Creative Fallout

I found this meme here. Below is the list of Entertainment Weekly’s 100 “new classics.” Bold the ones you have read. Place an asterisk next to the ones you have loved. Italicize the ones you want to read. Strike the ones you hated with a fiery passion. And always, if you are so inclined, post this meme on your own blog and leave a link to your answers in the comments.

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)*
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001) -own it
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)*
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)*
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990) - own it
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)*
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)*
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende - own it
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World’s Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000) - own it
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006) - own it
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000) - own it
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993) - own it
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989) (I haven’t gotten past the first hundred pages yet) -own it
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)*
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994) - own it
84. Holes, Louis Sachar
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)*
98. The Predators’ Ball, Connie Bruck
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

I didn’t actaully hate any of the books on the list. The only book I ever recall truly loathing was a James Patterson one that my book club read several years ago. But this was fun. Now I have more books to add to my to-be-read-in-this-lifetime pile. Luckily I own several of them already.

I’m cutting myself some slack this summer. Especially this month. The bathroom is almost finished. And the girls are moved back into their newly decorated bedrooms. I can see the light at the end of the home improvement tunnel.

As far as writing goes… I went to the coffee shop and wrote for two hours yesterday. Just freewrites. A way to keep my hand moving, my mind limber. I am also working with “Deepening Fiction: A Practical Guide for Intermediate and Advanced Writers” by Sarah Stone and Ron Nyren. I did go over my latest story that was workshopped by my group and for the first time am really at a loss as to where to start or what to do next. Many conflicting suggestions, which happens. If I was confident in the story I would know which ones to heed and which to discard but apparently I am not. I thought I was. I thought I’d whip through the first six stories, get feedback, whip out quick, easy revisions before moving on to the last third of the novel-in-stories that I know needs much more work. So I’m kind of stuck. How I proceed from here will affect the rest of the story.

But it’s summer. If I made my living as a writer, I’d make myself adhere to a strict writing schedule. But I don’t. Yet, anyway. This is for fun. Because I love it, most of the time. So I will continue to report my progress here on Fridays just because I like the accountability but I think I’ll stop referring to it as ‘fessing up which implies I am doing something wrong or something I should feel guilty about. Our best friends are flying in from Arizona next week for ten days. I may write, I may not. No pressure. It’s summer… a time to kick back, relax, go with the flow… you get the idea.

“Unaccustomed Earth” stories and novella by Jhumpa Lahiri
The stores in this collection are exquisite. Each one a gem to admire. She reminds me of Alice Munro in that each story contains an entire world, an entire lifetime. Every detail is relevant. Each character is carefully observed. Every writer needs to read her. The way she handles time is a lesson in itself. The novella is now one of my favorite love stories of all time and it gives new meaning and depth to the cover illustration. This is one book that I will read again and again this time with a pen in hand to mark and admire her dazzling prose, her superb story telling ability and the deft rendering of human lives.

“The Untelling” a novel by Tayari Jones
This is from my TBR list for this year. It kept me up until after midnight so I could finish it. What I love about this book are the vivid, complex characters and a plot that swept me away. It made me rethink about what questions I have planted in my own stories that make a reader want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens long past midnight.

“God is Dead” fiction by Ron Currie, Jr.
The title reveals the plot. God disguised as a woman in the Sudan is killed. When she dies, God dies too and is then eaten by a pack of feral dogs who absorb the Creator’s  essence and are suddenly able to communicate with humans, speak Aramaic and walk on water. As news of God’s demise circles the world, everything changes. High schoolers form suicide packs, parents worship children. It is funny, disturbing and not a little chilling. The premise is so outrageous but he makes it work through the use of meticulous details, a vivid voice and compelling stories.

“Red Ant House” stories by Ann Cummins
Here’s another one from my TBR Challenge. The back covers blurbs this collection of stories as a cross between Denis Johnson and Flannery O’Connor, which seems to sum it up completely. The stories are set in the southwest and possess a kind of weird almost fable-like quality. The characters stretch far beyond quirky and sometimes feel so stripped bare and honest that I skimmed or glanced away as if witnessing a gruesome car accident. Some of the characters include a woman pushed to edge of a mountain pass, a hypnotist with strange powers, a kleptomaniac who is married to a cop. They all seem to be skirting the edge of darkness. They are not the kind of stories I am inclined to write myself but there is so much to admire.

“the dead & the gone” a YA adult novel by Susan Beth Pfeffer
This is a companion novel to “Life As we Knew It”. It examines what happens to life in NYC when an asteroid knocks the moon out of its orbit triggering a chain reaction of climate and weather catastrophes. It is told through the point of view of Alex Morales, a seventeen year old focused on getting into a good college. His parents go missing and he is left responsible for his two younger sisters. Don’t ask me why I am so fascinated by all these apocalyptic stories, but I am. I read this one in less than twenty-four hours.

Six words is about all I have time for. I am waiting for varnish to dry on the furniture and for the ceiling paint to dry along the edges where I cut in so I can do a second coat of both. The new jacuzzi tub is in so it is beginning to resemble a real bathroom again. I can see the light at the end of the remodeling tunnel.

Andrea tagged me for this six word memoir. It just came to me one night so I hope I didn’t see it on the website or something. Here goes:

Writer writing versus writer not writing.

That about sums it/me up…

Oh, and I’m supposed to tag people. Let’s see… my writing group. Consider yourself tagged. Even if you don’t have a blog this would be a fun exercise to do and share at a meeting some time.

We are in the midst of gutting the upstairs bathroom. As of now there is no tile floor, no tile in the shower, no toilet, no sink and the tub is coming out tomorrow. Obviously there will be a new toilet, new sink and a new jacuzzi tub, new tile floor and new tile on the wall. Today the girls and I are on a mission to find accessories and a paint color that they both agree on.

In addition, (because we apparently insane or something) we are re-doing both of their rooms: new paint, painting old furniture white and adding new knobs and pulls, new carpeting, new curtains in one room, a bigger bed for one.

So, with all that going on and school letting out I did manage to write but didn’t manage to post it on Friday.

Monday, June 9
30 minutes:  3 morning pages, 2 writing practice pages
1 hour: typing revisions to story, researching timeline and pop culture of 1979 and realizing I couldn’t have them watching a movie on a VCR since that didn’t exist yet
30 minutes: working with “The Practice of Creative Writing” by Heather Sellers

Tuesday, June 10
15 minutes: 3 morning pages
20 minutes: writing practice prompts- started a new story with a gardener who finds a roll of film behind the bleeding tulips of the house he cares for

Was a really lazy, blah day. Didn’t even pick up a pen and paper until after dinner. Then I pulled a bunch of favorite inspirational books together and took them to bed with me where I read and wrote until I fell asleep.

The books were:
“Page after page’ by Heather Sellers
“Chapter After Chapter” by Heather Sellers
“The Pocket Muse- Endless Inspiration” by Monica Wood
“The Playful Way to Serious Writing” by Roberta Allen

Wednesday, June 11
15 minutes: 3 morning pages
10 minutes: writing practice on prompt “where I store things”

Thursday, June 12
15 minutes: 3 morning pages
10 minutes: writing practice on prompt “romance with chocolate”
60 minutes: worked on story

Friday, June 13
Last day of school- only a half day
15 minutes: 3 morning pages

Saturday, June 14
15 minutes: 3 morning pages
10 minutes: writing practice on prompt “kindergarten”

The main progress was fitting in some writing into the nooks and crannies of my days and that I divided one story into two stories which fits in well with my new structure. I needed one more with a certain time period.

Writing progress:

• Pulled out the second story of my novel-in-stories

• Read it

• Made lots of notes

• Really marked it up

• It could go several different ways at this point

• Now I need to sit down and type up all the revisions and really sink back into the process of writing this story. It’s not just typing up the little added notes or scenes. Those are just the doorways to let me back into the story.

• I registered for “Writing the Unthinkable” workshop with Lynda Barry in Chicago at the end of August.

• Spent a lot of time finishing up an 80-slide Powerpoint presentation. It’s almost done

Up-coming blog posts:

• Summer writing/reading goals

• the balance between writing stories and just writing to write

• the unstructured time of summer

So May was not a big reading month for me. I found it hard to settle in with any particular book. I browsed through several that I had read already, read one collection of essays, re-read one amazing book on writing and finished the mother-daughter book club selection and that’s it. But it was a productive writing month and that’s what happens. That’s the trade-off. I think I often hide behind my reading. Years ago when the Artist’s Way first came out that week of reading deprivation really threw me. I resisted it mightily. Here’s what Julia Cameron says:

“If you feel stuck in your life or in your art, few jump starts are more effective than a week of reading deprivation. No reading? That’s right: no reading. For most artists, words are like tiny tranquilizers. We have a daily quota of media chat that we swallow up. Like greasy food, it clogs our system. Too much of it and we feel, yes, fried…Without distractions, we are once again thrust into the sensory world…For most blocked creatives reading is an addiction.”

She’s right. It’s a tricky balance. As a writer I need to read. I read current literary journals, classics, books that I hope to write like some day and books far from my experience and interest in order to stretch myself. I read to entertain myself, to lose myself, to grow. I read as a writer, with a pen in hand, marking passages that are excellent examples of whatever craft issue I am currently struggling with: flashback, POV, transition, setting, etc… But. If I read other writers’ words more than I create my own, well, that’s a problem. That’s the tricky balance.

Writing a brief review of the books I read here is helpful. It keeps me from gorging on media. It makes me slow down just for a minute to think about what I read so that it doesn’t just fall into this black hole of books I’ve read but then never really thought about. With that, here are the three book I read in May:

“Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave” edited by Ellen Sussman
Twenty-six kick-ass writers write about, well, kicking ass in all its various forms whether it is lying, cheating, one-night stands or blasting music. It is a fun and sometimes touching romp through what being a bad girl really means and I left realizing that its not necessarily a bad thing and may even be a goal at certain points in a woman’s life.

“Ron Carlson Writes a Story” by Ron Carlson (re-read)
I was stuck earlier in the month on a story and I read this little gem of a book again, actually followed his advice instead of merely reading it, hoping to absorb its wisdom by some form of osmosis and it actually worked. His enthusiasm and respect for the writing process is contagious and it makes me want to work that much harder on my own work, which is exactly what a writing book should do.

“So B. It” young adult novel by Sarah Weeks
I read this for our Mother/Daughter book club. It was entertaining but a little predictable. My main complaint is that in order for the story to work you had to suspend belief on certain aspects of the character’s life and a certain “gift” she had was there only so that the plot could work. But my eleven-year-old loved it and read it in abut three days.

It’s been a busy week: end of the school year activities most nights, a freelance PPT presentation to get done, decorations for the big dance tonight. But I did manage to get some writing in and had a kind of epiphany. So, I went back to the novel-in-stories that I discussed in the last post. I forgot that I had made some huge revisions to the first story so it felt relatively new to me even though it’s a story that I’ve been working on in various incarnations for several years. I cut about six hundred words from it and it is ready to show to my writing group. The epiphany was this: the older stories feel somewhat “heavy” to me. It’s hard to describe. The newest story feels like an arrow that hits the bulls-eye. So as I cut and cut from my story I realized that the difference in the writing is this: I used to be more concerned with the writing. I love creating beautiful sentences, rhythms, metaphors but the story is buried beneath all of that. The story was secondary to the writing. Now I am more focused on telling the characters’ stories (not my story or the story I have in mind regardless of what my characters want) and my writing is in service to that. Now I feel I can go back to those older stories and pare away the excess so that the true story can rise to the surface.

Apparently I only post of Fridays now. Time to ‘fess up. Delighted to announce that it’s been another productive week. My writing group gave me incredibly helpful feedback on Sunday which led me to work for 5 hours on a revision on Monday which I then sent to one member who agreed that it was ready to send out, which I did. Just now. Only to two (really good) journals though. I was able to submit on-line and that is so quick and easy. I’ll print out letters and cover pages and labels and all that later. At least I am back on that submitting horse again.

I’ve run into an interesting dilemma this week as I looked for the next project to sink my teeth into. I’ve been reading through my novel-in-stories and am still drawn to the characters and their stories. But. With this last story that I just sent out, my writing has finally turned a corner. I could feel it as I finished the revision. I finally broke through some wall. So now I go back and read older stories and they are lacking something essential and I’m not sure if I can go back into them and find that missing thing. The stories seem heavy somehow. I wonder how I’ll know if it’s time to let those earlier stories go and be grateful that writing them got me to this point or if I can plunge back in and make them as sleek and (I’m just going to say it) well-written as my current story. Maybe I’ll try it with one and see how it goes. I’m afraid that I may have to throw away all these drafts and just start from scratch instead of trying to build on what I wrote over the last few years.

Busy week. Didn’t track my writing hours but I did write. I finished and sent out a revision to my writing group. The story feels so close. But my major accomplishment this week happened yesterday. I spent hours going through hard copies of stories and organizing them into three binders: 1. a novel-in-stories 2. a novel 3. a short story collection. Then I went through my hard drive and found all the latest versions of each story and put them in new folders on my desktop so I can easily find what I am looking for. I noticed that one of the stories from my novel-in-stories was dated exactly one year ago so I took it as a kind of sign that this is the project I am meant to focus on and finish next. I am in the process of reading through the entire thing to see what’s there (and what isn’t). So all in all, a productive week. Next week my goal is to finish the read through and start submitting these stories to my group. I think it needs one last story that I haven’t even thought of yet. Hopefully it will come to me in the process of revising the entire ms.