Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which lets me focus on and reference more easily the concepts under discussion here.
At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I have included a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...
» Blow
In addition to today's entry, I also mention Blow (again) on that very same page where I mention Brooks ..
.. in the May, 2014 archive (in a section titled » Spanking vs Whipping .. of a 4-year old boy) ..
.. a month during which there wasnt much I didnt mention.
Blow is black, and he writes about topics related to blacks.
Unfortunately, there is no shortage of shit for him to write about.
He could write a different article every day and still not address all the bullshit being visited upon black men in our country.
Does being black give Blow more credibility to discuss topics that concern the black man? I certainly think so.
» Violence in Baltimore
29 April » Ooh, Blow .. this is good » Violence in Baltimore. Nice title. Short is power. Says a lot with few words. (Not like me.)
[ Speaking of writing well .. look » Zinsser died. At 92. Good for him.
I poured thru his book many years ago. Loved the practical advice and insights. Could see the value right away.
Could feel myself becoming-one-with the mindset he espouses. I would put its value as a writing-improvement book near the top of those I've read. The title says it very nicely.
Zinsser must have hung out with Strunk.
The #1 thing I got from Zinsser was » Dont be afraid to use the word » "I".
Before Zinsser I was reluctant to use 'I'.
I no longer have that problem .. as you can see.
The one whose writing labors in third-person limbo, I have found, is the one whose writing seems unnaturally distance.
"Fuck that noise," I say. "Here's what I think."
Speaking of Zinsser .. Blow, do you agree with him that » writing is a craft?
Or with Dylan Thomas and Ray Bradbury who both call it an art.
You know what I think.
Tho certainly, there is a craftsman's element to writing.
I feel this craftsman element come thru when I read a lot of stuff by Egan. That's one of the reasons why I like him. The way he crafts his columns.
What do you think about Suzanne, who says that » the artistry is in the "stitching up"?
The voice in my head wants me to write that there is artistry in abstraction and in creativity. But I am not really sure that I know what that means.
Intuitively I feel that artistry is found in » deviating from the expected norm .. at just the right time .. and in just the right way .. to cast a negative image of the thing you are describing ..
.. thereby allowing the reader to paint the dimensions and colors of the positive image for themselves.
I wonder how Zinsser would have felt about the idea of the gifted writer. ]
I also like the photo that accompanies your piece.
Of the boy sitting there on the curb in front of the phalanx of officers outfitted in riot gear. Nice contrast.
I have been there myself, sitting on the curb with the police standing around me, just like this lad. (But without the riot gear.)
If you get enough restraining orders, you're bound to meet the men in blue. "Sir, do you mind if I go thru your wallet to look for some i-d?"
You totally kicked ass, Charles.
You seem to be in your element here, your place of power. Your center.
I read it earlier, but caught myself thinking about it later in the day.
Isnt that the goal of every writer? .. to have something you write cause a reader to ponder it later.
I wonder what the trick is for that. Do you know? That would be a nice addition to any writer's toolbox.
[ I remember doing the same thing after reading an article by Nicholas Kristof. Do you hang out with these other writers? Or do yo all live in your own worlds, isolated from the others? ]
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