"MUSE, SAY SOMETHING'
The They are my younger brother and Sean Dietrich (aka Sean of the South). Both are writers --columnists -- who have been doing That for many days, weeks, years. I.e., turning out daily and/or weekly columns. WHERE do they (as well as all the other bloggers, columnists, scribblers, journalist such as the woman in Kansas who sends me her weekly blog) find the ideas, topics upon which to expound, asks he who often finds the "let's write about ________" bank overdrawn.
And, I must confess, that I have on occasion accused my brother of kissing the Blarney Stone. The 'gift of gab' comes readily and easily for him. And, reading Sean's posts and occasionally listening to his podcasts, I suspect the same of him.
And, it is mostly pretty good stuff with a 'point'. Unlike what his Preaching Professor at Duke Divinity School told a long-ago fraternity brother who had just completed a course assignment : "Bob, you say nothing very well". Have you ever heard the dismissive term "That's bunk" or "bunkum" ? It's a reference to a Congressional filibuster speech long ago by a North Carolina Congressman extolling ad nauseam the virtues of his home county, Buncombe. One source said that Bunkum has been American slang for "nonsense" for almost two centuries.
Like some of my sermon re-runs from another life, occasionally one of my brother's columns has a slight whiff of prior use. Usually their compositions tell stories (not to be equated with lies). Ernest Hemingway was asked long after his literary success why he continued to write. He answered something to the effect that he knew a lot of good stories and wanted to tell them. About a 180* distance from what a prominent minister told me about his need for a vacation: "I had reached the point where I had nothing to say and no great desire to say it."
I tell myself that the primary reason the muse is often quiet is because I have professional responsibilities that preclude the leisure that seems to be my prerequisite for creativity. Still, staring at a daily dead-line reminds me of the preacher struggling on Saturday night to have a sermon topic who opens his Sacred Scripture and pleads, "Say something "
Do you have any topic suggestions to pass along . . whether it's something that matters or it's just a story?
Satchel
On the subject of Hemingway - I'll present this little ditty -
ReplyDeleteThe Earnest Liberal's Lament
by Ernest of course
I know monks masturbate at night
That pet cats screw
That some girls bite
And yet
What can I do
To set things right?
My wife just celebrated 20 years and 1000 columns, and I've watched her go through the process on each and every one. As a recently-retired journalism professor, you'd have thought she had enough of it at work!
ReplyDeleteMy view is there are two key elements. One is what might be be called "just showing up!" She sets a time every week ... usually Sunday ... when she has some peace and quiet. This sometimes involves running me out of the house!
The other is a general curiosity mixed with a "that might be a column" outlook. A friend recently told her, "I bet you look at a flower and say, "That might be a column!"
As her "first reader," one of my jobs is to keep an eye open for repeats. My job gets hard this time of year as humans seek the comfort of the same feelings, experiences and seeing the same people. One way she dealt with that was to ask for people to share their own stories. That process gave her fodder for several years.
Oh, I see you requested a serious reply. I'll go back to Hemingway again. Sometimes the well is dry, and the muse fails him.
ReplyDeleteMy question to you if I may Dr. Wachs would center around your previous trade- History. Would you have any thoughts, observations or ramblings concerning any current topics? The N.Y. Times' "1619 Project," American society in the 21st century, etc.
Or was that a lifetime ago? -