In my head, all forms of literature have a distinct personality. Poems are anti-social, novellas are excitable, anthologies can't make minor life decisions. Not every form of literature has a strong pull towards one trait or the other, but short stories? Short stories are sexy.
Last week I may have bemoaned the growing popularity of bite-sized blogging, but short stories will forever be held in the highest esteem in my mind. Far from being the product of laziness, well-crafted short stories are the bewitching mistresses of literature, enchanting in their brevity but breathtaking in their scope. A good short story will only take a dozen minutes to read, but it will linger like traces of spice on the tongue.
Anne Enright, editor of The Granta Book of the Irish Short Story, asks in her insightful and occasionally humerous introduction, "Is this another aspect of the short story we find unsettling: its promiscuity, its insistence on being partial, glancing, and various?" Indeed, it is the rebel nature of the short story not to tell but to hide that makes them so alluring. Short stories are often extremely thematic and leave no room for error in their storytelling, for each line has been polished and examined under a jeweler's glass until there are no cracks-- unless they are intentional. Far from a drag-out fight to the finish, a short story is a glancing blow that leaves the reader reeling.
Those who have not read many short stories before may be put off at first by their coldness, their unwillingness to reveal truths to the reader. Don't be discouraged, for the nature of the short story is to make you work, and think, and reread. If you don't understand a certain leap in action, reread-- and do so carefully. If you finish the story and it seems like there was absolutely no point to what you have read, put on your metaphor glasses and reread. Nothing in a well-written short story is revealed without reason. No action, character, or setting is unimportant.
If I have made a seemingly poor case for reading as many short stories as you can get your hands on, think again. While novels are the comfortable date who talks about themselves the whole night, short stories wear a seductive smile and make you sweat and strive for approval. But when you get to them, when you can undress the cloaked meaning and solve the enigma, is that not all the more satisfying?
To ease into the short story world, consider reading a short story by someone considered the master of that art form in the Jazz Age: F. Scott Fitzgerald. There are a plethora to choose from, most of them available online, but if you want something you may already be familiar with, give The Curious Case of Benjamin Button a whirl (yes, the inspiration for the Brad Pitt film). And tell me what you think.
If that sits well, your local library is more than likely well-stocked with anthologies of short stories. Also, libraries are magical book-havens where book nerds go to die, so support your local library as often as you can.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Proper Punctuation
If there's one thing you learn about me from the hallowed archives of this blog, be it that I am an avid researcher of esoteric tidbits. This trait is amplified when the subject pertains to writing or literature.
As former NJCL President and current owner of this blog Elliot posted on his Facebook in the wee hours of the morning, "I just found out that the city of Liège was spelled Liége until September 17, 1946, when the accent was officially changed from an acute to a grave, and nothing could possibly be more fascinating." (I smiled to myself upon reading it, too.)
That's my life in a nutshell. The very least I can do to make the hours spent trawling through the source links of Wikipedia article after Wikipedia article worthwhile is write about it—and yes, this sentence led me to Google "trawling vs. trolling" (and, yes, I have used the correct word). In case the structure of that last sentences confuses or annoys the reader, let me explain: one of the most frequent topics subjected to my inane research is correct uses of esoteric or commonly abused punctuation.
It always starts with a question. I am a devout fan of jumbled, quirky, or structurally peculiar sentences. (I am also a fan of the Oxford comma, so pry it from my cold, dead, and stubbornly typing fingers.) Often, and especially concerning blog posts or other informal writing, I find I have too many varied ideas to fit into one regularly-constructed sentence, so I employ a vast arsenal of punctuation ammo to help me piece together sentences that seem schizophrenic in their subject.
In my younger days, this usually meant sentences swollen with commas and running off into the distance cackling madly. Now, I have dashes, ellipses, parentheses, square brackets, semi-colons; very few sentences escape without at least one of their number tagging on an unrelated idea, unnecessary expansion, or snide remark. It's a problem. I'm seeking help.
In the meantime, however, I figured the least I could do to make my habit as unobtrusive as possible in my writing was to learn how to wield my weapons wisely-- and correctly. For instance, until a couple of months ago, I erroneously used hyphens to denote dashes (-- or —). Though I can't remember a time, I'm sure I used to place punctuation on the wrong side of parentheses (it goes on the outside if it's a partial sentence). I only confirmed my knowledge of square brackets this very afternoon.
Google, like most users of the Internet, is my friend when I need answers on these questions, and mostly I defer to The Chicago Manual of Style or Purdue OWL to make sure I am following proper convention for my area.
Often it is a simple rule, but even the simple uses of punctuation work wonders to drive a muddled sentence towards clarity and focus. And what is writing but a convening of sentences? If a beautiful building is composed of shoddy bricks, the whole beautiful mess will come crashing down.
There is a lesson to be learned here, readers: if you are going to write with abandon-- and I wholly encourage doing so-- please, do it with correctly.
As former NJCL President and current owner of this blog Elliot posted on his Facebook in the wee hours of the morning, "I just found out that the city of Liège was spelled Liége until September 17, 1946, when the accent was officially changed from an acute to a grave, and nothing could possibly be more fascinating." (I smiled to myself upon reading it, too.)
That's my life in a nutshell. The very least I can do to make the hours spent trawling through the source links of Wikipedia article after Wikipedia article worthwhile is write about it—and yes, this sentence led me to Google "trawling vs. trolling" (and, yes, I have used the correct word). In case the structure of that last sentences confuses or annoys the reader, let me explain: one of the most frequent topics subjected to my inane research is correct uses of esoteric or commonly abused punctuation.
It always starts with a question. I am a devout fan of jumbled, quirky, or structurally peculiar sentences. (I am also a fan of the Oxford comma, so pry it from my cold, dead, and stubbornly typing fingers.) Often, and especially concerning blog posts or other informal writing, I find I have too many varied ideas to fit into one regularly-constructed sentence, so I employ a vast arsenal of punctuation ammo to help me piece together sentences that seem schizophrenic in their subject.
In my younger days, this usually meant sentences swollen with commas and running off into the distance cackling madly. Now, I have dashes, ellipses, parentheses, square brackets, semi-colons; very few sentences escape without at least one of their number tagging on an unrelated idea, unnecessary expansion, or snide remark. It's a problem. I'm seeking help.
In the meantime, however, I figured the least I could do to make my habit as unobtrusive as possible in my writing was to learn how to wield my weapons wisely-- and correctly. For instance, until a couple of months ago, I erroneously used hyphens to denote dashes (-- or —). Though I can't remember a time, I'm sure I used to place punctuation on the wrong side of parentheses (it goes on the outside if it's a partial sentence). I only confirmed my knowledge of square brackets this very afternoon.
Google, like most users of the Internet, is my friend when I need answers on these questions, and mostly I defer to The Chicago Manual of Style or Purdue OWL to make sure I am following proper convention for my area.
Often it is a simple rule, but even the simple uses of punctuation work wonders to drive a muddled sentence towards clarity and focus. And what is writing but a convening of sentences? If a beautiful building is composed of shoddy bricks, the whole beautiful mess will come crashing down.
There is a lesson to be learned here, readers: if you are going to write with abandon-- and I wholly encourage doing so-- please, do it with correctly.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Inspiration Wednesday
I'm not quite sure how this segment is going to go, honestly. I had a piece about short stories in mind, but my mind is a bit fried to the crisp from too much sleeping, computer, and being alone, so it's being put on the back burner for next week. Instead, I'm going to showcase one of my favorite non-writing blogs, and also one of the most reliable places for me to get inspiration for writing and other projects alike.
You may have noticed it listed in the Blogs I Love tab, but in case you never checked it out, I encourage you to now: go check out breanna rose. She is a freelance designer and part-time blogger, and right now her blog occupies the most honorable first spot in my Blogs bookmark folder.
Breanna runs a blog that certainly talks about the ups and downs of freelance design, but more importantly she writes simple posts on everything from tips and tricks of the freelance design biz to straight up "Inspiration," which is usually a well-designed photo post either taken from images she has on file or pictures from her life. Couple that with short and sweet posts about the design process, helpful collections of webfonts for bloggers and webdesigners alike, and moodboards from her previous clients that serve both as an interesting glimpse into her designing style and as a pretty visual to stir ideas or even just the creative mood, Breanna Rose's blog is hopelessly addicting.
For most people, inspiration is a visual feeling. Whether you get inspired by the colors of leaves or the clean lines of a building, everyone can appreciate something well-thought out and designed. That is where Breanna Rose's blog comes in handy; even just the simple layout and images she has accompanying her posts are like a breath of fresh air, especially if you have a cluttered chest of a mind like I do. I find her moodboards help jump-start my creative process not by giving me a structured concept to start with, like looking at a straight photograph might, but by evoking an emotion that I can weave into a story or use as a basis for characterization. At the very least, looking at something successfully created always drives me to seek out that kind of creative power myself.
That's all for this inspiration post. Obviously, I was not paid to write an endorsement or anything of the sort; I honestly enjoy her blog as much as I have written and, I should add, she has no idea I exist.
I promise Friday's post will be nowhere near as scatterbrained.
You may have noticed it listed in the Blogs I Love tab, but in case you never checked it out, I encourage you to now: go check out breanna rose. She is a freelance designer and part-time blogger, and right now her blog occupies the most honorable first spot in my Blogs bookmark folder.
Breanna runs a blog that certainly talks about the ups and downs of freelance design, but more importantly she writes simple posts on everything from tips and tricks of the freelance design biz to straight up "Inspiration," which is usually a well-designed photo post either taken from images she has on file or pictures from her life. Couple that with short and sweet posts about the design process, helpful collections of webfonts for bloggers and webdesigners alike, and moodboards from her previous clients that serve both as an interesting glimpse into her designing style and as a pretty visual to stir ideas or even just the creative mood, Breanna Rose's blog is hopelessly addicting.
For most people, inspiration is a visual feeling. Whether you get inspired by the colors of leaves or the clean lines of a building, everyone can appreciate something well-thought out and designed. That is where Breanna Rose's blog comes in handy; even just the simple layout and images she has accompanying her posts are like a breath of fresh air, especially if you have a cluttered chest of a mind like I do. I find her moodboards help jump-start my creative process not by giving me a structured concept to start with, like looking at a straight photograph might, but by evoking an emotion that I can weave into a story or use as a basis for characterization. At the very least, looking at something successfully created always drives me to seek out that kind of creative power myself.
That's all for this inspiration post. Obviously, I was not paid to write an endorsement or anything of the sort; I honestly enjoy her blog as much as I have written and, I should add, she has no idea I exist.
I promise Friday's post will be nowhere near as scatterbrained.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
An Introduction
Allow me to introduce you to The Litterateur's Notebook, and yes- litterateur. What a strange word: "a literary person; especially a professional writer," via the Merriam-Webster dictionary. My first post on this blog, and already a blatant lie!
Only time will tell for this wannabe litterateur, but hopefully you stick around to see me make it.
I'm no litterateur, insofar as the professional writer part goes. I've been paid a total of around $350 for my writing over the course of my (albeit short) lifetime, and most of that went hand-in-hand with other internship duties. Despite my success in NaNoWriMo last year, I've yet to finish a novel. But I'm only 18 (as of tomorrow), an embarking college freshman with a myriad of other things to worry about. Why should I expect to be a litterateur, or even name a pretentious blog after the word?
Well, for one thing, let me assure you: I am a hipster. I mean, there was that time I listened to a Zooey Deschanel song and didn't even hate it. I'm also a word nerd, and I can appreciate an uncommon word enough to appropriate it for my blog title.
For another, it is never too early to secure a good blog title. I mean, in a couple years I could have been kicking myself for not snatching up this blog title before it was taken by some ghost blogger who decided to leave their blog to rot (who takes littlelitterateur.blogspot.com and then doesn't post? People who want to watch the world burn, that's who).
And there's one more thing: I fully intend on becoming a true litterateur. Maybe not during the course of this blog, but the written word vocation has been humming in my blood and soul for as long as I can remember. This blog is one of my stepping stones. This blog will keep my fingers limber and my mind ticking as I work through college and, hopefully, prove entertaining in the meantime.
Personal introductions aside, I will be updating this blog (mostly) every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Almost every other day there will be content here, personal issues notwithstanding. Tentatively, Mondays will pertain to current events or "I am obsessed with..." posts, Wednesdays will either be inspiration bits or thoughts on writing, and Fridays will be book reviews.
Only time will tell for this wannabe litterateur, but hopefully you stick around to see me make it.
Cordially yours,
Abby
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