Sendak Link and Writer Traits

I just read this article in the NY Times, Concerns Beyond Just Where the Wild Things Are, and it made me happy. Perhaps it made me happy because I chose to see elements of myself in the description. I only wish I could claim to have some of Sendak’s talent and success instead of just his anxiety and insecurity.

Do you think there are certain psychological traits that writers share? (Aside from that we all like words and know how to use them.) Are writers in general a bit crazy or is it just a few us? And, out of curiosity, old men can be very cute and even charming (I think the article says delightful) as curmudgeons… Can women?

Muses and Slogging Through

I love that moment of energy when you know what to write. That feeling that there are muses and that we are just the writing instrument. Sometimes after I have a moment like that, I almost wonder if I read what I wrote somewhere else. (ofcourse I haven’t) But it came so easily. If all writing were only like that.

Right now, I am currently writing a history book about a war that unfortunately is not history. I am finding it difficult to write. My muse is yawning and that instrument feeling is discordant and out of tune. Almost like nails on a chalkboard.

Chris Lynch once gave a lecture called Inspiration, Muses, and Other Pieces of Useless Crockery. Lynch’s point was that you have to do the work of writing. That writing doesn’t always flow but you have to write anyway. He even suggested (when you were stuck) writing the last word you wrote over and over again because eventually you would get bored and write something else.

On the other hand, Before Chris gave his lecture, he asked Brock Cole if he believed in inspiration and Brock said, “absolutely.” (Chris said that almost ended his lecture before it started.)

So what are your thoughts on muses and inspiration and how do you force yourself to write when muse and inspiration are nowhere to be found?

Life and Death and Writing

Last week, I unfortunately had to write my father-in-law’s obituary. It is not the first obituary I have written. I’ve written my father’s, my aunt’s, and my grandmother’s. They are always hard to write because of the loss. But if you can step outside of the pain, they are also an interesting thing to think about—how do you sum up a life in a limited number lines. Remember, it costs about $10.00 for each line of 30-35 characters (at least in Minneapolis).

In some ways, an obituary is like a good story. It is about character. What elements made that person who he or she was. And what do you choose to highlight? What do you want people to remember? What do you want people to know that they might not have?

My teenage daughter asked if people actually read the obituaries; “I mean, when they don’t know that someone is going to be listed,” she said. I told her it was a little like facebook. Instead of finding out what so and so is doing; it’s finding out that so and so has died. But after her question, I started inquiring among friends and it is interesting how many people do read the obituaries.

Someone said they liked to read the long ones until they got boring and then they would go on to the next one. A few people said they always read the obits of those who died young. One said they wanted to know what caused it. “I usually guess cancer,” she told me. Someone else said they also liked to check out the ages of the very old–those who lived past 100. “I look at them and think oh the poor dear.”

I think we are always aware of our own mortality and so there is something interesting about death. Life and death, joy and sorrow they are ultimately tied together.

So do you read the obituaries? If and when you do, what draws you to read more deeply? What do you look for? And out of curiosity how many of your favorite books have a main character who dies?