Reader's and Writer's Paradise - the Library Quotes & Contemplation

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”― Jorge Luis Borges

Don’t you love quotes from people you respect – or quotes that are just fun?  Do you look at them and contemplate any deeper layers of meaning? Or does it just tickle something within you that responds and makes it your own?

Like the quote above. I’m not saying it has many deep layers of meaning, but isn’t it fun to contemplate? I’m a writer and a reader. I can’t help it, it speaks to me.

Have you thought of such a thing? I mean I’m not really into gold-paved streets, etc. I’d be much happier with a great library. A wonderful library complete with all the books of the world and including the fabulous Ereaders on where there are stored even more books!

Ah, yes, paradise. In heaven or on earth, it must be well stocked with books and scripts. And since we’re talking paradise here, they must be well-written fiction books and scripts packed with gripping tales and/or non-fiction with mind-boggling information I would have never considered on my own. You too?

Mind-expanding fun. I mean libraries are the repositories of books, knowledge and these days, much more with access to electronic books, the web, music, TV, movies and pretty much everything else.

The other wonderful thing about libraries is that anyone can go. Wow. Really. I mean what forethought the ancients and then the more moderns had when libraries came into being. Never ending education and entertainment is available within those walls. It’s peaceful. It’s fulfilling. It offers up worlds we haven’t even dreamed of.

Seriously, if you haven’t been to your local library in a while, it would be very much worth your time…that is until paradise library actually exists.

Destructive or Constructive Criticism And The Writer And Reader

All right readers and writers, gather around. This isn’t going to be a whiny rant about how people are mean to writers and how their criticism is the pits (though at times it can be), but a bit of a quick analysis of the situation and how everyone, readers and writers alike can deal with it.

Look, constructive criticism is a good thing and writers should get over their ire at having anything they create criticized by anybody. Hey, that’s life. And, constructive criticism can point out flaws or maybe a bit of a slip in editing that would, when corrected, make the book, short story or article much better. Really.

Oh, and readers who post criticism, think about how you couch it. You’re entitled to your opinions and of course if there are glaring editing or grammatical errors in a work you might want to point out that’s happening so other readers will be aware, but it can be put in language that isn’t a personal attack. You might feel the urge to be a ripsaw, but curb it. Remember that writer, whoever it is, put a lot of thought and work into the project. Because it isn’t up to certain standards now doesn’t mean the writer isn’t striving to improve and will, indeed improve. Helpful criticism is one thing, an all-out attack is another. Think about it. Does attack make you in some way feel good? What if your work, whatever it is, was attacked with a vicious edge and you were left feeling naked and abused? You might consider, even with a poorly written work, turning your own thoughts around and saying something encouraging instead. Or just plain shut up. If you have to point out a flaw, maybe you can point out a good thing as well. Maybe the book needs a lot of typo fixing but the story itself is interesting, just hard to see through all those errors. Pause and reflect. Just sayin’.

Okay, now writers, it’s your job to write well, to edit like a pro and cut mercilessly so you don’t surround your readers with needless fluff. It’s also a fact of life that no matter how good you get, no matter how well-known, you’re going to get those personal attacks and not just criticism for the obvious typos or grammar errors. Sadly, it comes with the territory.

BUT you don’t have to let that get you down. Of course they’re going to find the typos you miss no matter how hard you try and the grammar slip-ups and the story twist that didn’t quite do the pirouette you planned on. Take it with good grace when they’re pointed out and correct or you can decide their point isn’t valid. Up to you as writer.

Of course there’s going to be the ‘nasty’ out there who lives to do nothing more than try to tear others down. You don’t have to buy into it. Let the moment pass. You already know there’s no critic out there who can be harder on you than you are on yourself. Forgive the nasties, you don’t know what they may be dealing with that creates the inner demons who just want to attack and destroy. And if you can’t forgive them, cultivate your own positive attitude and don’t bother to respond.

Writers keep writing. Keep moving forward. Readers enjoy and give an occasional thought to the person behind the writing.

Dreams –Not The Night Time Kind

          Do you have dreams? Not the kind you have at night while snoozing away, but real dreams. And I’m not talking about daydreams or fantasies. Not those thoughts about something you probably will never do or be like a multi-national CEO with a multi-million dollar golden parachute, or playing for a pro ball team, or being the first man/woman on Mars (though if those are your actual real goals and dreams, go for it!).

          Most of us have those fantasies and far-away dreams at times.

          But what I’m talking about is those dreams of how great life can be, dreams that keep you striving and moving forward.

          As kids many times anything seems possible. With the vitality of youth they visualize the future, a great and shining place where they accomplish what they dream, but somewhere along the line all of us seem to lose that ability and we narrow our focus to our jobs, our responsibilities, what’s expected of us.

          But it doesn’t have to be that way. The dreams we dreamed as kids are still alive and the universe hasn’t changed that much so they’re still dreams that can be realized. They’re within the realm of possibility. Sometimes we have to realize that we can get so busy doing what he need to, making a living, that the dreams shut down.

          Am I a ‘dreamer’?  Yes, in that I never stop moving forward, never stop thinking about what I want to accomplish next.

          This is life folks. We aren’t just all marking time waiting for it to start. It doesn’t matter your age. Life needs to be greeted as an exciting adventure. The path you choose, something that feeds heart, soul and mind.

          I don’t have to write a tome on this to inspire you do I? Just suggest that now might be the right time for you to think about all those dreams. To sort through them, to find your place and really live life.

          I happen to be a writer. It’s what propels me forward. 

          Maybe you love it as well, or maybe you want to be an architect like Frank Lloyd Wright, or a famous brain surgeon, or someone who makes a difference in the greening of the planet. Or maybe you want to pursue any of thousands of  inspiring dreams.

          Look inside and take a step in the direction of those dreams.

          Do it now.

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - Natural Reader

Whew, sorry about that - work has been overwhelming the past few weeks. Missed a couple of website posts. 

This week I'm mentioning Natural Reader.  It's a text to speech reader. Great for writers to listen carefully to their manuscript pages to help the editing process. 

Great for readers as well - students who want to listen to their class notes, folks who like to listen to books and many other applications. Check it out. Just paste and let it read to you.

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - One Look Dictionary

Very helpful for readers and writers alike - One Look Dictionary  Go ahead, go check it out.

Movie of the Summer - Jurassic World

Movie of the Summer

Okay, it’s summer, and what’s the movie we’re all watching? I’d dare to guess, JurassicWorld. There are rabid fans and there are the detractors.

But even with a few plot holes we can drive a truck through (such as, as pointed out by my comic writing niece, Corinna Bechko, kids piloting the rolling bubbles unsupervised and the fact that said bubbles would be rolling through dino poo) let’s face it, most of us love it.

And somebody(s) wrote it. Apparently there’s a dispute over writing credits for Jurassic World and the WGA arbitration panel ruled credit is to be shared by two writing teams. First the credit was given to director Colin Trevorrow and his writing partner Derek Connolly (and of course the original Michael Crichton gets a ‘based on the novel by’ credit). But then there was the dispute as Rick Jaffa and Amada Silver, a husband-and-wife team who’d written an earlier draft of the script were deemed to share credit with a ‘screenplay by’ credit. The dispute isn’t over though as Trevorrow and Connolly are appealing on the basis they wrote an entirely new screenplay that wasn’t based on the original draft by Jaffa and Silver.

Ah, Hollywood.

I have no intention on weighing in on who’s right, but there you are, the writer’s life.

Be that as it may, why do we love it so much (despite the ‘holes’ and glitches)? I doubt that question can be thoroughly answered, but come on, we love dinos. And on top of that the truth is we want to see said dinos chasing people (and occasionally eating them). Don’t we all have someone we’d love to put in a dino’s path? Don’t we all love excitement and danger in 3D when we can immerse ourselves and not actually be there, but feel like we are?

Works for well-written books as well. Readers love to be drawn into the story, to become part of it. There are books like the Special Edition Junior Novelization of Jurassic World 

 

and a Jurassic World book claiming it brings dinosaurs to life and I guess it sorta does using an app that lets the user move the dinos and make them bigger, etc.

It’s all escapism and fun. It’s why we have always loved story-telling in all of its many forms from earliest times. It’s what writers and creators do; write scripts and books and create worlds (whether common or very uncommon) for us all to get lost in. 

Hey, there's even a Jurassic World Monopoly (how does that work?) And if you're really into it, toys galore.

So if you’re a writer, get busy creating those worlds. If you’re a reader and movie-goer, enjoy!

Characters from the Readers and Writers Viewpoint

Today I’m addressing writers and readers. It’s interesting how writers get lost in their own stories at times, even to the point of forgetting it’s their readers they want to engage and draw into the story and the lives of the character.

So I’ll focus, for the moment on characters and more specifically, the hero or heroine of the story. Characters are integral to the story. They aren’t just stick figures to be moved about, populating the world the writer has created in order to move those exciting and cool twists and turns of plot forward. 

Right readers? You’re in it for more than that. Rarely do you readers wish you could read more about the plot, but rather wish you could read more about the characters, spend more time with them, learn what makes them tick. I’ve heard that from so many readers. 

Think about the stories you’ve read and which ones are truly memorable in your mind. You know, the ones that kept you up late reading or made you forget to fix diner or for which you skipped the trip to the gym or climbed up on your stationary bike with book in hand and kept reading while pedaling. 

Plot is important, plainly, but it is the empathy with the characters and their problems to be solved that truly drags the reader in for the full ride. 

Tell me, reader, isn’t it true you like to know a bit of background, what makes a character tick so that when the trouble you know is coming arrives you can empathize and identify with that character. You can move through the action, understanding, if not liking, the hero’s response. 

Readers, all of us, identify, or not, with the actions of characters with thoughts like, “get inside stupid!” or “I sure wouldn’t do that”, or “why didn’t you kill the SOB?” What really pulls a reader into a story is the character’s actions and reactions. And knowing something about the character makes it all more real. If a character who’s a doctor comes home after a miserable day, finds the house empty, his spouse gone because he has never reconciled the tragedy of his son’s death while out surfing, then gets an emergency call from the hospital that he’s needed and puts all his personal baggage aside to go save a life the reader comes to deeply care about him. They’ll be rooting for him to succeed in whatever challenges the writer throws at him. 

 

All of this is why it’s important for characters to be real. To have flaws, to make mistakes. To have had a life before the story the writer is telling. 

Take a minute to tell us what you’ve loved about a character as a reader or what you’ve loved creating in a character for your audience. And go out there and read/write more great books!