{"id":8138,"date":"2011-04-08T12:55:16","date_gmt":"2011-04-08T16:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=8138"},"modified":"2011-04-08T12:55:16","modified_gmt":"2011-04-08T16:55:16","slug":"not-trying-quite-so-hard-but-it-feels-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/not-trying-quite-so-hard-but-it-feels-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Trying Quite So Hard, But It Feels<\/em> Right"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Image: “Comb of Retrospection,” by Michael Leunig<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n

From whiskey river<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

How I Would Paint Happiness<\/strong><\/p>\n

Something sudden, a windfall,
\na meteor shower. No —
\na flowering tree releasing
\nall its blossoms at once,
\nand the one standing beneath it
\nunexpectedly robed in bloom,
\ntransformed into a stranger
\ntoo beautiful to touch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Lisel Mueller, from Alive Together: New And Selected Poems<\/em> [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and<\/a>:<\/p>\n

suggestion<\/strong><\/p>\n

maybe we try too hard to be
\nremembered, waking to the
\nglowing yellow disc in ignorance,
\nswearing that today will be
\nthe day, today we will make
\nsomething of our lives. what<\/p>\n

if we are so busy searching
\nfor worth that we miss the
\nsapphire sky and cackling
\nblackbird. what else is missing?<\/p>\n

maybe our steps are too straight
\nand our paths too narrow and
\nnot overlapping. maybe when
\nthey overlap someone in another
\ncountry lights a candle, a couple<\/p>\n

resolves their argument, a young
\nman puts down his silver gun
\nand walks away.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Naomi Shihab Nye [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and<\/a> (which reminds me of my commenters):<\/p>\n

Not just any talk is conversation; not any talk raises consciousness. Good conversation has an edge: it opens your eyes to something, quickens your ears. And good conversation reverberates: it keeps on talking in your mind later in the day; the next day, you find yourself still conversing with what was said. That reverberation afterward is the very raising of consciousness; your mind’s been moved. You are at another level with your reflections.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(James Hillman, We’ve Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy and the World’s Getting Worse<\/em> [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Not from whiskey river<\/em>:<\/p>\n

3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.<\/p>\n

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with \u201cshe asseverated,\u201d and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.<\/p>\n

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…<\/p>\n

…he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Elmore Leonard, from “Easy on the Adverbs…,” listing his “ten rules of writing” [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

Over lunch the other day, I shared a story with my colleagues — the surreal experience of being accidentally given a presidential suite at a Four Seasons Hotel. “This was an amazing room, probably 3000+ square feet with over-the-top appointments everywhere,” I said. No more than two minutes after making the statement, an associate checked on his BlackBerry the size of the presidential suite, correcting me that it was closer to 2000 square feet.<\/p>\n

What happened to natural conversations, those based on what is already in our heads, unburdened by verification?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Anthony Tjan [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

Paul Simon’s “Loves Me Like a Rock” is a sweetheart of an easy song to listen to. It’s a conversation of sorts, an unforced<\/em> conversation: between the pop and gospel musical genres, between the narrator and his various antagonists, between what Paul Simon-as-cynic once had to say about people-as-rocks (in “I Am a Rock”) and what Paul Simon-as-good-natured-folkie said about them at the time he recorded this. And in this video, he throws in a conversation with The Muppets as well… because everything goes better with Muppets. Lyrics below, as ever.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Lyrics:<\/p>\n

Loves me Like a Rock<\/em><\/strong>
\n (Paul Simon, performed with the Muppets’ Electric Mayhem band and backup singers)<\/em><\/p>\n

When I was a little boy (when I was just a boy)
\nAnd the Devil would call my name (when I was just a boy)
\nI’d say “now who do …
\nWho do you think you’re fooling?” (when I was just a boy)
\nI’m a consecrated boy (when I was just a boy)
\nSinger in a Sunday choir
\nMy mama loves, she loves me
\nShe gets down on her knees and hugs me
\nShe loves me like a rock
\nShe rocks me like the rock of ages
\nAnd she loves me<\/p>\n

When I was grown to be a man (grown to be a man)
\nAnd the Devil would call my name (grown to be a man)
\nI’d say “Now who do…
\nWho do you think you’re fooling?” (grown to be a man)
\nI’m a consummated man (grown to be a man)
\nI can snatch a little purity
\nMy mama loves me, she loves me
\nShe gets down on her knees and hugs me
\nShe loves me like a rock
\nShe rocks me like the rock of ages
\nAnd she loves me<\/p>\n

If I was President (was the president)
\nAnd the Congress call my name (was the president)
\nI’d say, “Who do…
\nWho do you think you’re fooling?” (was the president)
\nI’ve got the Presidential Seal (was the president)
\nI’m up on the Presidential Podium
\nMy mama loves me
\nShe loves me
\nShe gets down on her knees and hugs me
\nAnd she loves me like a rock
\nShe rocks me like the rock of ages
\nAnd she loves me
\nShe loves me, loves me, loves me, loves me…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Image: “Comb of Retrospection,” by Michael Leunig] From whiskey river: How I Would Paint Happiness Something sudden, a windfall, a meteor shower. No — a flowering tree releasing all its blossoms at once, and the one standing beneath it unexpectedly robed in bloom, transformed into a stranger too beautiful to touch. (Lisel Mueller, from Alive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[247,1393,74,274,5,50,36,251,372],"tags":[1172,2311,2313,2314,2315],"class_list":{"0":"post-8138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ruminations","7":"category-whiskey-river-runningaftermyhat","8":"category-music","9":"category-cartoons","10":"category-06_writing","11":"category-language-writing_cat","12":"category-reading","13":"category-poetry-writing_cat","14":"category-style-and-craft","15":"tag-naomi-shihab-nye","16":"tag-james-hillman","17":"tag-paul-simon","18":"tag-lisel-mueller","19":"tag-michael-leunig","20":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-27g","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8139,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8138\/revisions\/8139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}