WordPlay! WriteNet Week 10 March 22, 2010

Violence. Desperation. Upheaval. There have been devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and Japan. There are violent assaults against young children (like the infant who died in foster care recently) and adults (home invasion robberies and attacks by sexual predators). With the news reports of wars between nations, violence at the individual level is hardly surprising. Some people seek solace from religion or spiritual principles. Others seek refuge in alcohol or drugs. Like the ostrich, some people bury their heads in the sand and hope that the storms will blow over before they emerge from hiding.

I was heartened by the story of a courageous 7-year-old boy who bravely took his sister into the bathroom and locked the door before he called 911 during a violent home invasion robbery.. Like the dispatcher who took his call, I wanted to give him a reassuring hug. Although I have never met this juvenile hero, the story of his breavery will stay in my memory for years to come. Like other events, stories from the news can often inspire me as a writer to create a story from my own past or based on the contemporaneous experience. This week, catch a story from the news or write about something that happened in your own past.

External Exercises

1. Observation Exercise

Sit in a public place (mall, library, restaurant, etc.) and take notes on the appearance and behaviors of the people around you. Be sure to include sensory details.

2. Reading Report

Write about a book you have just finished from a writer's perspective: what did you learn about writing from the book, i.e. who were the memorable characters, where did the action occur (setting), what was the author's style, how did the plot progress, etc.?

3. Literary Journal

A place to write about writing: new ideas you want to explore, examination of your writing process, rituals and friends that support your work, etc.

4. Sensory Details Exercise

Write about a specific event specifically as a snapshot, a radio program, a version devoted to the tastes and smells, an examination of the feelings and the tactile sensations. Now write a final version that draws on all the information you have gathered.

Weekly Exercises Week 10 March 22, 2010

1. Create a phrase that is a color and a weather phenomenon (e.g. purple tsunami, yellow flood, pink tornado, turquoise mudslide) and use that pair of words to start writing.

2. You are in a mini-market buying a beverage and getting gas in your car. The door opens and an armed gunmen enters. Write about what happens next.

3. You see an ad for an animal shelter that awakens your love of animals. If money and space were not an issue, what kind of animal companion (pet) would you want to adopt?

4. In which outdoor setting do you find the most peace?

There is no wrong way to do it: just write!

2.

WordPlay! WriteNet Week 9

Last night's Academy Awards broadcast brought to an end the annual film awards season that begins at the end of the calendar year. While the actual results in the major acting, directing and production categories held few surprises, there were still interesting elements to a show that was largely boring. The show started with the best actor and best actress nominees on stage followed by Neil Patrick Harris in an entertaining song and dance number. Also, each of the individuals in those two categories had a personalized introduction before the winner was announced. I was personally moved when Gabourey Sidibe, nominated for her compelling work in Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire, was visibly emotional during Oprah Winfrey's introduction of her. What is already an interminably long show is extended to fill an entire evening and night of programming with red carpet interviews, after show parties, the Barbara Walters and Jimmy Kimmel specials, and news shows which recapped what had just transpired.

For people not interested in the glitz and glamor, there is a kinship with people who eschew football on Super Bowl Sunday, when streets and freeways are deserted, retail outlets and restaurants offer unbelievable access, and even television addicts have to settle for reruns from competing networks. Whether you love the Oscar saturation or search desperately for quality options, the annual movie celebration provides writers with a plethora of topics from fashion to film technology to family rituals. This week in your writing, take advantage of the chance to address these subjects while your memories are still fresh and the details still vivid in your imagination.

Weekly Exercises

External Exercises
(see previous weeks for detailed instructions)

1. Observation Exercise
2. Reading Report
3. Writing Journal
4. Sensory Details Exercise

Exercises Week of March 8, 2010

1. Of the films which you personally viewed in 2009, which one affected you the most?
2. If you were invited to a party on a Sunday night, what would you wear?
3. At my high school prom, the theme from "The Pink Panther" movie was popular and instantly reminds me of that time whenever I hear it. Think of a piece of music that provokes a similar response from you and write about it.
4.Imagine receiving a prestigious award in your chosen field of endeavor and write your acceptance speech.

There is no wrong way to do it: just write!

WordPlay! WriteNet Week 6

February is celebrated as Black History Month. I am old enough to remember when Carter G. Woodson instituted Negro History Week to inspire youth to understand the accomplishments and achievements of members of our race that had been overlooked by traditional historians. Today, there is still controvrsy about this annual observation. Some individuals think BHM is a superfluous concept while others alternately joke or complain that we have the shortest month of the calendar year. I believe that each cultural group needs to make sure that their stories and heroes and values are not lost in the "melting pot" philosophy. As a writer, I am particularly drawn to authors such as Audre Lorde, Pat Parker, Alice Walker, Zora Neale Hurston, and James Baldwin for inspiration and motivation. However, I also am proud of the millions of African-Americans from Mae Jemison to George Washinton Carver to Fannie Lou Hamer to Benjamin Banneker whose efforts have earned them an entry into the annals of history.

This week in your writing efforts focus on the individuals in your life that have had a significant impact on your universe. Whether that be a relative that people in your family celebrated or a teacher whose energy propelled you forward in your own career, write about them so their stories have the chance to live on. I am simultaneously amused and impressed to recognize that my youth has become the historical era studied by my grandchildren in school. That knowledge drives me to write my memories down while I still can. I encourage you to write your stories, this month and every day.

Exercises

External Exercises
(see previous posts for detailed instructions)

1. Observation Exercise
2. Reading Report
3. Writing Journal
4. Sensory Details Exercise

Weekly Exercises February 21, 2010

1. Start the page with "Everyone in my family used to talk about...." and keep going.
2. Think about a figure from history that you would consider a role model. Write about the qualities that person possessed that inspire you.
3. You have been hired to design a museum. What would be the primary focus of it and what would you include as artifacts for the core exhibits.
4. Which day of the calendar year has the most significance to you and why?

There is no wrong way to do it: just WRITE!

WordPlay! WriteNet Week 5

Okay, I admit it. I am a sports junkie, especially basketball and football. So I have been in seventh heaven, what with the Super Bowl last weekend and the NBA All-Star Game this weekend. Personally, it would be fine with me if all the overtures to the actual game, like H.O.R.S.E. and the Dunk Challenge and Three Point Shooting Contest and the Skills Challenge and the Rookie -Sophomore game, were eliminated. However, all the sponsors that pay for those events would be missed.

Held in the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium in Arlington, Texas, more than 100,000 fans watched the game itself along with tremendous entertainment by The Canadian Tenors, Carrie Underwood, Usher, Alicia Keys and Shakira (much better than the Super Bowl lineup, IMHO). For all of you who just yawn at the thought of sports, I apologize but this just illustrates one of the prime directives of writing: write what you care about! Even if your "cup of tea" is tatting Belgian lace, there is someone out there who shares your interest.

SO here are this week's writing exercises.

External Exercises
(see Week 1 for details)

1. Observation Exercise
2. Reading Report
3. Writing Journal
4. (NEW!) Sensory Details Exercise

Think of some activity that you really enjoy. First, imagine that you have a photograph of that event. Describe everything that you can SEE in the picture. Next, imagine that you heard a radio program of the event. Write down everything that you HEAR during the show. Next, write about every SMELL and TASTE associated with this activity. Then, write about all the tactile sensations (TOUCH) from the event. Also, write about any emotions which have been aroused by this event. Finally, write a piece which incorporates all the information you have gathered from doing this exercise.

Weekly Exercises February 15, 2010

1. Start the page with "When I was seventeen..." and keep writing.
2. Write about a teacher that made you really want to go to his/her class.
3. If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would you go?
4. If you could only keep one item from all of your possessions, what would it be?


There is no wrong way to do it: just write!

WordPlay! WriteNet Week 4

According to news stories, Drew Brees, quarterback for the Super Bowl Champions New Orleans Saints, woke up and asked his wife, "Did it really happen?" For him, realization of a lifelong fantasy seemed like a dream. For writers, turning our fantasies into real stories is not only a possibility but a definite intention. As I watched the Super Bowl yesterday, there were certain parallels I observed between the game of football and the craft of writing.



First and Ten

Each series of plays begins with a first down. The team has four chances to advance the ball ten yards before relinquishing the field to the other team. Similarly, a writer starts witha ten minute writing exercise or prompt to move the writing into gear.



Pass Play vs. Running Play

The quaterback chooses between passing the ball (typically in an effort to gain a big chunk of yardage or a running play, often used to grind out shorter yardage. In the same way, a writer can use an exercise for short yardage to stimulate the imagination or a more extended effort, such as an essay or short story.



Exercises



External Exercises

(see week 1 for details)



1. Observation Exercise

2. Reading Report

3. Writing Journal



Writing Exercises February 8, 2010



1. "Life is like a box of chocolates." Start with this line and keep writing.



2. Think about a weather phenomenon (e.g. hurricane, tornado, blizzard, windstorm, tsunami, etc.). Now describe your emotional state as the event that came to mind.



3. Open a telephone book and randomly select a name. Now write a story about an incident in that person's life.



4. It is four a.m. You are awakened by the ringing telephone. Write about what happens next.



As always, these prompts are merely suggestions to jumpstart your imagination when other ideas are not vigorously trying to make their way onto the blank page. Feel free to bypass these ideas if there are others already working their way out of your imagination. Remember to keep your hand moving in order to bypass the inner critic. Have fun and chase those ideas to the end zone, like a running back sprinting away from his defensive counterpart and making the touchdown. Enjoy the exhilaration of writing your ideas and tickling your imagination.



There is no wrong way to do it: just WRITE!

WordPlay! WriteNet Week 3

It is award season again. From last night's Grammy awards to the announcement by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tomorrow morning of the contenders for this year's coveted Oscar statuettes, prizes are being given in many different media to deserving recipients in the entertainment arts. Writing is a core element of artistic creations, from song lyrics to screenplays to dramas to novels (which are often turned into scripts). To acknowledge the central role that writing plays in so many different media, the exercises for this week will explore the connection between writing and other arts,

Exercises

External Exercises:
(see Week 1 for details)

1. Observation Exercise
2. Reading Report
3. Writing Journal

Weekly Exercises February 1, 2010

1. Start with a line from a song and keep writing, e.g. "I gotta feeling...."
2. Make yourself a character in your favorite recent movie and write what happens in your first scene.
3. If you were a painter, describe the first canvas you would complete.
4. You get home, tired and drained from a grueling day, and smell a pie baking in your oven. Keep writing.

As always, feel free to write about whatever is pushing itself onto the blank page. Just keep your hand moving for the allotted time, without concern for spelling, grammar, making sense or any other critical thoughts until after the writing time is finished (a minimum of ten minutes per day).

There is no wrong way to do it: just write!

WordPlay! WriteNet Week 2

Now that some of the rust has worn off and your hands are getting used to writing non-stop for at least ten minutes at a time, it is important to continue your new routine for at least two weeks to create a good habit. Here in Los Angeles, the rain has paused for a few days and the sun came out. The contenders of Super Bowl XLIV have been determined and Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints fans are dancing in the streets. The world responded to the Haitian Earthquake with donations during the Hope for Haiti fundraising telethon. Avatar was number one at the box office for another week. And I got up this morning and thought about the stories you can tell that we all deserve to hear,

WEEKLY WRITING EXERCISES

EXTERNALWRITING EXERCISES
(see Week 1 for details)

Observation Exerciise
Reading Report
Writing Journal

Weekly Exercises January 25, 2010

1. "I love to ..."
2. Write about the teacher you had in elementary school who had the strongest impact on your attitudes about learning.
3. What is the first animal that you want to see when you go to the zoo?
4. If you could only keep one item of clothing from your closet, which one would you choose (be sure to describe it)?

If you want to submit your exercises as part of the WordPlay! class, send them to me at wordplay419@gmail.com. Use Assignments as the subject of your email. I will gladly read your work and return it with comments. However, feel free to simply write for your own writing skills development.

There is no wrong way to do it: just write!

WordPlay! WriteNet Week 1

Let's get right down to the real nitty-gritty! You learn to write by writing! Each week I will post new exercises here to get you jump-started. Instructions: get pen and paper or keyboard and start writing. Don't stop until the time (at least 10 minutes) is up. No editing allowed. There is no wrong way to do it: JUST WRITE!

Eternal Exercises (always available):

1. Observation Exercise
Sit in a public place and write down all your observations of the people around you: snippets of dialogue, physical description, sensory details (what you see, hear, smell, taste, and/or touch).

2. Reading Report
As a writer, it is essential that you read not just for pleasure but also to study writing. When you read, notice the writing. What worked? What made you turn the pages? What made you stop and think? What stopped or bored you as the reader? You can learn as much from "bad" writing as from good!

3. Writing Journal
Jot down ideabox snippets, things you want to work on in the future. Write about the process of writing: what makes it easier, where do you like to write (home, cafe, outdoors, anywhere?), dreams (literally and figuratively), unedited "daily pages," etc.

Weekly Exercises January 18, 2010

1. I would never ...

2. Describe a perfect day in detail.

3. Pick a number between 6 and 17. Write about the first day of school for a child of that age.

4. Wrie about lunch with your favorite book or movie character.

Monday, Monday!

For those of you who live in Los Angeles, this is the week that starts the WordPlay! class series. Every month, on the second Thursday, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm we will get together for the joy of writing in Leimert Village at Adassa's Island Cafe.

For those of you who either read the book Push by Sapphire or saw the movie Precious that was made of this compelling story, like the teacher portrayed by Paula Patton, I believe in every class participant's ability to tell an important story.

One of my favorite books is Grand Central Winter by Lee Stringer. A homeless addict living in the bowels of New York City's Grand Central Station, he discovered the joy of writing when he realized that part of his drug paraphernalia was actually a pencil stub.

What both these writers have in common is that neither imagined that they would become published authors. However, their stories were so compelling that a publisher realized that readers would benefit from the chance to absorb their work.

Among the many reasons I respect Oprah Winfrey is her creation of the book club. Because of it, loyal viewers who had not touched a book in decades started reading again. From weighty classical tomes like Anna Karenina to Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth to Pulitzer Laureate Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon and Beloved, Oprah has nurtured a rediscovered love of storytelling that began with young children listening to stories at bedtime.

One of my favorite quotations from Audre Lorde states, "what are the silences that we swallow day by day? If we wait to speak until we are not afraid, we will be sending messages back from the grave."

Rediscover your stories. Have the courage to tell them boldly. Take the risk, like Precious and Lee, to learn the skills that will allow you to engage readers with your words. Have fun with the process of creation and experience the delight of telling a good story. Come to WordPlay!

Announcing WordPlay! Writenet

This blog is heading in a new direction for 2010! Each week, there will be a list of daily writing prompts on the blog and responses can be emailed to wordplay419@gmail.com.

Class Philosophy

There is a proverb from Zimbabwe that says “if you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing.” I have always believed that homily and taken it one step further: if you can think, you can write. I speak from experience. I was told by a high school English teacher that I would probably never communicate effectively in writing. She made this discouraging pronouncement after I responded to an assignment to describe Harvard Square by writing as an extraterrestrial sociologist sending a report to his home planet. While my cavalier approach to her assignment earned me a failing grade, it liberated my inner writer and allowed her to express herself.
This class is NOT your eighth grade writing class. There are a few rules.
1. There is no wrong way to do it: just write!
2. Keep your hand moving!
3. Have fun!
I am not concerned with spelling or grammar as they can always be fixed later. In this class, your goal is to tell your story. Each person has a story (or two or a million) that only s/he can tell. I cannot unzip your brain and magically read what is there. Once it is on paper, in even the most rudimentary form, then I can help you to improve it.
Charles Barkley, the NBA sportscaster and former player, loves golf. However, he has developed a bad habit of stopping at the top of his stroke that ruins his shot. Stopping and starting as a writer has similar disastrous effects. I used to warn my students that they should write as if “letting the pen stop causes a guillotine to drop that suddenly your hand will chop.” Writing is the process of filling the page with words. If you keep your hand moving, it is a simple process to be successful. It is also a proven strategy to thwart the inner critic whose only function is to sabotage your writing efforts.
Even though your subject matter may arouse deep emotions, the process of putting the words on the pages is liberating.
Your goal should be to write for a minimum of 10 minutes per day. This is not the same as writing for an hour once a week. Writing is like a muscle that is toned through frequent and repetitive usage.

If you want to participate as an ongoing class member, please send an email with "Registration" in the subject line and details will be sent to you. However, feel free to consider this a drop-in group where no longterm commitment is required.New assignments will be posted each Monday, starting January 18, 2010.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

For twelve days the world has been obsessed with Michael Jackson. From the moment that news of his untimely death on June 25th was released until yesterday evening, every other news story was shifted to "the back burner." At first I was not that interested in the incessant rehashing of the details of his life, which had been under the magnifier of public attention for more than forty years.

At some point I succumbed to the international curiosity about the musical genius of the proclaimed "King of Pop." No one can deny the unparalleled compositions and choreography that were born inside his imagination to explode onto the stage. No one can deny that he was fragile, both physically and emotionally, after more than four decades of hard work on stage and in the studio that resulted in hit record after hit record. No one can deny that his emotions were frozen at a young age that made him identify children as his peers. No one can deny that he loved his children, a love that was equally returned by Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.

Whether he died of a drug overdose remains to be clarified by the results of toxicology tests which are still pending. Whether his actions should be described as pedophilia was never decided by the courts. Whether his musical genius was developed at the cost of his personal psyche is something that I can only guess at. What is certain is that I don't need answers to these questions in order to admire the incredible talents that Michael Jackson displayed during his lifetime.

Michael Jackson died too soon. It is impossible to know whether more magical genius would have transformed into lyrics or melodies or choreography during his planned fifty concert tour. What is certain is that the world is a better place because his music touched generations of listeners around the world. From "We Are the World" to "Man in the Mirror" or "Thriller" his music touched numerous hearts. For that I am grateful and wish that his troubled spirit can now rest in peace.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

I am truly excited by the ramifications of President-elect Barack Obama. However, I am equally saddened by the passage of Proposition 8, the demand for an amendment to our state constitution that excludes gay and lesbian couples from the definition of marriage. It is a time to celebrate the choice to elect an African American to the Presidency, and it is a time to mourn that those who supported Proposition 8 seem to have forgotten that one of the pillars upon which America was founded was religious freedom. The Pilgrims endured the voyage across the Atlantic so that we could believe according to our innermost hearts. What religious conservatives have forgotten is that also includes the right to believe in something other than Christian principles or to define those principles to include homosexuality as the Metropolitan Community Churches and the Unitarian Universalist churches do.

I have been estranged from the Pentecostal Church for many years precisely because within their tenets I am considered an abomination. It is an ostracism that saddens me, because I am at heart a Christian who has based my life on the principle that I should "love my neighbor as myself." It is a belief that encompasses world peace and healing the environment on this planet and finding ways to share the wealth so that no one dies of hunger. To me, those principles are paramount in my world view.

While the crafters of Proposition 8 are determined to exclude homosexuals from the legal definition of marriage, they seem unconcerned with the state of an institution that is marked by messy divorces and painful revelations about pornography and adultery. For me, having love at the core of any marriage should be the principal intention of any marriage, especially one "sanctioned" by God. Shame on you, so-called Christians, for your hateful and discriminatory campaign.

Monday, Monday

Monday, Monday. Can't trust that day...is the opening lyric of a Mamas and the Papas song from my youth. I used to hum it to myself as I rode to work on Mondays, riding the IRT subway from Harlem to Brooklyn when I lived in New York City back in the days of flower children. Although the song referred to a couple's breakup and the inherent sense of betrayal when that happens, I feel today as though society has sent me a "Dear John" letter of the cruelest kind.

Now I am part of the AARP generation, the flagging Baby Boomers who have nearly reached retirement age in a time when they can no longer afford to retire as food and fuel costs soar into the stratosphere. The promises that hovered around me when I went off to college have all proven to be spurious shams and my neighbors have packed seven family members into a one bedroom apartment while the foreclosure sign is planted on their shriveled lawn.

While the world exclaims over the incredible achievements of swimmer Michael Phelps, I can't afford to buy the Wheaties cereal adorned with his image, complete with the eight medals he achieved in the 2008 Olympic Games. I am not bitter, since I am morbidly obese and coping with diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and sleep apnea: a roll call of conditions that appear in my peers like spring flowers emerging from the earth. My doctor has mandated that I lose the weight, anyway.

I haven't had much to say recently. I have been stunned into silence by the appearance of Russian tanks in Georgia, the resignation of the Pakistani president and the ability of Americans to channel surf while millions die in genocidal purges in eastern Europe and central Africa. Now, instead of soothing ballads, I find myself humming the gospel standard I Ain't Gonna Study War No More...and agreeing with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he challenged us to remember that "Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows."

I was struck by the story about a Georgian athlete at the Olympics hugging her Russian competitor. I applaud the nobility of good sportsmanship, where integrity and effort are rewarded and cheating and mean-spirited bullying are discouraged. I am not Pollyanna: I have read my share of articles about athletes on steroids and hate-filled actions that encompass malicious injuries or dishonest actions. I just wish that we could replace all wars with the generosity of attitude that has been displayed by most of the athletes in the Beijing games.

Racism Is Alive and Well in America

People are buzzing about the recent gaffe of Don Imus, who is known for his radio programs which are also televised on MSNBC. In what he claimed was "a crazy attempt at humor" he made several racist slurs about the Rutgers women's basketball team, which is predominantly African-American. Despite his claim, previous "attempts at humor" on the Imus Show have included a mockery of celebrated poet and author Maya Angelou. The program is a platform for well-known sports figures and public personalities. Rev. Al Sharpton has called for the termination of Imus and has pledged to bring the matter before the FCC. Although Imus was initially apologetic, he has retreated to a posture of being "a good man who said a bad thing."

Michael Richards ("Kramer" on Seinfeld) unleashed a vitriolic torrent of racist verbiage when an audience member complained that his act wasn't funny. These remarks had nothing to do with the situation but were an opportunistic moment for those prejudiced feelings to be aired. The sad irony is that Al Campanis and Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder were chastised for the same behavior more than twenty years ago. Others, like Mel Gibson, when challenged about an anti-Semitic tirade, blame the outburst on being intoxicated. There is never an acceptable excuse for intolerance.

Whenever I challenge someone about what I perceive as racism, I am accused of playing "the race card," as though I carry a special Geiger counter calibrated to detect any miniscule yet hidden vestiges of racism in others that are really insignificant. Prejudice in any form is not accidental. It is something we must consciously excavate by having a persistent attitude of acceptance. We are not cookie cutter copies of one another. Differences are real and offer an opportunity to learn and grow once we are willing to acknowledge and accept them.

Racism is not just an antiquated view of the world held by our ancestors. It is a subtle overlay that imports negative assumptions (stereotypes) about a person based only on their membership in a particular ethnic group. All forms of discrimination (sexism, classism, homophobia, et al) fail to see the individual by focusing on the shortcomings of the group to which they may belong. I hope that each one of us can make the commitment to start right now to look at the world through glasses that promote acceptance of diversity.

SPRING FLING

Today is the first day of spring, a time I always celebrate. The shorter days of winter encourage me to hibernate and basically hide away from the inclement weather and limited hours of daylight until the advent of spring. Although snow and rain may still fall, I find myself experiencing a personal and creative resurrection. My mind hums with new images and fresh ideas ready to explode into existence.
This is the time when I remember what makes me smile, what makes me want to give someone a hug, all the reasons to share light and love with others. Lest I be accused of being overly sentimental, let me state with absolute assurance that these good feelings are not indicative of madness but of a real spring fever that has infected me.
I am ready to write or sculpt or play a musical instrument or dance. This newly-discovered wealth of energy demands expression and will accept no refusal to participate. This is no solitary artist, a hermit laboring in an isolated garrett. This is an invitation to a huge party of revelers, the Mardi Gras and Carnivale conjoined to maximum excitement. This is the time to grow new wings and fly away from the mind-numbing doldrums created during the winter.
Even if you are the kind of person who says, "I can't carry a tune in a bucket" or even if you see your artwork as primitive representations, this is the ally-ally-oxen free moment in the year when the mysteries of creative process are demystified and only the willingness to participate is listed as a prerequisite for admission to the party. Look in your imaginary closet for the loveliest ball gown or most handsome attire as you prepare for the grand event.
No booming clock at midnight will end this celebration. You have from now until forever to enjoy escapades in the playground of your imagination. Be willing to step outside the realm of critics and naysayers. Choose to connect with your inner artist and plant the tiny seeds that will blossom into fully formed works of art. Like plants creating oxygen during photosynthesis, your creative endeavors will fuel harmony in the universe that will eclipse the war and hatred and ill will that are rampant in our experience. Open your calendar or fire up your computer and schedule weekly appointments with your soul for the next 12 weeks. You'll be amazed at what happens when you reinvent your creative self.

Try to Remember the Kind of September...

Although the season officially shifted to autumn more than a week ago, I find it hard to really feel the transition these days. When I was a child growing up in Boston, the foliage at this time of year with its brilliant hues splashed across my visual field served to announce the arrival of fall. In today's climate in southern California, hot dry Santa Ana winds puff new life into brush fires that have burned for more than three weeks. Hurricanes have always swirled to life in the tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, but the devastating potential of such a weather phenmenon was starkly realized last year in the challenging arrival of Katrina and Rita to the Gulf Coast region. Weather and its impact help to mark the changing seasons.

As a child, another significant marker of the change in seasons was the return to school. School was a refuge for some of us, whose turbulent home lives were kept at bay for those hours when we were busy learning. Although the superior technology available in today's classrooms with access to the internet and its infinite well of information had not yet been created, curricula regularly contained art and music and drama classes and sports activities as vital supplements to the academic curriculum. Like nutritional vitamins and minerals that we take to enhance our daily bodily functions, those classes taught us skills that eased the process of incorporating what we had learned into our daily lives.

Now schools can no longer afford such luxuries when the budget barely sustains the salaries of teachers and adequate maintenance of the facilities. Money must also be diverted to metallic screening devices and security police to protect students from gunmen intent on making their point with lethal weapons instead of words. Already in this academic year, seventeen instances of unprovoked violent attacks have occurred on campuses in Colorado (not far from the notorious Columbine High School), Montreal, Wisconsin and an Amish community in Pennsylvania. Debates continue over the interpretation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution and "the right to bear arms." However, no one can dispute that the extinction of such young lives is tragic.

In Washington, the vulnerability of young people is also sacrificed to the needs of political power. High school students (pages) and college students (interns) have been subjected to the amoral and perverse behaviors of elected officials in the Congress while others in power looked in the other direction. Like other young people exploited by their clergymen, these individuals with aspirations of public service were betrayed rather than mentored. It is difficult to maintain faith in those who make and interpret the legal statutes when they secretly circumvent the laws precisely because they have the power to do so.

Memoirs have gotten bad press lately in the wake of the blatant distortions of James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces. However, the revelations of real personal experiences are powerful tools for exposing heinous truths and demonstrating the indomitable and resilient character of human nature. My first published piece, Now I Have to Tell This Story, exposed the horrific trauma of being kidnapped and raped but it also revealed that it was possible to survive such an ordeal. Two of the five girls killed in the one room Amish schoolhouse were sisters. I was struck by the poignant irony that their family has no photographs by which to remember them while the news of their tragic deaths were visible on newscasts around the country.

Whether you write in a private journal or letters to family members or manuscripts for publication, your words can create images as compelling and lasting as any broadcast on television, on the internet or in film. History is the accumulated stories of those who preceded us. In the future, when this time is examined, your verbal snapshots will be missing from the album if you do not create them now. Every one of us has the power and the privilege to record our beliefs and experiences in written form, whether or not we consider ourselves "writers." Write about the things that move you, the things that excite you, the things that infuriate you, but write!

Truth Can Be Stranger Than Fiction

I watched a documentary that aired on the Sundance Channel called "The Corporation." It examines corporate greed and power in many different dimensions. Michael Moore is one of the voices included in this very credible film that exposes incredible information. For example, how IBM supported Hitler's concentration camps by providing punchcard technology for accumulating data on the concentration camps (including a photo of IBM executive Thomas Watson at dinner with the Fuhrer) and how Coca Cola wants us to believe that Fanta soda (that was developed as a beverage for Nazi Germany to maintain their wartime profits) originated in Mexico. The film also reveals how psychologists are hired by big business to help them sell products to children by teaching them to nag their parents. As the cruel implications of privatization were demonstrated in a story about a Colombian town where residents were charged for water by the Bechtel Corporation and fined for collecting free rainwater in buckets, my anger swirled with volcanic fury.

At the same time, I felt an overwhelming impotence to define an action that would somehow impact this monolithic monster depicted in the film. Then I sat down and started to write. I have no idea who will read this or when, but these words have the power of permanence. Someone can read them in ten years and extract my outrage, if I communicate effectively. Freedom of speech guaranteed individuals in the Bill of Rights has not yet been silenced in the blogosphere. Even points of view that I find personally offensive still deserve to be expressed by those who believe and uphold them.

Which is why for me the most horrific example of the abuse of power from "The Corporation" is the story of how two journalists were silenced by the Monsanto Corporation. Two investigative reporters for Fox News had done a detailed report on the links between Bovine Growth Hormone and health problems, including cancer, for children who drank the milk from cows who had been given this chemical manufactured by that corporation. Other countries, including Canada, have banned the distribution of milk that contains the substance. When the story was blocked from airing, the two newspeople were first forced to rewrite the story 83 times in an effort to come up with a version that still contained the truth without offending the station's corporate owners. When a compromise could not be reached and the journalists were fired, they filed a lawsuit as whistleblowers and prevailed in court. However, on appeal the Supreme Court eventually threw out their lower court victory and monetary compensation by denying the plaintiff's status as whistleblowers, saying that Fox News did not have a legal requirement to tell the truth in their news broadcasts.

When I was a child, most people believed that information which appeared in the newspaper was virtually gospel, to be accepted without question as reliable truth. That same mantle of trust was given to early television newscasters such as Chet Huntley and David Brinkley or Walter Cronkite. Today only the most naive person accepts the information dispensed in print and broadcast media as unquestionable fact. However, the ability to express my individual beliefs and opinions on the page is one of the most compelling reasons I have for writing and constantly working to improve my skills as a writer. If there is something you learn and want to tell others, a letter to the editor or a blog can provide access to a wide audience of readers. Your opinions can also find a voice through a sympathetic fictional character who shars your perspective. Don't be afraid to put your truth out into the world!

Back to the Future

I have always enjoyed reading science fiction and future-oriented fantasy fiction. For one thing, what starts as fiction may well become reality. I remember watching the original Star Trek television series and feeling awed by their "communicators" which resemble current cellular flip phones in form and function. As a child, George Orwell's vision of 1984 intrigued me precisely because I had no idea what would actually transpire in that future era. One of my favorite authors from this genre is Piers Anthony. For one thing, I admire his productivity, as this prolific author has published an incredible number of books. I also consider him a role model, because he has managed this achievement despite the limitations of being dyslexic, a learning disability by which I am also affected. However, the fact that his fiction demonstrates the parallel functions of the creative and technical spheres of life has enabled me to better define and implement my participation in both spheres. All fiction risks the parallel experiences of victory and defeat, as the author creates a world populated by characters that must be convincing despite never having actually lived. Another author whose accomplishments in this genre are breath-taking is Octavia Butler, whose Xenogenesis trilogy elevated her into the pantheon of brilliant writers. The vision that she created of the human race and its survival by incorporating genetic contributions from other species is matched in intensity by the reality she explores in Kindred, the story of a black woman transported from the present to the time of slavery. Whether fiction leaves present time to travel back into history or forward into the future, it gives the author an opportunity to shift basic assumptions from the present reality to create new societal paradigms. The infinite possibilities empower the writer to explore cultural phenomena without the limitation of attachment to existing realities. In fact, such explorations can create a willingness to question the present that may lead to the possibility of change. I have learned to appreciate technology in a different way once I realized how hard my great-grandmother had to work each day just to keep her family fed and clothed. There was no outlet shopping mall where she could purchase clothing on sale, no automatic washer and dryer to facilitate doing laundry, no microwave oven to provide instant hot food for consumption. The barriers to education would have limited not only lifestyle and career choices, but the self-awareness to develop beyond the strictly limited boundaries proscribed by her status as a slave. When I am tempted to complain about how hard my life is, I simply have to remind myself of how much harder it could have been were I born 150 years ago. At the same time, I can evoke a sense of possibility by imagining how many of life's daily problems will be minimized 150 years into the future. As a writer, it is possible to create a vision that exploits those possibilities. Feel free to step out of present time in your writing and enjoy the adventures you encounter.

IF I WERE A CARPENTER AND YOU WERE A LADY...

Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. ~ Dr. Seuss One of the really neat things about Dr. Seuss is that the ideas in his books appeal to readers of all ages. Certainly, reading the quote above today takes on more depth for me than it did when I first encountered it as a child. I have many labels of identification, although in this case, the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. For example, I am a mother. I gave birth to my daughter nearly thirty-four years ago. But that does not make me more of a mother than a woman who nurtures and loves and guides her adopted child or the countless women and men who make up "the village" needed to raise a child. I live in the United States. When I travel to other countries, I am labeled "American." Those of us who live here know that from speech patterns to political ideologies to climate, there is no single homogenous description that applies to all who reside within this nation's borders. When someone from Fargo, North Dakota stands next to someone from Miami, Florida on a January day, the point is visibly reinforced. I am an African-American, an appellation that I willingly assumed in preference to other labels that had been applied to those whose ancestors were brought to this continent as slaves. I am not strictly "colored" or "Negro" or "Black" although I identified myself with each of those terms in my lifetime. There was a time when the amount of white blood a slave's genetics included served to define them as mulatto or quadroon or octoroon although such distinctions only factored into the price which could be demanded for them, not in their freedom. Lingering remnants of this mentality serve as the roots for the divisive colorism that attributed greater status to fair-skinned members of the race. I also define myself as a writer, a description I adopted once I started writing with serious intention on a daily basis, even before I was published. One of the absolute joys of writing for me is that I can literally step outside the boundaries of all the labels and explore how life would be different if I were a man or I spoke only Japanese or if I lived one hundred years ago. Stephen King in his book "On Writing" likens writing to telepathy. The author puts the words onto a page and someone far away in time or space can read that page and understand the author's ideas. Science fiction writers conceived of travel to outer space long before engineers actually developed rockets that could go to the moon. As a writer, I can be anyone anywhere at any time. I can imagine myself growing up in a shtetl two centuries ago in the wintry cold of Siberia. I can imagine myself as an androgynous being sitting at a gathering on Alpha Centauri two hundred years in the future. Or I can simply pick one attribute to explore. What if I woke up tomorrow and had lost my sight? The challenge as a writer is to chronicle how I would navigate the world around me and how would my perceptions change without the aid of visual clues. Imagine describing the colors of the rainbow to someone who has never been able to see! One of the most dramatic images in history is that of Beethoven composing much of his music after he had lost his hearing. So much of how we experience life is through the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The sensory details make us as writers better able to share our experiences and those of our characters with others. A good way to develop your use of sensory details in your writing is to focus on one sense at a time. For example, make a list of all the smells you notice as you enter a restaurant. Pay attention to the texture of the different fabrics in your closet. Notice the sounds you hear as you walk to the parking garage when you leave work. Think about how you would describe them to someone who had never been there. Adding this level of detail to your writing will enhance the experience of your readers and pull them into your story, the one only you can tell.

The Sound of Writing

No person is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow.

Writing saved me from the sin and inconvenience of violence.

Helped are those who create anything at all, for they shall relive the thrill of their own conception and realize a partnership in the creation of the Universe that keeps them responsible and cheerful.

Never be the only one, except, possibly, in your own home.

~ Alice Walker

Alice Walker is another author whose prolific body of work has earned my respect. She has shown an extensive range of skills and craft in poetry, essays, memoir, fiction, non-fiction as well as editing an anthology of work by Zora Neale Hurston. I have included a bibliography of her works at the end of this piece *. Walker overcame the harsh realities of her early life as the child of sharecroppers who was blinded in one eye by a stray BB gun shot to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for her epistolary novel "The Color Purple." She has tackled tough issues such as incest and genital mutilation in her work. She has honored both her parents in "By the Light of My Father's Smile" and "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens." She has never retreated from the challenge of uniting spirituality, political consciousness, creativity, and artistic merit in each of her works. Alice Walker attended Spelman College and received her degree from Sarah Lawrence College. She gives education a good name. She also has a gentle mellifluous voice that holds the listener in a gentle swing and rocks her back and forth. It was her book "The Temple of My Familiar" that started my habit of reading prose and poetry aloud, so that I could appreciate not only the ideas but also the rhythms of the writing. It is a habit that has also helped me in the revision of my work, because I can often hear awkward phrasing that appears perfectly functional on the page or recognize a long passage that would be improved once replaced by a series of shorter sentences. I can always trust Walker's prose to almost dance off the page when read aloud. It is no accident that some of my favorite authors share her Southern heritage: Zora Neale Hurston, Flannery O'Conner, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, John Grisham. The languid pace of southern speech has always comforted me. Think about books you have read where the language employed by the writer almost samg inside your head. Which author's work would provide an audio listener with pure pleasure? When my vision was dimmed by cataracts, I was saddened by the loss of my ability to read. However, audio books have provided me with as much or more pleasure, especially while traveling. James Patterson and Stephen King always read their own books into the audio format and it is like having your parent read a bedtime story. The next time you are feeling stuck as to how to revise your work, read it out loud. You'll be surprised at what is revealed in the process. Feel free to share your experiences with the readers of this blog as a comment.


*The Works of Alice Walker:
Once: Poems
The Third Life of Grange Copeland
Revolutionary Petunias & Other Poems
In Love & Trouble: Stories of Black Women
Langston Hughes, American Poet
Meridian
I Love Myself When I Am Laughing...A Zora Neale Hurston Reader (editor)
Good Night, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning
You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories
The Color Purple
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose
Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful
To Hell With Dying(Illustrations by Catherine Deeter)
Living by the Word
The Temple of My Familiar
Her Blue Body Everything We Know:Earthling Poems 1965-1990 Complete
Finding the Green Stone(Illustrations by Catherine Deeter)
Possessing the Secret of Joy
Warrior Marks(In collaboration with Pratibha Parmar)
Banned
The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult
Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer's Activism
By the Light of My Father's Smile
The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart
Sent by Earth: A Message from the Grandmother SpiritAfter the Bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart
Pema Chodron And Alice Walker in Conversation - Audio CD
A Poem Traveled Down My Arm : Poems and Drawings
Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth : New Poems
There Is a Flower at the Tip of My Nose Smelling Me - May, 2006
We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For - December, 2006