This picture and quote came to me via Pinterest. It is by Henri Matisse. I am passing it on hoping it will go to your pinboard as it did to mine. It’s a powerful reminder, for the times when self-doubt is pulling you down.
Most important American novel of its time
Last night I stayed up till midnight watching Ron Howard’s 2015 movie ‘In the Heart of the Sea.’ based on Nathaniel Philbrick‘s non-fiction book of the same name, about the sinking of the American whaling ship Essex in 1820.
The movie starts with Herman Melville, author of the novel Moby Dick, considered one of the most important American novels of its time, meeting the sole survivor of the whaling ship to find out what truly happened. He then creates a masterpiece fiction work of 600 pages.
Contrary to Herman’s expectations, the book was not well received during his lifetime, having sold little over 3000 copies.
It was only when the book was reprinted, on his death, that it got rave reviews from Carl Van Doren and D. H. Lawrence.
I have a copy sitting on my bookshelf, which I didn’t have the courage to pick up and start reading. It’s sheer size intimidated me. But after the movie, I couldn’t wait to start it. I have already read two chapters. There are 133 more to go!
It is not an easy read for lazy readers. Herman has used many literary devices including Shakespearean language. But it is the first-person narrative of the fictional character Ishmael that gives the book the legendary status. Who can forget the all-time most famous first line, “Call me Ishmael.” and equally compelling first paragraph to follow.
“Call me Ishmael. Some years ago – never mind how long precisely – having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off – then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship.”
I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Almost there…
Now that NaNoWriMo is close to finishing, I am ready to come out of self-imposed hibernation feeling relieved and ecstatic. Just short of 6751 words to win the challenge at the time of writing this post, I am fairly certain that I will be able to knock these down in the next two nights.
Now the question is – are these words any good? This question bothers many new participants and many of them do not return because they can’t see the point of all those late nights, social boycotts, and agonizing hours if by the end of it, they don’t even have a book they can publish.
I have three words for them: “they are dreaming!” If they entered the challenge with that thought in mind they better stay away from the challenge next year as well. No one, and let me repeat, no one, writes a novel in the first draft. It is true many seasoned writers are now aligning the writing of their first draft with NaNoWriMo, to channel in the energy generated by writers all over the world, but they too do several rewrites before getting to the stage where they can send it to a publisher.
These 50,000 words are exactly what they are supposed to be, and what Anne Lamott author of Bird By Bird calls them ‘shitty drafts.’ They are ‘shitty’ but they are on paper. A month before they were not even there. And that is a big achievement.
A participant from the last eight years and a winner for three (including this year) I am finding that the challenge gets easier with each attempt. For once, I am typing faster than eight years ago. I know more tips and tricks for the words to keep pouring in. For the past four years, I worked on the plot and structure prior to starting the challenge, which made writing easy. And this year I used 750 Words to pace myself, keep the word count, and keep my writing in one place. But the biggest trick I learned this year was: it is harder to write 1667 words in one sitting, but it is much easier to write 600 words three times a day.
I am exhausted but I am also excited that I will concentrate on the blog now.
Art Bus
I walk out of the workplace at lunchtime and find a colorful bus parked in the middle of the city walk. There is no sign next to explain what it was other than the sign on the head of the bus that says ART BUS.
What a treat! I take some photos and then hit the net to find out what it was about.
Australian National Capital Artists Inc. (ANCA) has transformed a retired Action Bus into a mobile contemporary gallery and studio space. What a great idea!
Once a humble local bus has been stripped of its seats and fitted out with gallery walls, lighting, and new external paintwork by local artist Riley Beaumont and turned into a mobile gallery. It is heartening to know that the ACT Government and Transport Canberra are supporting this initiative by ANCA.
ART BUS will be at three different sites across Canberra’s City Centre showcasing contemporary art by local artists and interactive art workshops for children.
Each artist will take over the ANCA Art Bus for a month at a time.
In November, it will display artist Ruby Berry’s work. Ruby is a textile-based artist working with three-dimensional sculptural textile works and sensory engagement.
December’s artist is Dionisia Salas, who has been working with repeated marks and patterns and has experimented with painting, silkscreen printing, burning techniques into paper surfaces, and collage.
In January 2019, Tom Buckland, a sculptor and multi-media artist focusing strongly on making and materiality, will exhibit his work.
This is what the Canberra Times is saying about it.
I would like to see more of these art buses parked at various public places in Canberra.
November novel writing month
NaNoWriMo has started and this year I am writing a non-fiction book.
I am a proud participant in the program for eight years.
This year my strategy is to write 600 words in the morning, 600 hundred during the day, and 600 in the evening.
It’s working like magic.
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
The first 1000 blog posts are difficult…
I haven’t written about blogging for some time. However, today’s blog post from Seth Godin, an entrepreneur, an author of 18 books, and a long-time blogger with 7000 posts to his credit (never missed a day), reminded me to talk about my blogging journey.
Seth has been encouraging people to blog.
“Daily blogging is an extraordinarily useful habit. Even if no one reads your blog, the act of writing is clarifying, motivating, and eventually fun.”
He reckons the first 1000 posts are the most problematic (It only takes about three years to get there); after that, blogging becomes less strenuous and very rewarding.
He has found that after people get to post 200 or beyond, they uniformly report that they’re glad they did it.
It will take me six months to get there, but I already find that blogging is improving my writing, bringing clarity to my thoughts, and giving me immense happiness in pursuing creativity.
If you put monetizing aside, blogging is a compelling medium for personal development, connecting with like-minded people, and teaching while you learn.
There are thousands of generous bloggers who have been posting their non-commercial blogs regularly, and it’s a habit that produces magic.
Sasha, Gabe, Fred, Bernadette, and Rohan are some bloggers Seth follows.
I am sure you will enjoy their work as I did.