Rothacker Reviews

Writing to Change the World

Writing to Change the World by Mary Pipher.

How many books can possibly be written on writing?  Probably just a handful more than line my book shelves right now.  Still, I bought Writing to Change the World and I am so glad I did.  Sure, the book's title appealed to my inner-revolutionary.  And the fact that the author was twenty in the sixties and lived in San Francisco helped too.  But I came to learn that to change the world I must start with me.  And this is precisely where Mary writes from.

Mary spends time in the first few chapters developing the sense of how writing begins within yourself.  Know Thyself, What You Alone Can Say and Growing Our Souls are the titles of these chapters.  But a story that she tells at the end of the first chapter after explaining how writing connects, sets the tone of the book and provides a glimpse into Mary the person.  I'll not tell the story, but I will tell you that it is magical, wondrous and inspiring!

In the second half of the book, Mary guides us through the writing process.  She provides thought for context.  She does not teach the mechanics, typically laced with the do's and don'ts of grammar.  Those who already write will appreciate her advice on research, observation, organization, interviewing and point of view.

Though I was originally attracted to the revolutionary aspects concocted by the title, Writing to Change the World, I came to find out Mary's book is not a manifesto for revolt.  Instead, for me, it is a gold digger's sieve.  It helps me to pan out the unwanted rock and keep the gold.  As Mary says:

Our goal as writers is to convey to readers the greatest meaning with the  most precise images and the fewest words.

Yes, Writing to Change the World will help those who wish to create change.  But the journey that Mary leads us upon will plain out help us to become better writers. 

Leading the Revolution I

Leading the Revolution by Gary Hamel.

I bought and read Leading the Revolution in 2002.  If the Cluetrain Manifesto started kindling the fires of "there is a possibility of changing business as usual," this book threw flame throwers on it.  Leading the Revolution was written for people who want to make a difference in their world and organizations and to show them how to do it.

Like a fine Merlot or exquisite Milwaukee's Best, Leading the Revolution should be sipped.  Consequently, I intend to run a series of mini-reviews on various topics and items over an indefinite period of time.

Strategy Convergence - What happens when an industry centralizes around same practices.  Strategies converge when cases of success get imitated...and imitated.  The picture that I get of this is akin to what happens to isolated villages of people.  Lines blur between brothers, sisters, husbands and wives.  It's not pretty. 

Tribal Wisdom - "Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you're on a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."  Is there a more profound statement to be found in regards to a business model that doesn't work?  Hamel goes on to say, "Of course you can get a committee to study the dead horse.  You can benchmark how other companies ride dead horses.  You can declare that it's cheaper to feed a dead horse.  You can harness several dead horses together.  But after you've tried all these things, you're still going to have to dismount."  Are these words precious or what?  How many times have you seen your companies continue to ride dead horses?

I prefer to look at strategy convergence and the dismounting of dead horses in my own little world...not that of the company's.  If folks in my industry are reading trade journals to learn new stuff, I'm going to read Oprah.  And maybe, if certain processes aren't working for me, I'm going to bury the horse and create new ones.

Cool Quote

Without radical innovation, a company will devote a mountain of resources to achieve a molehill of differentiation.

Leading the Revolution is a most excellent book.  It is inspiring and timeless (except for the Enron & World Com stuff). 

Successful Blog

I was driving down the street this morning and made a left turn, drove miles, made a right turn, drove miles and made a left turn...I was out there man.  I wasn't lost, I was trying to get lost, but I wasn't lost.  Guys don't get lost.  I was just about to turn around and I saw  this   flickering neon sign.  Ok, that's not exactly what happened.  From his storefront on Make It Great Blvd, Phil  had a nice sign pointing me towards Liz Strauss .

I was browsing through Liz's sites trying to figure out what categories to include here.  The problem is I could include three quarters of all my cateogies to classify Liz.  Business Coach, Marketing, Networking etc.  I decided to choose a category that I do not liberally use.  But I think if you begin here, at this base, everything else is gravy - about Liz.

A Timely Reminder  an article that Liz writes, hooked me, and this paragraph reeled me in:

"found a new blog in your niche to read? New blogs offer new communities of readers with fresh ideas and new points of view. Join their discussion by leaving meaningful comments and trackbacks. New friends there might read your comments and want to find out what you’re writing."

It is a most excellent day when we meet new people and discover fresh ideas and new points of view!

An Evening With Stephen King

Rosemary and I arrived at the McArthur Gymnasium on the campus of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, forty-five minutes before the doors opened.  A couple hundred people were already in line waiting to hear Stephen King speak.  King was there to kick off the second annual Writers in Paradise writer's conference.  Standing in line I felt as if the crowd was already sitting on the edge of their seats in hopes of a good old fashion bloodletting.  An ambulance or fire truck drove by, sirens fully engaged.  The crowd with wide open eyes turned toward the street.  I sensed a disappointment that no gore was to be seen with their brief glance.  Just before the doors were to open, four women walked to the front of the line.  Eight-hundred eyeballs began to smell blood.  I grabbed my cell phone, ready to dial 911.  I thought the rent-a-cops would be stampeded by the frenzied and raging crowd.  I'm not sure a battalion of marines could have prevented these women from being disemboweled upon the spot.  The doors opened however, and sure enough they snuck in.

The gym was small and intimate.  Lloyd W. Chapin, Eckerd's dean of faculty introduced Dennis Lehane, Eckerd's writer-in-residence who in turned introduced Stephen King.  My first impression of King was one of frailty.  I suspect he still suffers from the accident incurred seven years ago.  King began his talk by telling everyone the percent of chance that someone would break into their car that evening - and be lurking in the backseat.  And if they weren't getting their car broken in, he relayed the statistical odds that their houses would be broken into - and someone would be lurking.  While it was funny, one couldn't completely discount the chance it could actually happen.  And that tiny little what if? is what I think makes King one of the greatest authors who has ever lived.

Next, King recited Willow, a brand new 7,500 word short story.  I have no idea what it is about.  I heard his words, but could not comprehend them.  As everyone else in the gym seemed to understand, I will chalk it up to a newly discovered short coming.  It's probably one of the reasons I do not listen to audio books.  Oh well.

King finished the evening by answering questions the audience had written down.  Dennis Lehane moderated.  Here were some of the questions:

Were you a weird little kid?

"No, I led a normal childhood."

Did music influence your work?

King said yes.  He listens to heavy metal while writing and believes music makes the world right.

Did poetry influence your work?

Indirectly.  "I read poetry every night before I go to bed."

Who was your most evil character?

King replied in a nanosecond, "Randall Flagg."

What was your most scariest book?

In another nanosecond, "Pet Cemetery."

Two other questions: Do you like the music group Abba and Who will play centerfield for the Red Sox next year?  Rosemary and I wanted to vomit.  Here on stage was one of the best authors who has ever lived and he was being subjected to questions like these last two.

King volunteered himself the question he is asked most frequently, "where do you get your ideas from?"  The jist of his answer centers on asking the question "what if?"  He recanted where he got the idea behind his soon to be published book, Cell.  While walking down a street in New York City, he spotted a person making wild gestations as he approached.  King then noticed the guy was talking on a cell phone.  He asked, "what if the voice on the other end of the phone was giving him directions to kill?  And from that point his story develops.  Neat tidbit to think about while you read this book, eh?

I have a few more observations regarding the crowd that I'll save for a separate post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Eikenberry: The Gift of Experience

I have had the most awesome privilige of reading the manuscript for Kevin Eikenberry's new book, Vantagepoints on Learning and Life .  Kevin's book is due out mid November.  Check back at his Web site for updates.

I will do a more formal review in the future, but I can say with enthusiasm: Buy the book!  I am going to tell you today what Kevin's chapter titled Go Tell It on The Mountain has caused me to think about.

Kevin writes about watching a sunrise with his family on a mountain top in Hawaii.  He leaves little doubt of the experience's personal impact.  He goes on with advice on how to help us remember such meaningful experiences.  Near the essay's end, Kevin says, "I know that my description of the moment I experienced can't do justice to it and for that I apologize."

I have two thoughts.  The first is about the writer's journey to clarity.  I am not talking about the ability to crystalize a scene for our prose.  I am talking about the ability to articulate something that rattles our soul.  In reality, the only person Kevin is apologizing to is himself.  I understood that this event was extremely meaningful to him.  But his words paint even deeper self-meaning.   I made the same statement to my own self last week.  I felt so little.  I couldn't match the right words to an awe inspiring experience.  This both frustrates me and challenges me.  The writer's journey is to keep diligent in pursuit of clear expression and for me personally, I love this trek.

My second thought lies in what creates this experience.  Yes such an experience makes us feel good.  But dig deeper.  Why?  I'll get better describing such events because I have a passion to.  But for me, when I asked the question of why, a brilliant light shone on my path.  Please allow me to share.

I wrote about Sabriye Tenberken last week.  This girl took my breath away.  Thanks to Kevin, I dug deeper and asked why, why was this experience so meaningful to me?  I knew in a nanosecond.  It was the commitment she made to her cause.  My love for the commitment and follow through that people make to an endeavor is right there with Kevin's sunset!  This is a big day in Dave's life.  I am sure when I get better, I'll be able to describe it to you :-)

Update to story on Sabriye:  EM Sky told me that she contacted Sabriye's organization and offered free consulting services - to design a fund raising plan.  Turns out the Oprah exposure opened a floodgate of help for Sabriye.  If you get a chance, check out EM's Web site.  She is a special person who you need to know more about!

Sharp Corners

I discovered Sharp Corners about a month ago.  After reading one post, there was little doubt I had to include it in my Most Excellent Writing category.  I have kept current with author Lisa Hoover's material and gone back and read some of her old stuff.  I was looking for a post to reference her most excellent writing talent.  Honestly, I couldn't find one.

I read a post Troy Worman wrote this past week on the difficulty of finding good stuff to write about.  (Actually, two consecutive posts)  Hmmmm, there's a thought we can all relate to - like say, eating.  I was thinking about what Troy had said.  Wham!  Right about the time I thought he would be fine, I thought of Lisa.  Troy will be fine.  He has a special gift.  All he has to do is keep observing, run this stuff through his Troy filter and write what comes out.

Lisa could walk through her own house, trip on a plant leaf and the next thing you'd hear is a colorful story about her adventure.  If she had a beef with that plant leaf, watch out!  That warm, colorful rendition of her adventure would suddenly sprout the most beautiful shades of satire you've ever seen.  The girl is funny!

Lisa's ability to take everday life and turn it into entertaining and page-turning read is a lesson for the rest of us.  And, this wonderful talent is why I couldn't find one post to reference.  It just keeps coming up in all of her posts.  Lisa is also one of the Blog Critics editors.

Stop by Sharp Corners.  Be warned though, you'll have no choice but to return.

Calvin and Hobbes

Spaceman Spiff is hit.  He grabs hold of his spacecraft's controls as it rockets toward the hostile, alien planet below.  The ship crashes and Spiff emerges unscathed.  He walks the planet for days.  Spiff collapses as he watches an alien beast approach.  Could this be our super hero's ultimate demise?  What's that?  The beast is bringing food.

"Calvin, bring back the dishes when you are done."

"Thanks Mom."

Classic Calvin.

The tiger crouches down as he patiently awaits his prey.  The door opens. 

"I'm home!"

The tiger springs, he flies through the air with limbs extended.  KAPOW, he strikes!  Arms, legs and fur tornado the screen. 

"Why do you always do that?"

"Natural exuberance is one of those qualities that makes us tigers so darn endearing!"

Classic Hobbes

Pleasant memories from Ohio came roaring down Interstate 75 when I read Mike Wilson's article on Calvin and Hobbes in the Tampa Bay Times!  Mike says that the St. Petersburg Times (same publisher) will be publishing the famous Calvin and Hobbes comic strip until the end of this year.  Author Bill Watterson hopes to spike sales for his new book The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, by running previous comic strips.  The book is due out in early October.

What was it about a six-year old kid and his imaginary tiger that captivated the attention of so many adults?  For me it was utter and complete, free and uninhibited imagination.  Author Bill Watterson seems to peel back the outer layer of reality.  All kids hate to take a bath.  Calvin doesn't simply frown, moan and whine.  He transmogrifies.  He turns into Spaceman Spiff.  The alien beasts have captured him.  They are about to drop him into a vat of boiling water. Calvin's Mom drops him into the bathtub in the next scene.  Or, how Calvin becomes extinct.

In a sense, Watterson offers up visual metaphors.  He paints pictures of what lies just beneath consciousness.  These pictures help to connect us to memories.  Some memories are whole, some fragmented. Even the fragemented ones have enough of a toe hold to grab on to. Once we've brought the memory into focus, there is no choice but to overlay it with what we now know as adults.  For instance, as kids we might not have liked the babysitter.  When we saw her coming up the driveway though, we didn't ask our parents where the guns were.  And if they said they didn't have guns, we didn't ask them where the wooden mallet and stake were. 

Calvin said, "It's a magical world, ol' buddy...let's go exploring!"

I think Calvin and Hobbes is a most excellent way to go exploring and to free our imagination.

 

Best Writer's Web Site

I recently spoke with an author who said, "Writing my book was the fun part, the easy part."  Although I am talking to her on the phone, I see her stomach begin to tighten and as her body tenses, cool sweat cascades down her forehead.  She proceeds to tell me about her nineteen city book tour along with media obligations and evening speeches.  As if she was trying to go to the bathroom after a week long sabbatical, "Marketing your book and getting your name out is the hard part.  Publishers won't do that for you!"

The process of marketing one's book seems to be a source of constipation for many.  Although blogs are a most excellent laxative for authors, today I'd like to direct you to the blog's big brother, the common ordinary, flat, red rubber  with an attached thin white tube Web site.

Writer's Digest ran a Best Writer's Web Site contest which author Tim Bete won.  Timbete.com is so well put together that Tim's eventual publisher actually found him by it.  Now, before you start stockpiling your pantry with fiber based products, be advised, it wasn't that easy.

Tim originally wrote parenting humor columns for various publications.  He created the Web site in hopes of extending readership.  It took time, but it worked.  Here is what I like about his site:

How Tim's Book Got Published - Tim practically starts out at the keyboard and ends up telling us about sales figures related to the book.  In between you've got creating Web sites; book proposals; query letters; media kits and questions from readers on the process.

Sample Columns - Tim provides ten reader favorite newspaper columns.

Feedback - Under his In the News category, Tim pummels the site with reader / reviewer feedback.  The sheer volume of testimonials alone suggest there might be something going on with his book.

For Editors - There is a whole section dedicated just to those who control your world.  The gods-of-your-destiny only need stop here for everything they need to know about Tim. 

Subscription - Tim will e-mail you his column, free.  Although this might come at odds with the gods, it is a very forward thinking marketing mechanism.

Awards - Tim displays a tidy little trophy case.  One suspects Tim has an ego the size of his insult box .  This section is good business because it really is about  promoting others.

The Book - A page dedicated to the promotion of his book, of course!

Here is a list of the contest finalists:

ratrilpot.com
charlesatkins.com
deborahbouziden.com
kristenfischer.com
realmofshade.com
stephaniechandler.com
janeckles.com
familypoet.com
colleencoble.com

I first heard of Tim Bete from an aricle I read in Writer's Digest , written by Chuck Sambuchino.  I've been getting WD for years, it's a good magazine.

 

Observing is Learning

Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird , says, "Writing is about learning to pay attention and to communicate what is going on."

In a school sense, learning never came easy to me.  The effort put forth to obtain grades above passing was Amazonian.  Like an Olympic weightlifter about to go for a clean and jerk record, I would muster up all of my concentration, I would frown, I would grunt, I would hunker my eyebrows on down, I would let out a mighty yell and then I would explode in an attempt to capture some understanding.  Later, I would sometimes explode on the test.

Many years after school and when I took to writing short essays on the Internet, an author friend lent advice.  He said to fold up a sheet of paper and carry it in my pocket along with a pencil.  This way it would be easy to jot down ideas and stuff to later write about.  I took to this mission like I took to school and weightlifting.  In school though, at least you knew what you had to study from.  Life has no such textbooks.  So there I am, stressing and straining to write everything down.  I can't say for sure, but I think when Rosemary and the ten reams of paper could no longer fit in the Radio Flyer - I might have been trying to record too much.  That in and of itself was a lesson in learning...and to think I almost got Rosemary a Captain's Chair for the Flyer.

I am much calmer these days.  I am not out there grunting and straining, trying to take in everything.  Instead, I just try to pay attention and let whatever it is come to me. 

For instance, in the old days, if a young family were to walk by me, I would write down as much detail as I could.  Because I wasn't clothes savvy, I'd have to run after them and get real close to read a designer tag - like Jordache.  Then I'd have to jog along side of them with pencil and paper for a couple hundred yards to get the rest.  I think it was also about this time when Rosemary figured out how to motorize the Radio Flyer.  Today, when a young family walks by, I might just note the chemistry of their interaction. 

Observing and paying attention need not be arduous.  The ability to create and sustain awareness not only becomes easier, if you let it, it becomes more focused.  The process of observing and noting is learning.  When you pull this information out of your brain's file and run it through your brain's filter the result can be a Radio Flyer full of fun.

Rosa Say's topic this month at Talking Story is on Lifelong Learning.   I threw these few dry logs on to keep the fires burning.

 

Taylor Caldwell: On Writing

I picked up a book titled The Writer's Handbook,© 1964, at a flea market in the summer of 2002.  I laid it back down on the table.  Later that day my parents stopped over.  My Dad said they had been to a flea market and picked up a book for me.  He was so proud of the fact he only paid a dime for, you guessed it, The Writer's Handbook.

The book is chocked full of neat essays on how to write techniques for every type of writing imaginable in addition to writers writing on writing.  (I have no idea why I didn't shell out a dime for this one myself)  One chapter that caught my attention was titled The Essence of Good Writing by Taylor Caldwell . 

" Like all other artists, writers are not made.  Writers are born," claims Caldwell.  She goes on to depict the born writer as a slave-master to his work; as someone who must write, no matter what else is sacrificed;  as someone who must be born with an ear and eye for creativity; as a lonely, solitary and miserable man; as someone who truly values the monetary worth of their work; to work with rejection slips as an impetus to improve and states that writing is the most arduous, disciplined work in the world.  Here are the last few sentences of the piece:

But what can a writer do?  He must write.  That is his destiny, and his curse.  Writing has its rewards, I admit*.  But few writers attain a tranquil old age, or merely old age.  Creative writing burns you out, physically and spiritually.  But go to it!  There is nothing else.

One feels that Caldwell had the ability to delicately balance these opposing thoughts in the palms of her hands and still thrive as a writer.  She must have been quite a character! 

In between her cold doses of reality, Caldwell did unearth the following gems:

Writing is the most intimate art form for communication.  Above all things, the real writer, usually inarticulate in speech, solitary and retiring, desires communication with his fellow human beings.

The very essence of good writing is in expressing a common experience or emotion in fresh language and with new vitality.  But it still must be a common experience or emotion, so that every reader will exclaim in himself, "Why, yes, that is exactly what happened to me and that is exactly how I felt, even though the words and descriptions are different!  It's wonderful to know that I'm not alone, as I thought."

*Taylor Caldwell wrote for thirty years before she was published.