WRITTEN WISDOM
Quotation-Inspired Essays
A Best of SlingWords Collection
2005-2010
By
Joan Reeves
WRITTEN WISDOM
Quotation-Inspired Essays
A Best of SlingWords Collection
2005-2010
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 by Joan Reeves
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be used or reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of <b>Joan Reeves</b>, the copyright owner and publisher of this book, with the exception of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products that may be referenced in this work of nonfiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Cover Art Copyright 2011 by Joan Reeves (Email: Joan at JoanReeves.com).
Photograph "Nautical Diary #1" by PaulCowan, Copyright 2004 by Paul Cowan. (http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=314162)
WRITTEN WISDOM
Dedication
This book is dedicated to readers and writers--to all, who, like me, love a good quotation. This collection covers what I think is the best of the Written Wisdom posts published on my blog SlingWords from 2005 through 2010. (http://SlingWords.blogspot.com.)
I began writing my blog in 2005. Almost from the beginning, I wrote mini-essays inspired by the witty or wise words of writers whom I admired. In July 2008, I began adding the summary, Takeaway Truth, at the end of all my blog posts. I honestly can't remember how that came about, but I suspect it was inspired subconsciously by the stories I loved as a child. Those stories always seemed to have a little moral at the end that succinctly summed up the meaning of the story.
I didn't label my quotation-inspired essays on the blog as Written Wisdom in the beginning. That came later and was simply a result of choosing to use the same heading which I used on my website, JoanReeves.com, where I also posted quotations.
I continue writing these quotation-inspired essays and publishing them on most Sundays on SlingWords. That feature continues to be popular all readers. I guess there are a lot of people who like the punch a good quotation offers to conversation or the written word. Perhaps in another five years, I'll be publishing another volume of these wise and witty quotations and essays from the blog.
Thank you for reading SlingWords and thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoy the quotations and the essays I wrote based on them.
Happy reading and best wishes!
WRITTEN WISDOM
Quotation-Inspired Essays
A Best of SlingWords Collection
2005-2010
Table of Contents
The essays herein are listed in chronological order according to when the original blog post was published, beginning with the first selection from 2005.
Technology: Laughter And Tears
Writers Create Memorable Movie Words
A Collection Of Quotations About Quotations
* * *
There's an old Japanese proverb. Perhaps old is redundant since, I guess, all proverbs are old, but I'm digressing. This proverb is about how to succeed.
Fall down 7 times; stand up 8.
Ah, if only success were that easy! By that I mean, if we only had to fall 7 times. Too often that 7 is multiplied by a hundred or more. I've been falling regularly of late. The interesting thing though is that with each fall, it hurts less. I mean if you're already covered in bruises, one more isn't going to matter.
* * *
This would have been Mother's Day thoughts, but we had a mother of all storms in Texas on Sunday which knocked out the power until late that night. So, Monday was spent catching up on all kinds of stuff like picking up broken tree branches, etc.
Though it's a bit late, here are some post-Mother's Day thoughts.
* * *
Dorothy Canfield Fisher: "A mother is not a person to lean on but a person to make leaning unnecessary."
Pearl Buck: "Some are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together."
Nancy Friday: "When I stopped seeing my mother with the eyes of a child, I started seeing the woman who helped me give birth to myself."
Sam Levinson (needed a man's perspective because he's right!): "Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your children."
* * *
From John Steinbeck: "I have written a great many stories, and I still don't know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances."
I wish I could say this was false, but, sadly, it seems to be true. I've talked with authors who have published dozens of books, and they say pretty much the same thing. Apparently, it never gets any easier.
At least in my experience it doesn't. As an author, I always seem to be imitating Michaelangelo, chipping away at a block of stone to reveal the angel within.
* * *
A quotation to be chanted when the fear of the blank page grips you.
Out of the mouth of Cynthia Heimel: "When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically-thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap!"
* * *
This bit of wisdom from one of my favorite poets, Edna St. Vincent Millay, illustrates my last few months.
"It is not true that life is one damn thing after another - it is the same damn thing over and over."
* * *
"The life of a writer is tragic: the more we advance, the farther there is to go and the more there is to say, the less time there is to say it." From Gabrielle Roy, in Donal Stephens, Writers of the Prairie (1973)
* * *
On the verge of giving up?
When you're trying to achieve something that seems unattainable, it takes a lot of persistence to keep going. Often that steadfast perseverance is the difference between someone who succeeds and someone who fails, and that applies not only to writing but also to any goal that's difficult to attain.
Personally, I've always felt if you could quit writing, then you're probably not meant to be a writer in the first place. That's not a slam. It's a truth because most people who are writers, published or not, can't seem to quit. The thought of not writing is anathema to them.
Of course, I should perhaps make the distinction between writing and writing for publication, but I always look at that issue this way: writing without publication is like acting without applause. (I'm pretty sure this is a quote I remember from some wiser person than I, but this early in the morning I can't recall who first said it.)
Writers write not just for themselves, but to share their words with others.
* * *
Here is some advice from the pros on how they write good books. You'll see my bit of advice first, followed by some words of wisdom from well-known professionals.
* * *
Be professional.
Leonard Bishop: "Fortify yourself within an impregnable structure of writing habits."
Don't talk about writing, write.
Robert A. Heinlein: "You must write. You must finish what you write. You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order. You must put it on the market until sold."
Improve your skills.
Mark Twain: "The difference between using the right word and the one that is almost right is like the difference between lightning and the lightning bug."
Get the story told.
Stephen King: "Never look at a reference book while doing a first draft."
Keep your focus on what you can control--the writing
Jack Bickham: "It is more profitable to stay aware of trends generally, yet concentrate your energies on simply writing the best novel you know how to write. Don't chase the market. Write the novel that is in you."
Don't write static copy.
Raymond Chandler: "When in doubt, have two guys come through the door with guns."
Write for today's reading audience.
Elmore Leonard: "I try to leave out the parts that people skip."
* * *
Dorothy Parker said: "My subjective experience is that each day is some fresh hell."
She must have been remodeling a house when she said that. The remodeling job I've been working on at the rental property I own is supposedly finished.
I say supposedly because some of the work is going to have to be redone. Also, the tenant's son has created a serious wrinkle in what should have been an easy remodel. Throw in a flurry of phone calls from tenant and contractor with escalating emotion, and my simple project is rapidly escalating into something really nasty.
Does this have an impact on my productivity as a writer? Unfortunately, yes, but if you want to be a professional writer, meaning you get paid for it, you have to learn to write despite the storms of life. So I write on, perhaps not as effectively or as rapidly, but I still produce.
Too bad Ms. Parker's not around. I'm sure she'd have just the right thing to say to the people creating the problems in this area of my life.
Fresh hell? You betcha.
* * *
Okay, the New Year is here. Get over it! My last words on the subject. Here are a few quotations about New Year's and resolutions. I like these for the humor factor.
* * *
Mark Twain: "Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."
James Agate: "New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time."
Oscar Wilde: "Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account."
Jay Leno: "Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average. Which means you've met your New Year's resolution."
Thanks, Jay. I'll cross that off my list!
* * *
I celebrated a birthday this spring, and I'm extraordinarily pleased to say I really celebrated it. None of this hating your birthday crap that too many women obsess over. I'm thrilled to have a birthday. I mean, any day that includes a frosted layer cake is a very good day.