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Our cluttered refrigerator door. Photo | Elizabeth K Humphrey
Clutter. Many of us have it. One area of clutter in my house is the refrigerator door. (Yes, to the left.)
Clutter can also appear in our writing.
This week, while editing a couple pieces of writing, I ran across clutter in sentences that made me think of my kids' refrigerator art. The work is all on display and we keep adding to it--proud of all the work and believing that it all needs to be displayed.
One sentence I ran across was something like this:
She walked quickly to a closet full of clothes and pulled a T-shirt from a shelf and a skirt from a wire hanger and dressed slowly then sat in the middle of the couch, laughing.
Clutter!
If I'm in the middle of a story, I want to see action. Isn't this action? There is movement--she's getting dressed, right? Isn't that enough? Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want to wade through all that action to get to the important action of the character's laughter.
Why do we need to work through a long sentence of walking, pulling, dressing, sitting, and laughing?
Often writers sense that the reader needs to "see" all the actions. Just like a parent needs to see all the art on the refrigerator. But when you try to show everything, you cover or avoid other elements that might be important.
Here are some tips to attack the clutter in your work:
Trim excess in your sentences: If you are in love with some of the work, tuck it away for later.
Determine what actions are essential to the plot: Is the action moving the story forward or is it treading water and not moving?
Read your work aloud: When you hear your story out loud, it helps you catch clutter in your sentences. You hear what is working and what's not.
Review how you tell a story to a friend: Which details do you include, which ones do you exclude? (Is the wire hanger really an essential element in the story?)
I'm spending the weekend clearing out some clutter. How about you? Elizabeth King Humphrey is a writer and editor living in North Carolina. She plans some spring cleaning this weekend, at her keyboard and not in her closet or, ahem, her refrigerator door.
7 Comments on Clear the Clutter, last added: 4/7/2013
My problem seems to be the opposite. I'm a chronic re-writer/editor and tend to end up with a very bad imitation of Hemingway! Then I have to go in and add some setting so at least people have some help picturing my scene.
My fridge used to look like that (maybe worse!) until I moved recently. Moving caused me to take everything off, pack it away, and put up only the most important pictures. I think it's the same with writing. Take a step back, maybe change your scenery (write in a cafe) or perspective (read your work at a critique group), and the clutter may become more apparent. Obviously, I love the comparison! LOL. Great tips, Elizabeth!
Elizabeth: I think your tips are great--my critique group helps me find the clutter all the time. I'm not sure if I can see it myself, but the suggestion of reading your work aloud is a great idea to catch some of the clutter yourself. :)
Elizabeth: I think your tips are great--my critique group helps me find the clutter all the time. I'm not sure if I can see it myself, but the suggestion of reading your work aloud is a great idea to catch some of the clutter yourself. :)
Looks like my fridge: covered with drawings from the grandkids!! :)
Best advice you wrote - read the piece aloud. You can "read it in your head" but until you actually hear the spoken word, your eyes wander over the clutter. Hearing it makes you CLEAR it!! :)
Have you fallen into a black hole of office debris and battled to rise above the clutter, rather than drown before you can finish writing that opus to the literary world? Did you accidentally come across that reference book that the library made you pay for when you didn’t remember having ever seen it?
What about that brownie that disappeared from your desk three weeks ago that you accused your five year old of absconding with? Does any of this sound familiar?
If not, you’re either fanatically organized, blessed beyond measure, or not a writer.
This past year I’ve been trying desperately to keep my office area organized and easily accessible. With my life in constant flux at the moment, keeping my work space organized is becoming a nightmare. Living in limbo, as we are, doesn’t make for a well-ordered life.
Take my desk, please! I’ve lost control of it. When we moved into the apartment complex a couple of years ago, I didn’t have a desk. To remedy the situation, I purchased an eight foot Formica countertop at the local home improvement center and added six thick table legs with mounting brackets. The unit is sturdy, easily cleaned, and can be disassembled when necessity demands a move to another location.
Plenty of work space is provided for computer, layout work, bins of office supplies, etc. What more could I want? Two—2-drawer file cabinets nestle nicely beneath, within easy reach from my desk chair. So handy. A large trash can has a home where I can toss odds and ends for later removal. The printer caddy, all-in-one printing machine and bookshelf table resides perpendicular to the computer end. Great set-up, don’t you think?
I thought so, too. A few weeks after installation and working appreciation, that fantastic work area became a catch all for everything that entered the room; library books disappeared under current working project files, mail, magazines, minor office supplies, brochures, you-name-it. When frustration during a hunt for materials became too much for me, organization blazed with flames fanned by a clean-up whirlwind.
Except when we were on our country tour during the winter of 2010-11, I’ve fought this Battle of the Debris every couple of months since creating this work space. Ask any of my writing buddies. They’ve heard about my efforts on a few occasions.
This week’s clean-up effort, I’ve decided, will be my last. I discovered black mold growing up the outside corner wall of my closet. I think I found the cause for our continuous allergy problems.
Maintenance is tracking down the problem outside before developing a real solution. I’m learning patience today. In the meantime, everything stored in that end of the closet clutters the living room and the rest of my bedroom.
You ask “What does that have to do with organizing your office?” I answer “Everything!” I’ve finally arrived at that point where I can no longer ignore the clutter, no longer blame work/life circumstances, and no longer believe that I’m actually not hoarding useless “stuff.”
The campaign to permanently organize my office life began with the removal of all those boxes from the closet. This morning I went through the first set of bagged debris and boxed minutiae, sorting out that for which I had no need. Everything not needed for my file cabinets, but necessary to keep, will g
6 Comments on Whether to Sort or Despair, last added: 3/23/2012
The past few months, I have been on a mission to get rid of things that I don’t use or haven’t used in a long time.
It is so refreshing. I was doing an item (sometimes 3-10) each day to make it easier. Felt nice to recycle, trash, or donate the things from clothes, to kitchen utensils, to tools, to old teaching documents.
Kristi Faith said, on 3/20/2012 7:46:00 PM
Oh Claudsy, how I used to be such an organized and neat little thing. Now that the third kid is here….my whole life is disorganized and every time I try to get it all neat and tidy, something falls apart. LOL I wish you the best of luck, luv. White boards and cork boards are my best friends. As well as anything with DRAWERS!
claudsy said, on 3/20/2012 9:48:00 PM
Thanks, a.eye. I try to go through things every year and rid myself of unwanted, unneeded things. Every time, though, there are always the office boxes that are sacrosanct and untouchable. The time has come to dive in, sort, and decide what’s worth the space it takes up in my closet and my life.
If I did only a few things a day, I’d never be finished. Thanks for the comment.
Claudsy
claudsy said, on 3/20/2012 9:51:00 PM
I used to be a neat freak, too. I’m trying to go back to that simple lifestyle where only those things which are pertinent to today and a week from now are what take up space in my home and my life. Friends are in another category all together.
Thanks for dropping by, Kristi. It’s been a long time.
To Keep or not to Keep? | Ann Stephens Romance said, on 3/23/2012 8:39:00 PM
[...] Whether to Sort or Despair (claudsy.wordpress.com) [...]
claudsy said, on 3/23/2012 9:43:00 PM
Thanks for the pingback, Ann. Love your post, BTW.
TeachingAuthorEsther Hershenhorn kicked off our current topic with a great intro to 6 + 1 Trait Writing: Organization. TeachingAuthorJoAnn Early Macken followed with Getting Your Ducks in a Row. TeachingAuthor Mary Ann Rodman's It Just Looks Disorganized came next. All include practical and inspiring Writing Workouts, so check them out. Well...I can certainly relate to our topic of Organization as it relates to both writing and life. For example, in my writing, Girl Coming in for a Landing, was essentially a shoebox full of poems all written in a teen voice when my editor at Knopf accepted it. She literally spread the poems out on the floor of her office in New York while I spread them out on my floor in California and we talked about how best to tell this teen's story.
You'll enjoy his book...very readable. And...get this: though I met him in L.A., Brooks now lives in Chicago and travels around the country giving workshops and helping individuals.
Anyone live in Chicago who needs a good speaker for a group or who would be interested in hosting a clutterbusting workshop at her home?
June Sobel said, on 1/29/2011 8:32:00 AM
Wished he still lived in LA!!! I guess I'll have to make do with the book.
Hey, June--howdy! He may still be in L.A...email him brooks (at)clutterbusting(dot)com, He was here for a workshop and private sessions. Also, he does come to LA often.
BUT, that said, his book is like a declutter coach in itself.
The NY Review of Books had an intriguing review by Wyatt Mason on a book written by David Lipsky,"Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace," published by Broadway, 320 pp. $16.99. The book encompasses a collection of conversations between Lipsky and Wallace.
Although Wallace's fiction has at times been cited as "excessive—not edited—arbitrary—self indulgent—mad—gibberish—nonsense", such criticism may have owed to his being "an avant-garde writer. He believed that one of fiction's main jobs was to challenge readers, and to find new ways of doing so." All well and good, and I may read some of his work to form my own assessments, but I was especially attracted in this review to a short section that analyzed a "spoken casualness that would become a characteristic quality of Wallace's prose. An excerpt from a Wallace story includes a suicidal-depressive narrator's description of his state of mind when he witnessed the driver of his bus get seriously injured:
I felt unbelievably sorry for him and of course the Bad Thing (an euphemism for his depression) very kindly filtered this sadness for me and made it a lot worse. It was weird and irrational but all of a sudden I felt really strongly as though the bus driver were really me. I really felt that way. So I felt just like he must have felt, and it was awful. I wasn't just sorry for him, I was sorry as him, or something like that.
The reviewer suggests: "The mix of registers here is typical of Wallace: intensifiers and qualifiers that ordinarily suggest sloppy writing and thinking ("unbelievably"; "really" used three times in the space of a dozen words; "something like that") coexisting with the correct use of the subjunctive mood ("as though the driver were"). The precision of the subjunctive—which literate people bother with less and less, the simple past tense increasingly and diminishingly being used in its place—is never arbitrary, and its presence suggests that if attention is being paid to a matter of higher-order usage, similar intention lurks behind the clutter of qualifiers. For although one could edit them out of the passage above to the end of producing leaner prose—
I felt sorry for him. It was irrational, but I felt as though the driver were me. I wasn't just sorry for him, I was sorry as him.
—the edit removes more than "flab": it discards the furniture of real speech, which includes the routine repetitions and qualifications that cushion conversation."
The paragraph by Wallace stands out as a unique "voice," that thing we're always being challenged to develop in our fiction writing, while at the same time being advised to tighten-up our prose, weed out all but the necessary adverbs and adjectives, "kill the little darlings," meaning our effusive metaphors, similes, and erudite words, and more often than not the use of any constructs like subjunctive moods (I wonder if Hemingway ever used them). Such tightening-up might not always be the best approach.
I think Mason has offered some nice insights for writers in his review. (As a postscript, I was also sad to read in the article that Wallace committed suicide in 2008.)
The longer, brighter, warmer days of spring encourage people to un-snuggle and move. Doors and windows fling open across the country to let in the fresh air and sunshine.
As spring-lovers look around their homes, the first thing they spot is the shiny particles floating through their house. Next, they see the cobwebs in the corners and the layer of dust on every surface.
Spring is the time to get out the bandanna, the feather duster, and the MP3 player. Some people tackle the easiest room to clean first and others tackle the hardest. Choose a direction and start cleaning, but remember eventually, the office will still need cleaning.
Take a quick visual inventory and then spring into action
Remove anything that is not office related, or if it must stay in the office, find a permanent place for it.
De-clutter by throwing away anything that is not essential for day-to-day operation.
Decide what things to put away for later use.
The most used items need to be close at hand.
Clear a lot of open space on your desk or work area. You will feel more like working.
If possible, brighten the office with a new coat of paint. The addition of shelves or bookcases makes organizing easier. A large two-door cabinet conceals many supplies. Extra filing cabinets hold a lot of paper goods and make nice flat surfaces for in-boxes and office gadgets.
Add some new products to bring a little cheer during the de-cluttering process. Check out these pretty and planet-friendly items I found!
Bamboo Office Chair Mats: the chair and desk above use recycled materials. All of these items can be found at Eco Approved SustainABlog.com.
Wildlife pencils made from newspapers
File folder, staplers and other office products from recycled materials.
6 Comments on Spring Cleaning the Office, last added: 4/19/2010
Thanks Cindy. I'm sure the inside is made of graphite. I imagine the outside where it's normally wood is compressed and made into those pretty designs. I'd like to have one of those mats and I really like the file folders. The desk and chair are made of recycled materials too.
About a year ago, my husband and I became fed up with my cluttered nightstand. I do a lot of work in my bedroom, (I know, bad sleep hygiene) and my nightstand was practically sagging with the weight of all of the books, magazines, and doo-dads that I'd piled and placed on its surface. So, I bought a wonderful basket made specifically for such clutter and placed it near the nightstand. Then I cleansed. I cleared off the top of that nightstand completely and filled that basket with only the most worthy of items: back issues of Atomic Ranch and Dwell magazines, a Frommer's guide to European Cruising, and a thick file of clippings and photos of ideas for the dream house that we're hoping to build when we become empty nesters.
It felt good, clearing things out, cleaning things off, tossing the old and unnecessary. When I finished, I was left with a wide, empty surface, a tabula rasa, a plank of possibilities. All I needed was my lamp and my alarm clock. That's all I needed.
For about a week.
I couldn't help it. I need that framed photo of my husband and me with our dear (now dead) dogs, Daphne and Bessie, even though the frame is broken and the whole thing has to lie flat now. I need that Gustav Klimt paperweight that I bought at a museum in Vienna. I need that. And I need those back issues of Multimedia and Internet at Schools magazine that I pilfered from the school library (Don't worry, I'll give them back!). And I need my latest copy of Games magazine, which I take a whole month to finish, considering I can only work on it for the ten minutes before I fall asleep each night. I need that. And I need my nook! I need it there on my nightstand. And I need that awesome candle that one of my students gave me for Christmas that makes the room smell like a spa. And that's all I need. I don't need anything else. Oh, I need my glasses, those I need. And a box of tissues and a book about Twitter because I may start tweeting someday soon. But that's it. That's all I need.
My nightstand is back to looking exactly how it looked before I bought the basket. And the basket is now overflowing, too.
I'm not bothered by the sight of my cluttered nightstand anymore. It's still-life. It's metaphoric. You can learn a lot about a person by looking at her nightstand. What does yours say?
Did you ever see "The Jerk" with Steve Martin? Here's the scene that will pretty much sums up my experience: (I apologize for the half-green screen image. It was the only copy of the scene I could find.)
I happen to think Victorian design is gorgeous. But I realize that others think it's just gawdawful cluttered. Jacket Whys posted two covers recently that contrasted a cluttered design with a simple one--with the conclusion that simplicity is best. Studying the examples she used, I agree completely. (Be sure to have a look; that YA cover is really poorly executed). However, in general, I happen to like both spare and busy design, and I think kids do, too. That got me wondering: When does a busy cover design work, and when is it just a muddled mess?
Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister, illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith, designed by Mike Jolley (Templar/Candlewick, 2008), has a busy cover that I think works wonderfully (although I would not consider it necessarily Victorian in style). It's carefully composed, balanced and pleasing. While it is true that this cover is full of "utterly utter" patterns and images and curlicues and arabesques and such, much of which is highlighted in shiny gold foil, the motifs repeat in a pleasing way. They don't crowd or overwhelm the title or the creators' names. They make room. They make room for Leon's shadow, which is, I suspect, meant to represent the "place between" or the place where real magic actually happens. The art is planned around the necessary elements of text. (And the title typefaces, carried out throughout the interior test, are just delightful.)
Contrast that with this cover I found online. Circus by Roxie Munro (Chronicle, 2006) is not as busy, but seems more cluttered. This one is less successful to me for a number of reasons: There is no clear focal point or difference in scale between the various elements. They all seem to demand the viewer's attention equally (granted that is the nature of a circus, but what works for a three-ring extravaganza is less effective for a book cover). There is little attempt at repetition of shapes to lead the eye around the composition. Figures overlap needlessly. And what about contrast? The spotlighted area isn't any brighter than the rest. Also, the trapeze artists clutter and obscure the title. There's a sense of disorganization in the composition, of the elements not making room for each other.
It's not Victorian in the least, but that's what I call gawdawful cluttered.
0 Comments on More is More, More or Less as of 1/1/1900
About This Painting: This little guy thinks that recycling an old boot into a doggy toy is a wonderful idea. A terrific example of how to reduce clutter. Just make sure you don't recycle something someone is still using or you could end up in the dog house!
10% of this sale will go to support the good works of True Blue Animal Rescue in Texas.
Media: Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas Size: 10 in X 8 in (25.4 cm X 20.3 cm)
I really thought long and hard about this word. It would have been so easy to show a photo of any room in my house, or the inside of my car or my work space at the soon to be abandoned studio. I thought about illustrating the chaos and clutter in my mind, especially lately while my husband and I try to figure the logistics of moving back home to Rhode Island.
Then my thoughts trailed off to my favorite season in New England, which if all goes according to plan we'll be back there just in time for peak foliage. I can almost smell those clear, crisp Indian Summer days from here.
Isn't it funny how some people become completely unhinged the moment the leaves start falling to the ground. What I see as Autumn's blanket, others see as clutter. I've even had a client apologize for the mess in her yard from her fallen Camelia blossoms. I stood there, dumbfounded.
I guess leafblowers have been salvation to some folks. To me, they disturb my peace and natural clutter.
Fifteen minute painting, acrylic and colored pencil on postcard stock for Illustration Friday's prompt: clutter. This is my last "IF" to be done at studio lolo. Dining room table, hold on!!
34 Comments on IF : Natural Clutter, last added: 9/11/2008
this is magical, and peaceful and colourful altogether great. i love the look of autumn (fall) despite the fact that it signals another winter.hope your plans are coming together now (just keep the sight of those leaves you will see in your mind) and look forward to your diningtable art! lotsa wfs and lots lots more.
What a wonderful 'swan song' for Studio Lolo! A beautiful image, poignant and full of warmth. I'm one of your fall freaks and I hope you manage your move back to those glorious colours. You deservedly have a lot of people wishing you well for your adventure.
This is so relaxing and beautiful. I love the leaves too. They look like jewels on the lawn when they first fall. It always seemed odd to me that people throw them away when they make such beautiful mulch.
WOW. Fall is pretty and you captured it. I love fallen leaves, too! Thanks for the nice comment on my IF 'clutter' art. I think I accidently erased part of your comment and link. Not sure what I'm doing, I guess. Oh well, it's fun to share all of our attempts at art! Good luck with your big move!
Run quickly! We still have to get out from under THE HOUSE. Could be a long journey; I hope yours is easily accomplished. Wonderful illustration. It's good to remember seasons.
thanks for your lovely comments on my blog, my dear friend, and do let me know the scoop on RI -- think of how close you would be! xxoo -EM
PamPod said, on 9/8/2008 9:40:00 AM
Oh, so beautiful! I just set this image as my desktop background on my computer at work. It makes me miss Massachusets...a little. Love you and wish you safe passage. See you soon! xxooxx
You know Laurel, some people see clutter and others see beauty. You see the beautiful side of life. Just think of all the wonderful things that will be produced on that table!!! Good luck on your move...a change like that would be so refreshing!
OH, how I adore this painting. I miss the true call of an east coast autumn. Wow, I didn't realize you're actually making the move. How is this for you? I'm sure it's not a clear cut answer. But, I wish you all the luck and joy of relocating. I miss my family at times and especially watching my young nephews and niece grow up, and think about moving back sometimes....
It' will be interesting to see how your art reflects this change.
One person's trash is another person's treasure...perhaps the analogy carries just as well to clutter. Being from New England myself, I've always thought the ground looked like some amazing quilt in fall. Best of luck with your move!
This is such a beautiful tree and scene - I love it! The colors are incredible - and this looks like one of the best places to just sit and watch leaves and dream. Like you, I adore autumn - for me it's often a time of new adventures...
I wish you so much good luck with all your moving and travels - and hope you get time to paint and draw - and have lots of fun:-)
autumn; my favorite month. miss the smell of burning leaves (grew up in the midwest where we burned leaves in the ditches every summer after raking all day long) and could do away with (entirely) the sound of leaf blowers.
Beautiful clutter that autumn carpet! I haven't seen the leaves turn that beautiful umber yet or fallen for that matter, but we'll soon be there too here in Quebec! Laurel, I am sure with a little patience, tolerance, persistence, peace of mind and a ton load of LUCK you will get where you want to be.
I am looking forward to your dining table illustrations!
my fav season as well...the colors, as beautiful here as i remember them there in n.e. annnnnddd... DID YOU SAY YOU ARE HEADING BACK THIS WAY, LOLLLIE?
holey ravens on big-bottomed peaches! hooray! i would head back up to r.i. to meet cha...you bet i would! :))
This is such a fiery beauty! Really makes me miss autumns in New York. I can't believe you whipped it out so quickly! But that's what happens when you have passion for a vision, I guess.
Good luck on your move. It's never easy relocating, but I hope you find a lot of love and happiness in your new home. Looking forward to seeing your posts again when you get settled!
Clutter has been the word of the year. I've cut through gobs of it. Dozens of bags full have made their way out of my life and into the recycling if useless, or onto find new homes where it is appreciated. It's feeling good. Of course, now I can't find anything, but its better than clutter!
12 Comments on Illustration Friday-Clutter, last added: 9/12/2008
I am surrounded by junk. I can’t clear it out. A lack of time and energy does play a huge part in the steady accumulation of stuff. But the process of cleaning up takes so long and takes so much energy because it’s really hard for me to get rid of things. I see so much potential in everything.
And I am right on the potential a decent percentage of the time, which is enough to validate my
0 Comments on Poetry Friday: Carver: A Life in Poems as of 1/1/1900
Sara said, on 2/22/2008 12:31:00 PM
I had to actually HIDE things if I wanted to get rid of anything when my daughter was little. She would get into the trash and rescue cereal boxes and plastic pieces and such. She's studying science (and writing) now, natch.
twowritingteachers said, on 2/22/2008 1:58:00 PM
My co-blogger, Ruth, and I have been inspired to pay closer attention to our daily lives. As teachers, we've realized this is of paramount importance for children as well. Therefore, in our classrooms and on our blog, we're starting a SLICE OF LIFE STORY CHALLENGE during the month of March. We're hoping to encourage teachers and writers to record slices of their daily lives in their writer's notebooks or on their blogs (and participate in our 31-day challenge).
We value this work and think it could have a great impact on the lives of children in writing classrooms across the country. However we need adults to do this important work first. Therefore, we'd love to have you be part of this Challenge. You can learn more about it by going to http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/slice-of-life-story-challenge/.
Additionally, your support of this endeavor, would be super too. Would you be willing to share this Challenge with your blog readers?
Thank you!
Best regards, Stacey
Cloudscome said, on 2/23/2008 6:53:00 AM
Oooo this looks like a great book! I'm putting it on our book list for the spring. What an inspiring poem. You go ahead and keep inventing from your "stuff". We need more role models like you that can keep the world going on just what's at hand... and creating it all over again like Carver.
Mary Lee said, on 2/24/2008 3:36:00 PM
I admire people like you who don't just keep things but actually put them to new use after new use after new use. I'm not very good about keeping things, so I'm always wishing for what I've thrown out or donated. If I do keep things, I don't think of them until too late or I can't find them when I need them.
laurasalas said, on 2/25/2008 6:11:00 AM
We cleaned out the basement this past weekend and came across tons of things that we *could* have used again, if only we had known where they were. But we never do, and I try to be practical.
I'm a ruthless thrower-awayer when given the chance. Otherwise I'm constantly buried under potential. :>)
Great post. I loved this book first time around and want to re-read it.
THE UNCOMFORTABLE DEAD NOMINATED FOR SHAMUS AWARD The Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) announced the nominees for the 26th annual Shamus Awards, given annually to recognize outstanding achievement in private eye fiction. The 2007 awards cover works published in the U.S. in 2006. The awards will be presented on September 28, 2007, at the PWA banquet in Anchorage, Alaska, during the weekend of the Bouchercon Mystery Convention. The Uncomfortable Dead by Paco Ignacio Taibo II and Subcomandante Marcos, translated by Carlos Lopez (Akashic Books), was nominated in the Best Paperback Original category. La Bloga covered the story behind the writing of this book before it was serialized in the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, and reviewed it early on. All the Shamus nominees are listed on the The Gumshoe website.
PRESCOTT COLLEGE PRESENTS: PLAYWRIGHT CHERRÍE MORAGA Playwright, poet, and essayist Cherríe Moraga delivers the keynote address, From Inside the First World, for the Prescott College (AZ) Master of Arts Colloquium on Saturday, August 18, 2007 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in the Crossroads Center Community Room. Moraga will share an intimate post 9/ll reflection on an emergent 21st century U.S. women of color movement.
She will also offer a writing workshop The Geography of Remembrance, on Sunday, August 19, 2007 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. The workshop is for all genres and levels of experience and explores the uses of the physical site of memory as the heart-location of the creative writing process.
All are welcome to both events free of charge. For more information please contact Frank Cardamone at 928-350-3218.
Finally, this press release crossed my desk, as they say. It speaks for itself.
Based on a series of actual events that took place in the summer of 2003, Wicked Sick tells the cyber-gantic, gruesome, breathtaking story about Fast Eddie -- a cholo who gets caught up in the net of almost every outlaw group a city like Los Angeles has to offer, just by following his gangster ways. His meteoric rise from obscure thug to internet cult hero, the collision of L.A.'s traditional and contemporary underworld behind the one thing everybody is living for, and the surprising appearance of a mysterious person on the scene turn this book into a new era of thug literature.
In the end there is just the beginning�
The 34 year old author Anthony Murillo is a prolific writer and entrepreneur, who presently serves numerous life sentences in the California penal system. During almost 18 years of confinement he managed to educate himself and to develop his writing style that portrays the gangster lifestyle and celebrates the outlaw in all of us.
Wicked Sick By Anthony Murillo
ISBN 978-0-9758594-2-1 SenegalPress June 2007
Later.
0 Comments on Marcos, Moraga, Murillo as of 7/19/2007 9:47:00 PM
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My problem seems to be the opposite. I'm a chronic re-writer/editor and tend to end up with a very bad imitation of Hemingway! Then I have to go in and add some setting so at least people have some help picturing my scene.
I write articles, and one of the first things I do with a revision is clear the clutter, and boy can I clutter. I'm a "that" insertion queen.
My fridge used to look like that (maybe worse!) until I moved recently. Moving caused me to take everything off, pack it away, and put up only the most important pictures. I think it's the same with writing. Take a step back, maybe change your scenery (write in a cafe) or perspective (read your work at a critique group), and the clutter may become more apparent. Obviously, I love the comparison! LOL. Great tips, Elizabeth!
Elizabeth:
I think your tips are great--my critique group helps me find the clutter all the time. I'm not sure if I can see it myself, but the suggestion of reading your work aloud is a great idea to catch some of the clutter yourself. :)
Elizabeth:
I think your tips are great--my critique group helps me find the clutter all the time. I'm not sure if I can see it myself, but the suggestion of reading your work aloud is a great idea to catch some of the clutter yourself. :)
Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate that we all have our writing idiosyncrasies...and cluttered refrigerator doors. :)
Looks like my fridge: covered with drawings from the grandkids!! :)
Best advice you wrote - read the piece aloud. You can "read it in your head" but until you actually hear the spoken word, your eyes wander over the clutter. Hearing it makes you CLEAR it!! :)