To Preach Or Not To Preach, Do You Need Ask? By Robert W. Walker

An interesting discussion arose on a chat group I am a member of regarding the author's politics and if his novels ought be politiking for him, and if said author politics ticks you off to the point of never reading said author ever in life again. My quick and dirty reply was fast in coming -- if a story or novel is a set up for me to have to SWALLOW a certain political point of view--even if I agree with it--no, I hate to see it overtaking an otherwise perfectly good story.

The key word in fiction is storytelling, not non-fiction or essaying, or telegraphing messages. While a fictional piece of work cannot but have political points of views and ideiology embedded as say within the worldviews of the various characters-- reflecting life thereby by the by, that same fictional piece better not be peopled with cardboard cutouts of supposed representative ideologies, that is characters who are simply propped up and propelled by the author's personal political views for the express purpose of pushing an agenda be it Scientology or liberalism or facism or any other sort of ism, including Christianity in my view.

The novel may have a Christian message but if the entire thing is a prop job for religion, yeah, it will turn me off and away from its author or authors. In fact anything heavy-handed in a story will do that to me or for me.

Too much historical matter that may overtake the story element that is ongoing now, too much science in a science fiction tale, too much gadgetry in a submarine WWII tale, too much pontificating, lecturing, gouging, or just plain blow-hard stuff on the part of a character who is obviously set up as the blow-hard mouthpiece for the author.

Now of course authors can and will get their digs in, and information of one sort or another favoring their worldview or politics will most surely be embedded in a novel or story, be it Hemmingway or Faulkner or Twain or me, Rob Walker, but I detest the notion that a story is built around a political rant--or any sort of rant, quite frankly. If a story illustrates, demonstrates feminism--shows me, fine, ducky, wonderful then it works. However, if another author dealing with the same subject rubs my nose in it, pushes it as a platform, TELLS me what to think, I'm gone, out of there. No thank you. Does not matter the subject. If I am involved in the lives of the characters, I care about what they care about, and that holds true for good and evil characters. If I feel their pain, not if I am forced to sit through a lecture on the childhood that lead them into goodness or into evilness.

Does it make sense? There was a lot of contention and back and forth over this issue and so am hoping to shed light on it here as I feel if you want to send a telegram use Western Union....spoken by a quite famous filmmaker to his writers once upon a time. In my estimation, there are huge differences between an Oliver Stone film than a Roger Moore film--his name's Roger, right? The docu-drama that gets me inside the heads of the characters as opposed to the documentary that does not show me a life but rather tells me how to think and perhaps react to the same subject.

Does it make sense? Whether does or nay, happy writing anyway! And oh, say, I charge HALF, half what Donald Maas and his group of "novel editors" charge you for developmental and line editing, and I do a better damn job, so there! Check out The Knife Editing Services when you're ready to go under the knife for the "book autopsy."

Rob Walker is at http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/ - new site, new novel, new cover art!

Enthusiasm! by DL Larson

Yesterday started out ordinary enough, but it soon took an upswing as I stood in the gravel driveway with my granddaugters. We were waiting for the bus, practicing spelling words for their very first spelling test! The weather was damp, almost rainy with patches of clear. I started singing, "The ants go marching one by one." Alex and Kylie joined right in. We marched about, waving our arms at "hurrah, hurrah." We continued belting out the verses, ten of them, all ending with the ants marching down into the ground to get out of the rain. We practiced more spelling words, wondering why the bus hadn't arrived yet. The girls were eager to get to school before they forgot how to spell give, with it's tricky silent e. They were sure they could get all ten words correct if they could just take that pesky test now. Their eagerness to succeed was contagious and we went over the words a few more times.

Mrs. Barb, the bus driver, finally pulled up to our house. She was more chatty than usual. The coal train had caught her on the wrong side of the tracks! We laughed, knowing those early morning trains have more than 100 cars, all poking along at a turtle's pace. Mrs. Barb was animated, anxious to get back on schedule, eager to deliver her cargo as promptly and as safely as possible.

About midmorning little Rylinn burst into the library with her mom. Rylinn stood at my desk, eyes bright with something special she wanted to share. "Mrs. Deb, guess what I get to be for Halloween?" Before I could contemplate a choice, she burst out, "I'm going to be Glenda the good witch!" She flung her arms out, twirled about and gave a little hop. "I am sooo excited!" Her enthusiasm filled the room and I wanted to be Glenda the good witch too.

The afternoon crowd at the library ended up being the usual suspects, those addicted to MySpace and general horsing around on the internet. But one young boy who has recently joined my chess team hung around my desk, then started following me as I put away books. We chatted til he finally blurted out, "Chess is so awesome." I smiled, agreed. "No, I mean it's really awesome." I think he wanted me to play him a game, and I would have gladly had I had the time. Instead I put him on a chess computer game and watched his eyes brighten to the fact there was such a thing as a computer chess game. His hunger to learn and grow and do well was a strong pull to do better myself.

I thought my day of enthusiastic people had come to an end, but when I went to choir practice, Laurrel, our director handed out new song sheets for us. Her love of music is such a blessing and she pulls harmonic sounds from us that no one else ever could. It's her dedication to her profession, her love of what she's doing. She makes us better together than we ever could be on our own.

The day didn't end there, even though I was tired and wanted to collapse. But my husband made me go back to town to meet the people who were renting our house. It was nearly nine and I hadn't had supper yet. My husband would have said I was crabby for having to go out again. When I pulled up in the driveway already full of cars and a big moving truck, I thought how silly to move so late in the evening. Then I met the young couple Nikki and Josh. This was their first home! They couldn't wait to move in. They were giddy, their friends just as animated. Excitement whirled about us and the happiness in their eyes was contagious. They were truly anxious to begin living in their new home.

So, today, my mission is to spread a little enthusiasm of my own. Take a moment to remember why you like to write. Reach down and find that bubble of excitement and pour all that energy into your writing. Get excited! Be animated. Be the one in the room that shines, from the inside out. Let your words work and twist, building conflict or resolution. No matter how light-hearted or serious your topic, without enthusiasm your work is dry bones. Be the writer whose words come to life right off the page.

Now that's something to get excited about. Enthused even.

Til next time ~

DL Larson

Get a Job

For some reason today I started thinking about the different jobs I've had. The first I remember, I had to be in eighth grade or so, I worked at Carmen Manor Convalescent Home in Chicago. My duties were taking trays to the patients' rooms. One patient, who had Parkinson's Disease, I spoon fed. I had no idea that many years later I'd be doing the same for my own mother when she fell ill to the same disease.

During high school, I worked at House of Chan in Wilmette, Illinois, with my good friend, Barbara Chinn. We made egg rolls, won ton, even pizza. We packed rice into containers. We took phone orders and brought the food to the customers and counted change the old-fashioned way. During the evening hours, I always got great meals as part of the job. Much later, Bob Chinn, her Dad, started Bob Chinn's Crab House, an extremely popular restaurant in Wheeling, Illinois.

As part of my tuition at Immaculata High School, I remember dusting the music room with all its metal chairs I had to go over with a cloth. Very dull work. I was glad to get through each day.

Also in high school I worked for Tony the Tailor in Chicago. I took in clothes and phone orders. I sewed hems on men's trousers. I don't know how I did that right, since I can't do it now. Tony would custom fit clothes for men and women. One day a customer came in and he was doing a fitting for her upstairs. For some reason, I thought she had left and I made some remark about how I'd never liked that woman. How mortifying to realize she was still there!

In high school, I took shorthand and typing and dreamed about being a secretary, which I did become. I still am, many years later. It's the day job that pays my bills. Writing is my current dream, which I do out of love, not as a job.

That's a bit about my jobs.

When you write a novel, make your character work. Pick jobs that reflect how you want readers to perceive your character. Even if you're writing a romance about a person with a large inheritance, a job in some way is still involved, such as living up to expected standards and performing and/or attending certain functions.

If you're writing a comedy, think of a job that lends itself to funny mishaps, such as a cab driver, a waitress, a wedding planner. If you're writing about a serious character, you may wish to make him or her an engineer, a lawyer, a CEO. Or, you can bend a serious job into a funny one and vice versa for contrast.

Another option is to have your character lose a job and go on unemployment. Or, that character may be someone who enjoys living off the system. That's a job in itself just to survive.

So, if you haven't already, get a job for your character.

Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com/
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/
http://mysteryturtles.blogspot.com/

Politics

Okay - the second presidential debates are on and I'm not watching. I'm my neighbor's basement and we're going through the process of how to setup a blog. So, why in the world would anyone want to blog?

Well to share thoughts and ideas, hopefully with like-minded people but also to stimulate discussion.

So, here I go again on my rant about registering to vote and actually voting. I get frustrated, tired and almost balistic when people say that they don't vote because it doesn't count. WELL, it ain't gonna count if you don't exercise it. Kinda of the same thing for your brain.

So, please, please, please, get out and vote. It's not only your right but your duty and it will encourage you to be a much better and informed citizen.

I know a guy when I see one

(my apologies if you find this too political .. I posted this on Myspace and received favorable reaction from both Republicans and Democrats. We're just having fun, y' know. Anyway, it'll get pulled if it's too much)



My wife and I were watching the Vice Presidential Reality Show the other night, and then my wife grinned and said, "She reminds me of you."

"How's that?"

"She doesn't have any clue what she's talking about."

"Huh? Oh... wait ...yeah, I think I know what you're saying."

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Sarah Palin is just like me.

She has a pretty good sense of humor, she's not an idiot, she knows that 'icing' is a hockey term, not just something for a cupcake. Not only that, but she's an engaging speaker and she has nice legs. Um...well, okay ... that's her virtue, not mine.

Anyway, besides the stuff above, the other thing we have in common is she's a guy.

Yep, a guy.

Think about it.

I mean, sure, she doesn't look like a guy. In fact, she's quite pleasant to look at, and I, like most guys, wouldn't mind seeing her naked.

But she is a guy ... and I can prove it.

Here she is, vying to become second banana to the most important person in the world, interviewing with national political consultants who make politics their life, then debating ... well, in word only ... that was no debate ... anyway, she's getting ready for the biggest event in her life ... and ...

... she 'winged' it.

She didn't know a thing. Her vague generalities, refusal to answer questions that she couldn't answer anyway, emphasis on misleading points, ... well, that's 'winging' it.

Ask any guy who comes home from having sneaked out to play golf, and forgets to think up an excuse beforehand. Or the guy who has an important meeting on Tuesday morning, but stayed up too late watching MNF. We know 'winging' it when we see it.

A woman never 'wings' it. They treat life and important events like Thanksgiving meals. They prepare, get ready, obsess, think, exchange ideas ... and nothing goes in the oven until it's ready.

But not Sarah Palin.

She 'winged' it.

Does this bother me? Not as much as you might think. I mean, the political pundits and Republicans were raving about what a success she was because she didn't perform to their lowest fears. And, as history has shown us, a low bar doesn't seem to be an obstacle to being a Vice President. I mean, ... can you say, Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, Richard Cheney?

You can't get worse than these three stooges.

Oh, and were they all Republicans? My bad.

And she ignores facts. How 'guy-like' is that? I almost thought I was watching myself on television. Remember when Palin chided Biden for comparing McCain to Bush. She said something like this, "There ya' go again, Joe, looking to the past..."

The past? George Bush is the standing President.

Then she goes off to extoll the virtues of Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan?! That was almost twenty years ago.

I nearly swooned in admiration of the deft way she pulled this off.

But then another thought occurred to me during this whole debacle. As you know, Republicans have been rallying around her, calling her a fresh outside voice, a breath of fresh air ...

What kind of attacks do you think we would have seen if someone exactly like Sarah Palin ... had been the DEMOCRATIC candidate?

Yep, it would have been ugly.

But I'm not calling anyone a hypocrite ... nope, not me. I'm just saying that she's a guy.

But I'd still like to see her naked.
(don't tell my wife)

Norm

www.normcowie.com
The Adventures of Guy
Fang Face - coming Aug 2009
(check out my new website: www.fangface.homestead.com)