What To Write???

Pen – Check!

Paper – Check!

Myself – Check!

Idea of what to write - ????

Last night, I had all the available listing of inscribed tangibles except a simple idea of “What To Write???”

Well, while thinking intensely of what I was in the mood to engrave into my empty notebook, I came up with nothing of interest; I suppose it was just one of those nights of writer’s block. Enlightened inspiration was no where to be felt until I received an enthusiastic message from a Facebook buddy:

“Don’t think about it. Just put the pen to paper and see what comes out! Just share what comes out if it’s not too personal. Spread your art! ~ Anonymous

With illuminative excitement, I could not help but agree by responding:

“Word! I will paint freely with no regrets! (smiley emoticon)”

So, the statement “Spread your art!” really caught my eye. With those reverberating words, I took the advice and wrote whatever came to my consciousness and exercised my pen rigorously until I fed my paper enough ink to satisfy its insatiable hunger for vicarious thoughts.

Lesson Learnt:

As a reminder, don’t worry about what you write, before initiation; just transcribe whatever is on your mind. Brushing up and editing will come later.

Most importantly, enjoy the moment rather than focus on how the inscribed façade is going to be displayed for viewing pleasure.

Thank you anonymous Facebook buddy!

I bid adieu for this week.

Until Next Time!

Jeff L.

Smock Salute!

Researching Your Going-To-Be-A-(Novel).

The absolute worst thing you could do to a novel is pull its structure from someone else's secondhand, possibly third hand, account. Interviews and word-for-word's aren't bad, however I can tell when an author's monotonous recounting comes in. I know when you've pulled your information from the pages of a historian. Usually, I let this slide for a few paragraphs, but some authors let the boredom slither in and out of their text and at that point you've lost me.

Today's question is, as you might have guessed, how do I present an accurate depiction of the time frame/people/culture/etc I'm writing about?

Well, I'm no expert on this. Yet I've seen it done tastefully and have managed to pull the wool over a reader's eyes a few times. Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" has plenty specific pieces of Dominican history sifting through it. Diaz manages to keep most of his explanations in footnote form, however even the footnotes have glimpses of his witty and arrogant banter. When I first flipped through the pages at Barnes & Noble and saw the small font at the bottom of the page, I remembered rolling my eyes and thinking, "I'm skipping all that sh*t."

It wasn't until after the first pair of footnotes that I realized the little annoying black font was crucial to deciphering most of the novel. The KEY to its awesomeness was that Diaz actually kept me ENTERTAINED while spitting history at me.

Listen, I know you just went out and bought every book possible on the Black Panther Party. (Shakes my finger at myself in my mirror.) However, you can retrieve authentic movement, discourse, and scenarios; from going to events that feature the remainder of the party. You can email advocacy groups and political prisoners that will give you pieces of information that no textbook will dare cover. You can even ask your family members, that were alive back then, what the party was like.

I caught myself in the middle of a book filled with boring historical details and I was horrified it would bore my audience. It was at that moment that I realized that I needed to go forth and hunt for authenticity.

So make your move monotonizer! Yea, I made that word up. *Pulls out creative license.*

-Riv

Smocker Deuce