As it is not my field of study and I haven’t raised any children, I’m not as versed in the area of children’s literature as most parents. It turns out that there’s a series of books by an author named David Shannon for early readers, one of them titled, “No, David!” In my previous post, I commented on the humor I found in the young boy going on-and-on about “No this and No that” and always referring to the name David that I was certain his name was David. A friend from high school alerted me to this book and the most likely origin of this young boy’s comedic material. Now, I felt that I remembered exactly what that little boy had said, some of it in a specific order and some of it repeated. I had to know if he was just reading the book and I didn’t see him reading it or if there was more to it than that.
So I read, “No, David!” Thankfully I was able to complete it in the confines of the library and not have to add that book to my historical record of checked out material. I found some of the passages he said, but couldn’t find all of them. I also don’t remember him flipping pages while I heard him performing his diatribe. What still stays with me though is his inflection and tone, he was clearly familiar with the proper intonation to deliver the lines whether he was reading or reciting from memory. I suppose I owe my school friend those five bucks for pointing this series of books out to me. Although I could hold out on the technicality that I can neither confirm nor deny whether his name might actually have been David. Maybe that’s why he was so good at delivering the lines! [smirk]
It’s been over a month since my last entry. Perhaps I should have started that with, “Forgive me readers…” Some travel back to Minnesota, holiday visits and normal challenges of writing have all contributed to my absence here. I thought I might share some of the things I’ve learned as this process continues for me. Some of it is about writing a book, some of it about the specific content, but some of it is just about life in general.
I believe I’ve spoken previously in a post about motivation now that I’m writing for myself. If not, I certainly implied about the challenges. In the absence of a boss or even a paycheck, I opted to structure a different type of payment system to keep me producing and writing… the classic carrot approach. Tied to my daily word-count goals there now exist milestones that represent “paydays.” When I meet the milestone, I get to collect the payday. I actually came up with this by realizing there’s something that I do enjoy but also think of as slightly decadent. If you happened to be attached to my Facebook page you can probably guess what I’m talking about. I do love a good massage.
Another realization came when I connected two related facts. I receive motivation to write by reading related material. This is pretty standard, as my friend Maureen has shared many times, “To be a writer, you must be a reader.” It also became clear that I receive even more motivation when discussing this material with other people. Again this should not come as a surprise. Why do we all accept that paying tens of thousands and now hundreds of thousands of dollars for college educations as necessary if we didn’t think it was more effective than just buying the requisite text books and reading them? Surely part of that is for the structure and the accreditation of it, but also because the interaction of a classroom and teacher is likely more impactful than the straight written word.
That should be simple enough then, just talk to people about your work. Interestingly, I didn’t really think about how much of a conversation stopper telling people that you’re writing a book on the meaning of life actually is. Seriously, I would say at least 9 out of 10 times, that statement ends the line of questioning and probably the entire conversation half of the time. [laughing] In truth though, I understand that for so many reasons. First, the statement “meaning of life” typically implies some spiritual and religious context. Those are incredibly personal topics. Just because I’m writing a book about it doesn’t mean the other person is interested in hearing my thoughts, sharing their own or even prepared to think about the topic at all. In recognizing this fact, I almost never initiate or press a conversation about my book, often soft-peddling it when questioned to avoid potential theological debates especially in casual social settings. Second, there’s a precedent set by people of strong beliefs that for me was never exactly positive. I suppose the best word I can come up with for it is righteous. There’s been more than one occasion where I can claim I’ve personally avoided conversations of that nature… including every time someone rang my doorbell to discuss their views on religion. I’m quite certain I could write a 15-minute comedy skit on that topic alone.
So I find myself in an interesting conundrum. I benefit from conversations with people regarding the topic of my book, sometimes the most when engaged with people of differing beliefs. However, I respect people entirely too much to engage in those conversations for my own benefit. Happily I’ve found a few willing participants to share their viewpoints with me on various topics and I’ve started to consider venturing out to other venues where there might be additional banter to be found. Without turning this blog into a recruiting forum, if you find yourself interested and motivated enough to inquire more as to what I mean, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Lastly, I’ll share a quick mantra that I’ve used whenever I think of it. Each morning, I say to myself, “Every day is an opportunity to improve your writing.” Whether that improvement comes in the form of more words, edited words or just new ideas is what makes each day interesting. But on a grander scale, perhaps a more universal application of that thought would be,
“Every day is an opportunity to improve your life.”
Happy Holidays and Be Well!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Funniest Thing
As I indicated earlier, the bulk of my current writing takes place at a public library. I’m grateful for the wi-fi and primarily uninterrupted solitude that my chosen venue affords. There’s the occasional distraction, someone disregarding the cell phone rule or brief discussions among other patrons, but for the most part it approaches complete quiet. Today however I was witness to something that elicited a smile for reasons that prompt me to share. It was the banter of a young man, that went something like, “David, don’t eat the cake. David, don’t touch the candles. David, wash your hands. Good job David! David, don’t eat that cake.” It was delivered with the sentiment of a person in the midst of a mid-life crisis. The comedy is that the speaker was about three years old, he was the only boy sitting there, no cake in sight and I’ve got five bucks that says his name was David. While his Mother perused the shelf, he was apparently entertaining himself with the realization that his world was already full of the “Dos and Don’ts” that complicate our lives. He seemed amazed by the long list of directives he could recite regarding what I can only imagine was the recent memory of a birthday celebration.
My target of a completed, polished chapter has altered itself from chapter one to chapter two. The reasons I decided upon the goal of finishing a single chapter were both to gauge measureable progress but also to build some momentum and confidence along the way. Chapter one was selected primarily because that’s arguably the most logical starting point and I tend to go by some way of logic. Turns out I’m currently more inspired and motivated to write on the contents that will be chapter two at present. Momentum certainly doesn’t need to be sequential.
The most popular phrase I’ve used to describe what my book will be about is, “A logical approach to the meaning of life.” This phrase encapsulates one aspect of my intended writing style; logical. I found logic in the form of mathematics and philosophy to be, second nature. My own choices in life are almost always defined by a lengthy process of evaluation as opposed to any emotional direction. That last statement might be a little difficult to reconcile with “I quit my managerial job at a financial firm to pursue the penning of a book that I have no proof will meet with success. Did I mention that I have no manuscript ready, no publisher and no agent?”
Still, to me logic is supreme. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Galileo, “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” So brilliantly captured in this single sentence is the other aspect I hope to capture in my writing. Galileo’s passage uses logic to counter the problem he faced in his day, that being his scientific postulates and theories being deemed heretical by the religious authority. Regardless of any response or rebuttal to Galileo’s declaration, few could deny its thought provoking nature. While his scientific theory that the Sun and not the Earth represented the center of our solar system has been validated, the essence of the above quote has yet to be accepted by the majority.
I intend to strive for many things in my writing, including the elegance illustrated by Galileo, however the most important beyond the logic is provoking thought. Perhaps that’s the default purpose of all writing. While any attempt to label my work as fiction will only be for purposes of slander, most works of fiction don’t slap you in the face with their questions. They wrap them with colorful characters and events, undoubtedly part of their intrigue. My goal is to summarize and abbreviate the splendor of the world in which we live, in hopes of portraying how grand life truly is. In a logical and thought provoking way.
How could anything other than the following question be next…? “What’s taking you so long?”
My target of a completed, polished chapter has altered itself from chapter one to chapter two. The reasons I decided upon the goal of finishing a single chapter were both to gauge measureable progress but also to build some momentum and confidence along the way. Chapter one was selected primarily because that’s arguably the most logical starting point and I tend to go by some way of logic. Turns out I’m currently more inspired and motivated to write on the contents that will be chapter two at present. Momentum certainly doesn’t need to be sequential.
The most popular phrase I’ve used to describe what my book will be about is, “A logical approach to the meaning of life.” This phrase encapsulates one aspect of my intended writing style; logical. I found logic in the form of mathematics and philosophy to be, second nature. My own choices in life are almost always defined by a lengthy process of evaluation as opposed to any emotional direction. That last statement might be a little difficult to reconcile with “I quit my managerial job at a financial firm to pursue the penning of a book that I have no proof will meet with success. Did I mention that I have no manuscript ready, no publisher and no agent?”
Still, to me logic is supreme. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Galileo, “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” So brilliantly captured in this single sentence is the other aspect I hope to capture in my writing. Galileo’s passage uses logic to counter the problem he faced in his day, that being his scientific postulates and theories being deemed heretical by the religious authority. Regardless of any response or rebuttal to Galileo’s declaration, few could deny its thought provoking nature. While his scientific theory that the Sun and not the Earth represented the center of our solar system has been validated, the essence of the above quote has yet to be accepted by the majority.
I intend to strive for many things in my writing, including the elegance illustrated by Galileo, however the most important beyond the logic is provoking thought. Perhaps that’s the default purpose of all writing. While any attempt to label my work as fiction will only be for purposes of slander, most works of fiction don’t slap you in the face with their questions. They wrap them with colorful characters and events, undoubtedly part of their intrigue. My goal is to summarize and abbreviate the splendor of the world in which we live, in hopes of portraying how grand life truly is. In a logical and thought provoking way.
How could anything other than the following question be next…? “What’s taking you so long?”
Friday, September 25, 2009
Structured Freedom
The moment of truth… my first true progress update. This month saw early advances on the high-level content and overall flow of my planned manuscript. I have twelve chapters all laid out with titles and at least an idea or two attached to each one. As I noted in a previous post, many of these chapters came from my previous collection of writing content but will in most cases need to be repackaged to fit the new book concept. Once again, I found myself in a place similar to my previous efforts and luckily elected to perform an honest review of what happened during those efforts. I’ll return to that in a moment though.
I often receive questions such as, “What is writing like?” or “how do you manage your day?” My target for Monday through Friday is to be at the library by 10:00 AM, take a lunch around noon and then return to the library for an additional two hour session. This time is reserved for a few focused writing intervals and any associated directed research that might be relevant to the current topic. Clearly, this is a pretty lax schedule, not even half of what a normal work day would typically entail. I’m embarrassed to say that if I were being paid by the hour or punching a time card, I’d probably be fired already! My point in sharing that piece of information is to acknowledge and pay homage to the typical comments on how difficult writing can be. I also do a lot of reading outside those times and try to embrace any inspiration that arrives outside my work day by quickly finding my way to a pen and paper or keyboard before the ideas get lost. I even have a special document labeled “Miscellaneous” so if an idea comes I don’t even concern myself with where it fits into the book and keep myself out of editor mode before the words even hit the paper.
Fortune has always been kind to me and in this case I find no exception. Part of the plan to increase the structure around my efforts includes the incorporation of a weekly writing-partner meeting to review goals, progress and sound off potential ideas. The good fortune comes in the form of my long-time friend Maureen, who has graciously agreed to fulfill that role and assist in what we mutually consider to be “accountability sessions.” While Maureen certainly does not wield any authority or attempt to do so, the understanding of someone that knows the trials and tribulations of working as a writer along with personal experience down this path provides both a guiding light and encouragement that persistence makes all things possible.
Returning to my review of previous efforts, it became obvious how quickly I was able to arrive at my high-level chapter outline of the new book concept as compared to how not-so-rapidly I produce content within any of those chapters. The realization that I had proceeded in this fashion previously and ended up with some valuable content in each chapter that had no flow or cohesiveness, indicated that unless I wanted to once again find myself with an incredible amount of rework and editing to render it even readable, I probably needed even more structure. So I’ve opted to progress with a greater level of detail in sub-chapter organization before just trying to write as though I could spew a chapter onto a collection of pages without any other planning. One analogy I’ve tried to use for myself is the storyboard concept used by screenplay writers, making sure that I’m “telling my story” in an effective and compelling way. Additionally, while I have mental concepts that I hope to embed in this book, I felt it was necessary to formalize the “mission statement” of the book and revisit that objective frequently… if not on a daily basis. All of these ideas boil down to maintaining focus on the objective and breaking that objective down into manageable pieces. Hardly a revolutionary concept, but certainly required for me.
My goal is to have major progress on the polished version of chapter one around the time of my next blog update. I’m enjoying a few days of family visiting as I’m writing this entry, but it will be full-speed ahead as the days grow shorter. If I feel the blog needs something more before I can achieve “Chapter One” I’ll include my thoughts on the tone or approach that the book will have, something Maureen suggested that I decide consciously at the outset. Perhaps I’ll throw in an entry regarding meditation while I’m at it.
Best wishes to everyone and enjoy the fall colors!
I often receive questions such as, “What is writing like?” or “how do you manage your day?” My target for Monday through Friday is to be at the library by 10:00 AM, take a lunch around noon and then return to the library for an additional two hour session. This time is reserved for a few focused writing intervals and any associated directed research that might be relevant to the current topic. Clearly, this is a pretty lax schedule, not even half of what a normal work day would typically entail. I’m embarrassed to say that if I were being paid by the hour or punching a time card, I’d probably be fired already! My point in sharing that piece of information is to acknowledge and pay homage to the typical comments on how difficult writing can be. I also do a lot of reading outside those times and try to embrace any inspiration that arrives outside my work day by quickly finding my way to a pen and paper or keyboard before the ideas get lost. I even have a special document labeled “Miscellaneous” so if an idea comes I don’t even concern myself with where it fits into the book and keep myself out of editor mode before the words even hit the paper.
Fortune has always been kind to me and in this case I find no exception. Part of the plan to increase the structure around my efforts includes the incorporation of a weekly writing-partner meeting to review goals, progress and sound off potential ideas. The good fortune comes in the form of my long-time friend Maureen, who has graciously agreed to fulfill that role and assist in what we mutually consider to be “accountability sessions.” While Maureen certainly does not wield any authority or attempt to do so, the understanding of someone that knows the trials and tribulations of working as a writer along with personal experience down this path provides both a guiding light and encouragement that persistence makes all things possible.
Returning to my review of previous efforts, it became obvious how quickly I was able to arrive at my high-level chapter outline of the new book concept as compared to how not-so-rapidly I produce content within any of those chapters. The realization that I had proceeded in this fashion previously and ended up with some valuable content in each chapter that had no flow or cohesiveness, indicated that unless I wanted to once again find myself with an incredible amount of rework and editing to render it even readable, I probably needed even more structure. So I’ve opted to progress with a greater level of detail in sub-chapter organization before just trying to write as though I could spew a chapter onto a collection of pages without any other planning. One analogy I’ve tried to use for myself is the storyboard concept used by screenplay writers, making sure that I’m “telling my story” in an effective and compelling way. Additionally, while I have mental concepts that I hope to embed in this book, I felt it was necessary to formalize the “mission statement” of the book and revisit that objective frequently… if not on a daily basis. All of these ideas boil down to maintaining focus on the objective and breaking that objective down into manageable pieces. Hardly a revolutionary concept, but certainly required for me.
My goal is to have major progress on the polished version of chapter one around the time of my next blog update. I’m enjoying a few days of family visiting as I’m writing this entry, but it will be full-speed ahead as the days grow shorter. If I feel the blog needs something more before I can achieve “Chapter One” I’ll include my thoughts on the tone or approach that the book will have, something Maureen suggested that I decide consciously at the outset. Perhaps I’ll throw in an entry regarding meditation while I’m at it.
Best wishes to everyone and enjoy the fall colors!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Ready, Set, Write!
After nearly two months of moving, unpacking and arranging our new living space while simultaneously detaching myself from my previous employment, I finally feel like I'm back to being a writer again. This venture has a much different feel to it than the last trip I took down the writing path. Even though the last trip started with a move (of much greater distance I might add), my sense of purpose is much more firmly established this time.
Our new home includes a den that I’ll use as my writing office, but for now while the weather is nice and I’m establishing a routine, I’m going to the library to write. For now I’ve been settling in at the Bedford Library but I also stop in Manchester on occasion and plan to visit the Hooksett library as well. You’ll notice that there’s no desktop computer and only the laptop resides here. Even though I might do some dictation (that requires my main computer) I wanted to have this area separate from where I spend my “computer time” as that often includes time-killers like reading e-mail, sports related nonsense and other pastimes.
When I originally returned to this writing project, I assumed that I would just pick up where I left off and progress with the original book concept that I already started. Then after a conversation that oddly enough was about potentially hosting my own television show on local access cable (was more of a goof than anything serious) I came up with a format for the show that I thought would work and realized that I’d found the “real” title and format of my first work. While some of the material will transfer over from my original manuscript draft, the concept is different enough that if all things progress and I make a career of this my original concept could become my second book.
For now, I’m going to keep the details “on the down-low” but any of you that are totally in the dark about what my topic is will infer quite a bit from the list of books I’m currently reading. The list is a little long at this juncture as so many different books are in play and I wanted to include some that were recently finished, so normally there won’t be this many titles. While I’m certainly not planning on cliff notes on anything I read, if something strikes you or you have questions about it, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Just finished:
Code Name God: The Spiritual Odyssey of a Man of Science - Mani Bhaumik
8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life. - Victor Davich
The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything - Bryan D. McLaren
In the process of reading:
Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook - Ajahn Brahm
The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief - Gregg Braden
Learn to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Self-Discovery and Fulfillment - David Fontana
Essential Zen - Kazuaki Tanahashi
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book - Don Miguel Ruiz (actually rereading this one)
The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World - Lynne McTaggart
Miracles of Mind: Exploring Nonlocal Consciousness and Spritual Healing - Russell Targ
Pain Free at Your PC - Pete Egoscue (no, I don’t have perfect posture, thanks for noticing!)
About to start:
The World's Religions - Huston Smith
Reincarnation: The Missing Link In Christianity - Elizabeth Clare Prophet (reread and review)
Next post, more about writing, my process and current progress.
Our new home includes a den that I’ll use as my writing office, but for now while the weather is nice and I’m establishing a routine, I’m going to the library to write. For now I’ve been settling in at the Bedford Library but I also stop in Manchester on occasion and plan to visit the Hooksett library as well. You’ll notice that there’s no desktop computer and only the laptop resides here. Even though I might do some dictation (that requires my main computer) I wanted to have this area separate from where I spend my “computer time” as that often includes time-killers like reading e-mail, sports related nonsense and other pastimes.
When I originally returned to this writing project, I assumed that I would just pick up where I left off and progress with the original book concept that I already started. Then after a conversation that oddly enough was about potentially hosting my own television show on local access cable (was more of a goof than anything serious) I came up with a format for the show that I thought would work and realized that I’d found the “real” title and format of my first work. While some of the material will transfer over from my original manuscript draft, the concept is different enough that if all things progress and I make a career of this my original concept could become my second book.
For now, I’m going to keep the details “on the down-low” but any of you that are totally in the dark about what my topic is will infer quite a bit from the list of books I’m currently reading. The list is a little long at this juncture as so many different books are in play and I wanted to include some that were recently finished, so normally there won’t be this many titles. While I’m certainly not planning on cliff notes on anything I read, if something strikes you or you have questions about it, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Just finished:
Code Name God: The Spiritual Odyssey of a Man of Science - Mani Bhaumik
8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life. - Victor Davich
The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything - Bryan D. McLaren
In the process of reading:
Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook - Ajahn Brahm
The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief - Gregg Braden
Learn to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Self-Discovery and Fulfillment - David Fontana
Essential Zen - Kazuaki Tanahashi
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book - Don Miguel Ruiz (actually rereading this one)
The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World - Lynne McTaggart
Miracles of Mind: Exploring Nonlocal Consciousness and Spritual Healing - Russell Targ
Pain Free at Your PC - Pete Egoscue (no, I don’t have perfect posture, thanks for noticing!)
About to start:
The World's Religions - Huston Smith
Reincarnation: The Missing Link In Christianity - Elizabeth Clare Prophet (reread and review)
Next post, more about writing, my process and current progress.
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