AND he's from Oregon. {} (Which proves my point: David Hasselhoff needs to move to Oregon.) ;>
Imagine...
Charlie Clevenger, Shawnee Forest Road
Every writer's no good, least happy, over-anxious, worst part of the day
But then...
there's this.
Miss you, Mr. Carver.
HAPPINESS
by Raymond Carver
So early it's still almost dark out.
I'm near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.
When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.
They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren't saying anything, these boys.
I think if they could, they would take
each other's arm.
It's early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together.
They come on, slowly.
The sky is taking on light,
though the moon still hangs pale over the water.
Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love,
doesn't enter into this.
Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.
Raymond Carver (1933-1988)
-Pamela, Come Saturday morning happiness to all of you, with dreams of uncovering visions of joy every day of my life
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By: Pamela Ross,
on 11/24/2007
Blog: Born to Write (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry, oregon, submissions, poets, raymond carver, charlie brown, Add a tag
By: Jason Boog,
on 8/28/2007
Blog: ThePublishingSpot (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Charles Bukowski, Raymond Carver, writing tips, Five Easy Questions, revision, Willy Vlautin, Add a tag
"Well, I want to hear "story" about me, I guess. Something good, where I get married or at least get a girl. Maybe I'm famous or something. You could make me rich if you want."
That's an excerpt from Willy Vlautin's road novel, The Motel Life. It follows the trail of an alcoholic storyteller as he struggles to redeem himself and his brother after a horrible accident. Vlautin cut his teeth as a storyteller in the alt-country band, Richmond Fontaine, singing tales of other ruined souls.
Today, he talks about the fine art of revision, teaching us how to sharpen our stories in my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions.
In the spirit of Jack Nicholson's mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.
Jason Boog:
John Fante and Charles Bukowski are big influences for you. Both writers create polished novels that feel raw, uncontrolled and dangerous. How did you edit your novel without losing that raw energy of the story? In other words, how can we edit our manuscripts without losing the punk rock feeling of a first draft?
Willy Vlautin:
You know I re-wrote THE MOTEL LIFE six or seven times.