE: Is this a new venture for you? JOE: Not really, but I am looking in different places now. CALLIOPE: Tell me about it. JOE: Before, I think I had a somewhat snooty attitude about good writing, feeling that "literary" writers were somehow superior to "popular" writers. CALLIOPE: So have you lowered yourself to consider "lesser" writers. JOE: I have. Gerry suggested I start with Danielle Steele. I resisted. He insisted. Finally I got her book Safe Harbor from the library and started reading it yesterday. CALLIOPE: What did you discover? JOE: There is a reason she has sold over fifty novels. Her writing is immediately accessible to ordinary writers. She writes the way most people think, including observations of mannerisms, mixing together reflection, behaviors and speech in a way which I think mimics everyday experience. I think she meets writers where they live. CALLIOPE: Sounds impressive. Will you continue your explorations? JOE: I have a few other books I will explore and carefully note each author's voice and how they approach readers. An interesting challenge. Thanks Gerry. |
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Hope they like snow! 
I just tell them to go get a life...
It's a sunshiny 24 here at the moment; 19 in Buffalo.