Like that one guy said: Good writers borrow, great writers steal. Welcome to the place where all things have been lifted, looted, and otherwise pilfered…Remember, possession is 9/10s of the law.
It’s that accountableness time again! And every Tuesday you will be subjected to regaled by the writing progress I have made over the last week. But! I insist that I not be the only one exposing myself sounding off. Let your comments reflect what kind of suffering butt-kicking you have done too! What I have done…
“At some point, he [Tobias Wolff] says, he would like to tackle another memoir. He recently read a book about literary life in 1940s Dublin and fancies writing something in a similar vein, about the writer’s place in 21st-century America. Are there any obvious comparisons? Wolff laughs. ‘Well, there’s less alcohol than there was in Dublin,…
“Let’s examine the word ‘genius.’ It doesn’t mean screwiness or eccentricity or excessive ‘talent.’ It is derived from the Latin word gignere (to beget) and a genius is simply a person who originates something never known before. Nobody but Melville could have written Moby Dick, not even Whitman or Shakespeare.” ~ Jack Kerouac, “Are Writers…
Read more Kerouac’s Genius/Interpreter Theory vs. Jenny’s Genius/Genius Theory
It’s that Tuesday time again! And every Tuesday you will be subjected to regaled by the writing progress I have made over the last week. But! I insist that I not be the only one exposing myself sounding off. Let your comments reflect what kind of suffering butt-kicking you have done too! What I have…
Read more Tuesday Post of Accountability!: Almost, not quite
My proclaimed ‘protégé’, Oliver, likes to put the “song of influence” (my term, not his) underneath the title of the short story or novel chapter that was inspired by the tune. He has received much feedback on this, ranging from: “don’t do that” to “I can see how that fits.” He is not the first…
Okay, writing a book in three days and three nights is a feat. It probably requires amphetemines of some kind. Or copious amounts of Vivarin. It also requires keyboarding skills that most secretaries would envy. I think most of us would agree that some editing would be involved. Kerouac did not think as most of…
Welcome to Tuesday! And every Tuesday you will be subjected to regaled by the writing progress I have made over the last week. But! I insist that I not be the only one exposing myself sounding off. Let your comments reflect what kind of suffering butt-kicking you have done too! What I accomplished this week…
Read more Tuesday Post of Accountability!: Mini-Scenes and Track Changes
There’s a list Kerouac jotted down that is often copied. Called “Belief &Technique for Modern Prose,” it is thirty pieces of advice for writers who want to write spontaneously and Beat-like. A couple of my favorites tidbits: #1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy (because I love the idea of…
I seem to have talked a lot this week, so now I’m gonna let Kerouac talk, scabs and all. This is the second portion of an interview held just before/immediately after the release of The Dharma Bums, which we’ve been talking about this week. In this interview Ben Hecht and Kerouac talk about Buddhism vs.…
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac My rating: 3 of 5 stars If I’d read this alone on a mountaintop, or while camping, or just out in nature somewhere I’d probably’ve given this four stars. The descriptions of nature, the out-and-out enthusiasm for the outdoors, and the romanticizing of living out of a backpack (which,…
Read more Thursday Reviews!: The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac (A Mentor Review!)
