River Rafting and Gnats

So what the heck do river rafting and gnats have to do with writing? A lot. Words are like that, you know. Sometimes they flow at 13,000 cfs and sometimes they hover in the air and bite once in a while. I find each day is new when I pick up my pen. Somedays I get muscle cramps because the words come so quickly I can't hardly keep up and other days I am struggling to pick them out of the air and have them take up residence on the page. What is that all about? Is it hormones, biorhythms, lunar cycles, a bit of undigested beef???? Who knows. It is what it is, so go with the flow so to speak. On days that you are plucking them out of the air like an amateur guitarist, don't get frustrated, just let them come in fits and starts and when they are flowing, well happy days! I believe every book writes itself and so the its rhythm may not be your rhythm, relax and let it happen. Happy days!

The whole truth and nothing but the truth

When I was a kid the truth was simple - if my mother asked if I had done something the only answers were yes or no. Now as an adult I see things differently. Intent finds its way into the answer. I may have done something with a good intent that unfortunately was perceived in another manner. I have also come to see that what matters is the perception and not the intention. I have had to do a lot of apologizing as an adult because of the gap between intention and perception. A friend once said a good way to evaluate an action or statement is to see it as a headline in a newspaper - if it doesn't look good don't do/say it. I think this is good advice. So my advice for today is to carefully examine your words and deeds and make sure they meet this criteria. However, for writing characters in a novel the lack of an inner monologue might be just the thing - this character would just blurt out what was on his/her mind - some of which would definitely violate the newspaper headline rule. So it's okay for your characters to exhibit poor choices in words and deeds but not for you the author.

Imus's comments

I agree with Al Sharpton, Imus should be fired. His comments were reprehensible. Those words are ugly and show a level of insensitivity unimagined. I grew up at a time when they were used in conversation and even at ten years old I found them disgusting. It is time to delete them from our language. We cannot heal wounds if words continue to reopen them. There is no humor in demeaning words. They are just not funny. Words are my tools and I understand that in using them I have a certain responsibility to use them carefully, like any other tool. Imus needs to learn this lesson.

Words, words, words

They're just words or are they? A certain grouping of letters results in a word but how it is received and with what power it is imbued is totally dependent on the receiver. What we bring to the gathering of letters is based on our prior experiences, our outlook on life, even our DNA - all of these things bring color and texture to words. Without them it's sort of like the proverbial tree falling in the forest - would they make a sound? The children's game, telegraph, aptly demonstrates this principle - each receiver runs the statement through their editor and what comes out is rarely what went in. So as you go through your day, pay special attention to how you receive and interpret words.