BOOKS – WRITING – HUMOR – ABSURD
#guestpost written by Laolu Ogundele “So, what’s your style”? Someone once asked me in the middle of a neighborhood writers meetup I attended a decade or so ago. “Straight jeans, dark-colored zip hoodies, and basketball shoes…” I began, but my voice trailed off as I noticed a couple of people try hard and fail to stifle a laugh. “I mean writing style,” the original asker graciously clarified. “Oh, my bad....
Whether you dance, draw, make music, shoot field goals, build houses, tune engines, or sit around all day watching television, you are an artist. Your single greatest work of art is your Self! As with any art form, the more you understand and develop your talents, the more empowered and masterful you become as an artist. This is particularly important when engaging in the art of consciously shaping your own...
#takeaway keys from the book “BECOMING a WRITER” by Dorothea Brande (first published in 1934, currently republished) Dorothea Brande was teaching a creative writing course. Her focus was: a) the imaginative power of the writer’s mind; b) the belief that “genius can be taught.” PART II #1 On Imitation You can imitate but you should not adopt the philosophies, the ideas, the dramatic notions of other writers. Always go back...
Today’s post is about Chaim Potok’s book, The Chosen, which I consider an excellent read as well as great studying material – for all of us: writers, booklovers, nerdy teenagers, religious folks, even conscious non-believers. I have to admit, I fell in love with this novel when I read an introduction by Shalom Auslander, where he said (the very first words before you open chapter 1): Dear God, I hated...
We chatted with John W. Howell about his new novel Eternal Road: The final stop, the transformation of the heroes, and the meaning behind historical and supernatural elements. 1. What is the significance of the book’s title Eternal Road? The title came to me one day while I was writing one of the scenes. Eternal Road is the avenue to one’s selected spot to spend eternity. The road is well-traveled...
No book worth its salt is meant to put you to sleep, it’s meant to make you jump out of bed in your underwear and run and beat the author’s brains out. Bohumil Hrabal, Czech novelist There’s a book called Aspects of the Novel, a series of lectures from E. M. Forster, written in 1927. I haven’t read it myself yet, but I saw a mention about it in the...
The Path of Ray is not only about writing. It is also about reflections, connecting with oneself and the world. The path of yellow and orange, of sharp speech and bold ideas, of silly pearls of wisdom and hidden truths, healing and awakening. The greatest writers often say that their stories come from a source beyond the thinking mind. How do we access that source? How we cultivate our ideas?...
There’s a beautiful Sanskrit work – Samadhi OR समाधि – which roughly translates as a state of oneness, or complete absorption. How often do you experience such a feeling when you write? You know… that golden moment when you get entirely lost in your own words, and the page fills up effortlessly. The great challenge for us, soulful scribes, is that, all too often, the state of Samadhi alludes us. Our minds swirl with...